On the night we lost the championship, the TV was still replaying the footage of Ethan Vance missing that crucial penalty kick. I looked at Ethan, who was slumped on the couch smelling of cheap beer, and swept the aluminum cans in front of him straight into the trash. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot and swollen. “You saw it too, didn’t you? I ruined everything. That penalty…” Seeing that I didn’t offer a single word of comfort, he let out a bitter laugh. “You think I’m useless too, don’t you? I practiced that shot a thousand times…” I slid the divorce papers across the coffee table, stopping right in front of him. I looked at him calmly. “Let’s get a divorce.” A flash of utter shock crossed Ethan’s face. Then, he reached out, trying to grab my hand with a helpless, forced smile. “What’s wrong with you? Is this a joke? You’re divorcing me over one lost game?” He squeezed out a laugh, but the panic in his eyes was impossible to hide. “I know I let you down. I’ll work harder next year. I promise we’ll win the cup, okay?” His voice trembled. He was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince me. Looking into his pathetic, pleading eyes, I pulled my hand back. My voice was cold. “It has nothing to do with the game.” The gentle facade on his face cracked, and his brows furrowed. “Not the game? Then what else could it be?” His brow tightened further, a trace of impatience creeping into his tone. “Is it because I didn’t pick you up today? Or did your friends talk trash about me behind my back again?” “Or are you mad because I didn’t spend enough time with you while preparing for the finals these past few days?” His tone softened, as if he were coaxing a child. “Stop being dramatic, babe. I’ll spend every single day with you during the off-season, okay?” He reached out again to grab my wrist. The moment his fingers brushed my skin, I snatched my arm back and glared at him. “Don’t touch me.” “I said I want a divorce. Do you not understand English?” “It’s not this, it’s not that! What the hell do you want from me then?” He finally dropped his pleading act, his voice rising with uncontrollable irritation. “You can’t seriously divorce me just because I lost a match! Do you have any idea what people will say if they find out?” I looked at him blankly. “Yes, I am divorcing you because you lost.” I stared straight into his eyes, pronouncing every word clearly. “Do you have a problem with that?” He looked at me in disbelief. “Do you even hear yourself?” His eyes widened, as if he were seeing a stranger. “Because of a loss? I sat here all night waiting for you to come home and comfort me, and instead, you walk through the door and throw divorce papers in my face?” “And I already said we’d win it back next year, but you just won’t listen. Now you’re…” I didn’t bother to answer. I turned around and walked into the bedroom to pack my bags. Behind me, his roar echoed through the apartment: “Chloe! Do you even have a heart?!” Refusing to give up, he rushed after me. He tried to block the door, but his elbow slammed against the doorframe, making him gasp in pain. “Chloe, make it make sense! What did I do? Why are we divorcing?” Through the door, his voice sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “At least give me a reason. Even if we break up, I deserve an explanation, don’t I?” I leaned against the door, closing my eyes. I didn’t say a word. After a long time, a heavy thud echoed from the other side of the door. “I’m not signing it. Don’t even think about it!” With that, his footsteps faded away, followed by the heavy slam of the front door. After he left, I stood alone in the empty living room, staring at the divorce agreement on the coffee table for a long time. Then, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer friend. “Lily, help me draft a final divorce agreement. The house goes to me, and we split the savings fifty-fifty.” Ethan didn’t come home that night, but I slept like a baby. The next morning, right after I woke up, I received a call from his parents asking me to come over. Shortly after Ethan left last night, they had called, saying we needed to talk. But when I arrived at their house, I realized Hailey, the team’s personal physical therapist, was also there.

At the dining table, Helen put a piece of steak onto my plate, speaking in a probing tone. “Chloe, you know Ethan. He’s been terrible at sweet-talking since he was a kid. If he did something wrong, please bear with him…” I didn’t take the food. I laid my fork down. “Helen, Richard, we are getting a divorce.” The fork in Helen’s hand clattered onto her plate. The smile on her face froze. “Divorce? Why on earth would you divorce? Tell me what Ethan did wrong, and I’ll kick his ass for you.” I kept my head down, avoiding her eyes. “Nothing. We just drifted apart.” Ethan choked on his breath, his eyes turning red as he stared at me. “Babe, what did I do wrong?” His voice was raspy, his eyes rimmed with red. “Just tell me, and I’ll change, okay? I don’t believe you don’t love me anymore. We’ve been together for ten years. Ten years of love, and you’re just throwing it away?” Richard and Helen exchanged looks. Helen sighed, her voice softening. “Chloe, is it because Ethan was so busy with training and matches this past year that he didn’t have time for you? Do you feel neglected?” I kept my head down and remained silent. “You know what he’s like. His head is filled with nothing but soccer. Sometimes he really neglects the house,” Richard chimed in with a sigh, his tone apologetic. “But he loves you. Every time he gets a bonus, the first thing he thinks of is buying you something nice. If you feel like he doesn’t spend enough time with you, we’ll make him take more days off to be with you, okay?” “If you’re really unhappy, we can have him talk to the club to skip some away games so he can stay home more,” Helen said, reaching out to squeeze my hand, her eyes tearing up. “Is there anything you two can’t just talk through? Why does it have to end in divorce?” I gently pulled my hand back and put down my fork. “Helen, Richard, it’s not about how much time he spends at home. This divorce is happening. Please don’t try to persuade me otherwise.” Ethan snapped his head up, staring at me with bloodshot eyes. “Babe…” Richard and Helen exchanged another look, their expressions finally hardening. “How can you be so stubborn, girl?” Helen’s voice began to tremble. “Maybe Ethan isn’t perfect, but how has he wronged you? He hands over all his paychecks to you, he never goes out partying, and he’s completely devoted to you. And you’re just discarding him because of one lost game?” Richard’s face went cold as well. “Do you think he’s washed up? Do you think his career is over?” I didn’t answer. I stood up. “Thanks for breakfast, but I should go.” Behind me, Helen let out a stifled sob. Hailey quickly grabbed my arm. “Chloe, let’s step out onto the balcony for some fresh air. I need to talk to you.” Before I could answer, she pulled me across the living room and pushed open the glass door to the balcony. She looked at me with deep concern. “Chloe, what’s really going on? If there’s something bothering you, you can tell me. I know you’re not an unreasonable person. Something must have happened.” Hailey and I had a decent relationship; we were practically friends. She was the team’s official physical therapist, and she had been there since Ethan was in the youth academy. So, when we went on trips, shopping, or to the spa, I would occasionally invite her along. I was actually considering whether I should tell her the truth. But then, my eyes caught a gym bag sitting open on the lounge chair in the corner of the balcony. Peeking out from the bag was a bottle of men’s energy drink and a bottle of massage oil. Noticing where my eyes were drifting, Hailey’s face drained of color. She hurriedly knelt down and zipped the bag shut. Perhaps because she was in such a rush, her clumsy movements caused something to slip out of the side pocket. A hotel notepad paper drifted onto the floor. On it was Ethan’s handwriting: *”Thanks for last night. Same place tomorrow.”* She scrambled to pick it up, her face flushed with panic. “Please don’t misunderstand. This is… Ethan left it at my place after his therapy session…” “He just… asked me to bring him a cup of coffee upstairs, so he wrote a quick note…” Looking at her panicked face, the words caught in my throat. “I see. Let’s go back inside.” She grabbed my hand. “No, wait, you haven’t told me what’s wrong. Why the divorce? Is there really nothing that can be fixed?” I threw a cold glance at her. “Nothing. We’re just done.” I slid open the balcony door and walked back into the living room. Inside, Helen was still wiping her tears, while Richard sat grimly on the couch, smoking. Ethan was on his knees on the floor, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Without giving them another look, I walked straight toward the front door.

“Don’t leave, babe! Please don’t go!” As if suddenly waking up, Ethan scrambled to his feet, chased me to the door, and fell to his knees again, wrapping his arms around my legs. “Is it because I didn’t care enough about you? I’ll change! I promise I’ll put you first in everything from now on. Just don’t divorce me, please! I… I really can’t live without you!” Seeing this, Richard and Helen clutched their chests, groaning in dismay. I looked down at Ethan kneeling at my feet. His tears were dripping onto my shoes. I pulled my leg back, stepped around him, and opened the door. “Instead of begging me, you should take your parents to the hospital for a check-up. You might actually kill them with this pathetic show.” Ignoring their pale faces, I walked out. As I turned the corner, I could faintly hear Helen’s cries echoing from the apartment. “How can she be like this? Ethan gave her his whole heart, and she’s divorcing him over a soccer game?!” Richard’s voice sounded deep and exhausted. “Let it go. The girl has a heart of stone. We can’t change her mind.” I paused for a second, then kept walking. As soon as I walked out of the community gate, my phone rang. It was Lily. “The agreement is drafted. Come pick it up whenever you’re free.” The other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds. “Is it really just because of the game?” Lily’s voice was filled with confusion. “You guys always seemed so perfect. He never did anything to hurt you, did he?” I held the phone tight, staying silent. “I don’t mean to gossip, but I really don’t get it. You two have been good for so many years. Why the sudden divorce?” I rubbed my temples, feeling a wave of exhaustion. “It’s nothing. Being with his family is just too draining. I want to be free.” Lily sighed, sensing my fatigue, and didn’t push further. I drove over to her office, got the divorce papers, and signed my name immediately. By evening, I went back to the apartment to pack up my belongings. I wanted to remove all traces of my life here over the years, waiting for him to come back, sign the papers, and let me leave. But I waited and waited. It was past 9:00 PM, and there was still no reply from him. Frustrated, I decided to call him to get this over with. But before I could dial, my phone rang. It was one of Ethan’s teammates. The voice on the other end was frantic and drowned out by loud background noise. “Chloe, you need to get over to the club right now! Ethan lost his mind at the season review press conference. A reporter asked about the missed penalty, and he smashed the microphone on stage. The backstage area is a total mess right now!” I drove to the club’s media center. In the backstage green room, a crowd was gathered. Aside from Richard, Helen, and Hailey, there were club executives, sponsor representatives, and a bunch of Ethan’s teammates. My parents were standing right at the front. My mom’s eyes were red, and my dad’s face was thunderous. The way they looked at me made me feel like an absolute stranger. I opened my mouth to speak, but before a word could escape, my dad grabbed my arm aggressively, shoving me back against the doorframe. My ears buzzed from the impact. Ethan was slumped on the couch, his tie loosened, his face flushed. He struggled to stand up. “Robert, please, let’s just talk. Don’t touch her.” Seeing this, my dad’s eyes welled with angry tears. “Look at him! Look at what you’ve done to him! He lost his mind in front of the entire club!” “Have you lost your damn mind?” My dad’s voice boomed through the green room. “How has Ethan ever wronged you? You’re divorcing him over one missed penalty? How are we supposed to face our friends and neighbors?” His eyes grew redder. “I think you’ve had it too easy these past few years. We spoiled you!” My mom, who had always babied me and spoiled me since I was a child, looked at me with deep disappointment. “I hate to say this, Chloe, but you’ve gone way too far this time!” My dad snorted coldly. “Why are you still standing there? Apologize to Richard, Helen, and Hailey right now! You nearly gave them a heart attack yesterday!” I kept my head down, my voice quiet but firm. “This is between Ethan and me. Stay out of it.” With that, I snatched a pen from someone standing nearby and handed it, along with the papers, to Ethan. “I didn’t come here to make a scene. I came to get a divorce.” The moment the words left my mouth, the teammates—who had assumed I would back down after being scolded by my parents—glared at me in utter shock. Looking at the divorce papers I had already signed, Ethan began to tremble violently. His eyes were completely bloodshot as he clutched his chest. “Chloe…” His voice was so weak it sounded like it would blow away with the wind. “I promise I’ll bring the championship back next year. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t leave me, please?” Someone nearby couldn’t take it anymore and muttered under their breath, “This woman is a straight-up sociopath.” There wasn’t a shred of warmth in my eyes. “No need. Just sign the papers.”

When Helen saw me, her eyes welled with tears, but she swallowed her anger and walked over. “Chloe, I am begging you. Can we please go home and talk about this? Ethan is already going through hell. Don’t do this to him now.” I said nothing. Seeing that I was unmoved, Hailey stepped up to support a staggering Helen. “Chloe, what is wrong with you?” Meeting her probing gaze, I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face. The crisp sound made the entire room fall dead silent. Hailey clutched her cheek, tears instantly streaming down her face. “You… you hit me?” The room immediately erupted. “Whether I’m heartless or not is none of your business, Hailey. Keep your nose out of my marriage.” Helen was shaking so hard she couldn’t speak. Finally, she hissed through gritted teeth, “Good… great… my son was truly blind to marry such an ungrateful bitch!” She didn’t hit me back; she just turned her head away, her shoulders shaking violently as she wept. At this point, Ethan’s teammates couldn’t hold back their anger anymore. “Chloe, what is wrong with you? No respect for your elders, no respect for anyone! Ethan treated you like a queen, gave you everything you ever wanted, and you’re dumping him over one bad game? How does that make any sense?” I spared him a cold glance. “Is your training done? If you have so much free time, go home and worry about your own wife and kids. Stop sticking your nose in my business.” A few of Ethan’s close friends on the team got right in my face. “Ethan is such a great guy. He was a fool to marry you!” one teammate yelled. “Do you have any idea that just last night, he was telling us he wanted to throw you a massive vow renewal ceremony once we won the cup? Is this how you repay him?” “There’s no point talking to a woman like her. Ethan, just sign the damn papers! Let her rot! She’ll regret this!” I let out a cold chuckle. “Don’t worry. I won’t regret a single thing.” Hearing this, Richard slammed his fist on the table, knocking a chair over. “Divorce! Divorce her right now! Our family doesn’t need a cold-blooded monster like you!” He reached out to snatch the papers from my hand. But my dad quickly stepped in, blocking him with a submissive smile. “Richard, Helen, please don’t be angry. She’s just being childish. We can’t let her ruin this.” “I promise you, as long as I am here today, I won’t let her go through with this divorce. Don’t worry, I’m taking her home right now to set her straight!” With that, he grabbed my arm, trying to drag me out. I used every ounce of my strength to yank my arm free. “I said I am not leaving! This divorce is happening today, and none of you can stop me!” My dad, who had never been defied in his life, lost his temper completely. He threw a harsh shove that sent me stumbling to the floor. “You think I can’t control you?” His finger was practically poking my nose. “If you dare sign those papers today, you are no longer my daughter! Get the hell out of this family, and don’t you ever call me dad again!” The documents in my hand scattered all over the floor. My eyes burned with tears, but I bit my lip. “Fine. Since you’re taking his side, I have nothing left to say to you.” I knelt down to gather the scattered papers. But in the next second, my dad snatched them off the floor, glaring at me with fury. “I am ripping these damn papers right now! You’re going to put this ridiculous divorce out of your head once and for all!” I practically lunged at him. “No! Don’t!” My voice finally cracked with panic. “Dad, please, don’t rip them! I’ll explain everything to you later…” Before I could finish, his hand froze mid-tear. His eyes locked onto a few unexpected pages slipped between the legal documents. In that instant, all the color drained from my dad’s face. His hands began to shake violently, and he took two steps back, bumping into the table behind him. His gaze darted back and forth between Ethan and me, his lips trembling, but not a single sound came out. Seeing my dad’s shocked expression, my heart sank. I quickly snatched the crumpled papers back and tucked the hidden pages safely inside. The people in the room looked back and forth between us, completely baffled by our silent exchange. But it didn’t take long for someone to jump to conclusions. One of Ethan’s teammates sneaked a glance and sneered, trying to grab the papers from my hand. “What are you hiding? Must be something disgusting.” I shoved him away. “None of your business! Back off!”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “450526”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster

There’s an unwritten rule in New York’s underground fight clubs. The final round is a fight to the death. The winner walks out alive. The loser leaves in a body bag. Everyone thought I’d be the one walking out safe. After all, for six straight months, my name had been solid at the top of the leaderboard. But I never expected to see Tyler Vance step into the ring. He was my mentor. The man who taught me every punch, every feint, every finishing move. Fighting him was suicide. The moment the whistle blew, a barrage of brutal, merciless strikes rained down on me. With a sickening crack of my ribs, I crashed heavily to the canvas. As the referee declared the match over, I heard Tyler let out a soft sigh. “Yesterday was Chloe’s birthday. She wanted to see me beat you just once.” “Her health is failing. The doctors said she might not make it to her next birthday.” “I had to grant her this one last wish.” Below the ring, Chloe Sinclair sat in her wheelchair. Her cheeks were flush with color, a smug smile playing on her lips. I lay on the cold floor, my chest barely moving. Even breathing was agony. I didn’t know if Chloe would survive until next year. But I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t survive the next three days. *** ###

The deafening roar of the crowd cut off instantly. The referee gently placed his hand on my shoulder. “Can you get up, Aria?” Lying there, I felt my shattered rib pierce into my lung. Every word I gasped out felt like swallowing glass. “Let it go, Marcus.” Losing to Tyler was a bitter pill, but I accepted it. After all, surviving in this cutthroat place for so long was entirely thanks to the moves he had taught me. Just last night, too excited to sleep, I had climbed up to the rooftop of the gym. The sky was filled with stars. Through my headphones, I could hear his deep, comforting breathing. My heart had been pounding like a drum, my voice trembling with hope. “Tomorrow is my final fight. Will you be there to watch?” I wanted Tyler to witness my ultimate victory. A soft chuckle had drifted from the other end of the line. “Of course I will.” He kept his word. He actually came. He personally replaced my opponent, personally stepped into the ring, and personally signed my death warrant. Tyler unstrapped his gloves, a few minor scratches on his handsome face from our brief struggle. He extended a long, vein-defined hand toward me. “Stop being dramatic. Get up. The ring is no place to show weakness.” “Cough, cough…” Just as I was about to reach for his hand, Chloe’s sharp coughing cut through the air. She hunched over, trembling like a leaf in the wind. Tyler’s brows furrowed instantly. He vaulted over the ropes without a second thought, rushing to her side to wrap a cashmere shawl around her shoulders. “The smell of blood is too strong here. You’re too weak to handle this. Let’s get you out.” His voice sounded reprimanding, but it was dripping with pure indulgence. “I told you not to come. If you wanted to know the result, I could have just texted you.” “When have I ever broken a promise to you?” He cradled Chloe protectively in his arms. As they reached the exit, he glanced back at me over his shoulder. “Stop playing dead. I pulled my punches. I know exactly how hard I hit.” “I know you’re just mad that I broke your winning streak.” “I’ll pick you up tomorrow and take you to that steakhouse you love.” He was doing what he always did—trying to brush our conflicts under the rug with a free meal. I closed my eyes. But this time, it was different. After they left, Coach Marcus helped me limp off the stage, begging me to go to the hospital. When I peeled off my shirt, my torso was covered in horrific, dark bruises. *** ###

The purple-and-black bruising looked absolutely terrifying. Tyler’s punches had been exceptionally heavy today. I splashed some rubbing alcohol over the cuts and tightly wrapped a compression bandage around my chest. Only then did I find the strength to speak. “I don’t have many days left anyway. Let’s not waste the money.” “I need to save every penny for Grandma Eleanor’s medical bills.” I cast my eyes down, forcing a weak smile. In my head, I began calculating the remaining balance on my card, wondering if it was enough to cover Grandma’s next few rounds of chemotherapy. Suddenly, my phone lit up with a push notification. The cover photo of the trending article showed Tyler carrying Chloe in his arms out of the fight arena. The headline was massive and eye-catching: *Sparks Fly: Billionaire Heir Tyler Vance and Chloe Sinclair Take Their Romance Public!* Whether intentionally or not, Chloe had liked the post on Instagram before quickly unliking it. Marcus stood beside me, his voice cracking with rage. “These damn paparazzi keep making up lies! You’re Tyler’s actual girlfriend! She’s just a—” I flipped my phone face down on the table, a bitter taste in my mouth. “They come from the same social circle. They look good together. It’s a perfect match.” While I sat there dazed, the door to the locker room was slammed open. One of our neighbors stood there, panting and frantic. “Aria, this is bad!” “The Sinclair Group just bought out the Riverside District. They’re tearing the whole neighborhood down to build luxury condos, and they’re forcing everyone out.” “Your grandma… they threw her out on the street!” I stood up so fast that a sharp, stabbing pain shot through my chest, making me gasp. After taking a few seconds to catch my breath, I threw on a jacket and sprinted out. The sky outside was heavy and gray, threatening to snow at any second. When I arrived home, the street was in utter chaos. Grandma was sitting on the freezing ground. Our few pieces of cheap furniture had been smashed to splinters. Several men in sharp suits were pinning Grandma’s hand down, trying to force her thumbprint onto a contract. “Get your hands off her!” I grabbed a broken broom handle and swung it wildly at them, forcing them to back off as I threw myself protectively over Grandma. In the scuffle, the contract fluttered to the ground, stained with dirty boot prints. I looked down at it. The compensation line read a glaring, mocking **$0**. Rage boiled in my veins. I glared at the suits. “This is robbery!” A neighbor opened their door and peeked out. “Aria, just tell your grandma to sign it. The five-hundred-thousand buyout is enough to pay for her hospital bills.” My brain went numb. My voice was dry. “What five-hundred-thousand buyout?” The neighbor looked confused. “The relocation package. The Sinclair Group is offering that same flat rate to everyone in the neighborhood.” I turned my glaring eyes to the lead suit. “Why is ours zero?” The man sneered, adjusting his tie. “You only have yourself to blame for crossing the wrong person. Consider this a lesson in respect.” “I suggest you sign it quietly. Otherwise, with how sick your old lady is, I doubt she can survive us hounding her every day.” My heart sank into a dark abyss. The person I shouldn’t have crossed… the Sinclair Group. “Was this Chloe’s idea?” The men didn’t deny it. Their silence was answer enough. I remembered the night Tyler proposed to me. Chloe, who had always been perfectly healthy, suddenly fell critically ill and was rushed to the ICU. The entire Sinclair family went into a frenzy. When the call came in, Tyler was in the middle of fastening his family’s heirloom diamond necklace around my neck. “Chloe is in trouble.” Leaving me with only those words, he turned and ran without looking back. When I saw him the next day, that exact necklace was already hanging around Chloe’s neck. Tyler had stood in front of her like a shield, treating me as if I were some kind of monster. “Chloe fell in love with the necklace. I’m just letting her wear it for a bit.” *** ###

Seeing that I didn’t respond, his expression had darkened. “Since when did you become so petty? She’s a dying girl, Aria. Don’t pick a fight with her.” Chloe had grabbed my hand, her other hand gently stroking the diamond pendant. “I don’t have much time left anyway, Aria. Please don’t be mad at me.” Her voice was incredibly fragile, but her sharp fingernails dug deep into my palm, leaving bloody crescent marks. It was on that day that I fully realized Chloe’s sick obsession with Tyler. She hated me. She hated that I, a nobody, had taken her place. But I never imagined her hatred would drive her to put me and my family on a literal death path. After the suits left, I turned around and slowly helped Grandma off the cold ground. As we walked into the ruined house, the distant sky suddenly erupted with brilliant, dazzling fireworks. It was beautiful and grand. I looked up, noticing that the first snow of the year had quietly started to fall. Back in late autumn, Tyler had held my hand and made a promise. “When the first snow falls, I’m going to throw the most magnificent fireworks show for you.” “I want the whole city to witness our happiness.” Now, the snow was falling. But the fireworks and the man no longer belonged to me. Due to the extreme shock, Grandma ran a dangerously high fever that very night. Left with no other choice, my hands shook violently as I dialed Tyler’s number. The phone rang for a long time before he finally picked up. “Tyler, Grandma is…” Before I could finish, his exhausted, irritated voice cut me off. “Are you seriously using the ‘Grandma is sick’ excuse again to make me come over?” “Aria, this trick is getting really old.” The rest of my words choked in my throat, completely blocked. Tyler continued, “Chloe is just finishing her bath. She can’t sleep lately without me reading to her.” “Have some decency and show some compassion to a dying girl. Stop throwing these pathetic tantrums.” I lowered my head, hot tears splashing onto the back of my hand one by one. I still remembered the very first time I stepped into the underground ring. I had been beaten to a pulp. When I was dragged off the canvas, my face was swollen beyond recognition. As I huddled in a dark corner of the locker room, a clean white handkerchief was suddenly offered to me. Tyler had stood there, blocking the harsh overhead light, his voice softer than silk. “Clean yourself up.” After that, he was the one who applied my ointment, accompanied me to visit Grandma, and taught me how to use my body’s leverage to deliver the most devastating punches. After my first win, he had pulled my head into his chest in front of everyone, his warm breath tickling my ear. “From now on, you can lean on me.” I actually believed him. Looking back now, I was such a fool. Grandma lay on the bed, her breath growing hotter and more labored by the minute. I wiped away my tears, walked outside, and pulled out our old, rusty utility cart. I lined it with a thick blanket. Then, gritting my teeth through the agonizing pain in my chest, I carried Grandma on my back and laid her gently in the cart. The snow on the road was thick and heavy. I dragged the cart, my boots sinking deep into the snow with every agonizing step. By the time we reached the hospital doors, I had completely lost all sensation in my limbs. A team of doctors rushed out to wheel her in. Soon, the red light of the operating room turned on. I leaned against the wall, my eyes staring blankly at the door. The snow on my shoulders had melted into freezing water, soaking through my thin jacket. Thankfully, the doctor’s words gave me a glimmer of hope when he walked out. “We’ve stabilized her for now, but she needs to start the next phase of treatment immediately.” My heart hammered with anxiety. “How much will the subsequent treatment cost?” “Around a hundred thousand dollars.” I let out a sigh of relief. *** ###

Over the past two years, I had barely taken a break, fighting match after match. The money I had saved up was just enough to cover the hundred thousand. When I entered the ward, Grandma had already regained consciousness. “Aria… Grandma is a burden to you again.” I shook my head, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably. I pulled out my bank card and tucked it safely under her pillow. “Grandma, use this card to pay for your treatments. When I’m not here, you have to take good care of yourself.” The next day, while waiting in line at the hospital pharmacy, I bumped into Chloe. “Oh, Aria. What a coincidence.” “I had a slight headache last night, but Tyler insisted on bringing me to the hospital for a full checkup today.” I clenched my jaw, refusing to engage with her. But when I returned to the ward, my heart stopped. Grandma was lying on the cold floor, having fallen out of bed. “Grandma!” Grandma’s hands were shaking violently, and she was crying hysterically, clutching her head in distress. I grabbed her hands, my stomach dropping. “What happened?” Tears poured down her wrinkled face as her lips trembled. “Some men… they broke into the room just now and took the card.” “It’s my fault… I’m so useless! I couldn’t protect your hard-earned money!” She kept sobbing, her face pale with helplessness and despair. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. My vision began to go black. Grandma grabbed my arm, her eyes filled with terror. “They were the same men… the ones who came to tear down our house yesterday!” I instantly pictured Chloe’s smug smile downstairs. It was her! I turned and bolted out of the room. In the distance, I spotted the familiar silhouette in the wheelchair. “Chloe Sinclair!” I ran up to her, my eyes bloodshot, and demanded, “Give me my card back!” She tilted her head, her face a mask of sweet innocence. “Aria? What are you talking about? I don’t understand.” “Stop lying!” I grabbed the armrest of her wheelchair, begging desperately, “Do whatever you want to me! I don’t care about Tyler anymore, you can have him! Just give me my money back!” “Please, I need that money to save my grandma!” She stared at me for a second. Suddenly, her eyes welled with tears, and her shoulders began to shake. “Aria… you’re scaring me…” The next second, a powerful force shoved me violently to the side. Tyler grabbed my arm, his eyes burning with pure fury. “You really never learn, do you? Harassing Chloe at the hospital?” “I guess I went too easy on you in the ring yesterday.” I let out a hollow laugh that sent a stabbing pain through my chest. I looked at him with dead, empty eyes. “I just want her to give my money back.” Tyler’s brow furrowed. “You lost your money?” “If your money is gone, you can earn it back. Why the hell are you taking it out on Chloe?” I wrenched my arm out of his grip, screaming in absolute despair, “There is no time! I don’t have the time to earn it back!” Tyler’s temper flared, and he slapped me hard across the face. “What do you mean ‘no time’?” “I’ve spoiled you for too long, and now you’ve just gotten lazy!” “You’re nothing but a pathetic piece of trash!” Once, he had called me a wild flower—resilient, unique, and beautiful. He said that was why he fell for me. Now, he called me trash. I swallowed the metallic taste of blood rising in my throat. He turned and began pushing Chloe’s wheelchair away. “I am so incredibly disappointed in you, Aria.” My body went rigid, but I didn’t miss the fleeting look of triumph in Chloe’s eyes. And there, slipping slightly from the sleeve of her coat, was a flash of my familiar blue bank card.

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In the seventh year of serving a prison sentence for Ethan Foster, I was released early for good behavior. When I walked out of prison, Ethan held up a priceless pink diamond and proposed to me. Everyone praised him for never abandoning me. It was not until the night before the wedding that I learned his real wedding gift to me was putting my virginity up for auction. The starting bid was one dollar. Ethan’s friends burst into laughter. “Ethan, your bride just got out of prison, and she’s carrying all that bad luck with her, so I bet she won’t even sell for a dollar.” “Exactly, you get to enjoy your wedding night with your lover Chloe while leaving trash like this for us.” He sat in the shadows, his expression indifferent. “If she doesn’t sell, then make her free, because if Grandpa hadn’t said I could only get the company shares by marrying her, I’d think she was too filthy to even look at.” “I heard Chloe argued with Ethan for days over Evelyn and wouldn’t even let Ethan into her bed, and if he hadn’t come up with the idea of auctioning off the wedding night, Chloe would probably still be mad.” “She upset Chloe the moment she got out, so she really does deserve a lesson.” Ethan gave a disdainful sneer. “What kind of lesson is this?” “Evelyn spent seven years in prison, seven full years without touching a man, so she must be dying of loneliness by now.” “And she has always had strong needs, since she used to tempt me so badly that I wouldn’t leave the bedroom for days.” Ethan kept looking down and scrolling through his phone, then suddenly curled his lips and said, “Found it.” After saying that, he lifted his phone. “There’s video proof.” “This is a video from before Evelyn went to prison, and back then we were together every day, but she still wouldn’t let me rest.” “Now that she’s been lonely for seven years, I’m sure she’s even wilder.” Broken, breathy moans came from the phone, making everyone present flush. Then his friends whistled like hooligans, and their laughter and shrieks rose wave after wave. Ethan’s expression stayed calm, as if the person at the center of the topic had nothing to do with him. Amid the overwhelming mockery, tears rolled down my face, and my whole body trembled uncontrollably. Ethan was not like this before. I was a child sponsored by the Foster family, and I had followed Ethan around since I was little. In name, I was his playmate, but in reality, I was a bodyguard trained specifically to protect him. When I was eighteen, he took my body while drunk. From then on, I had another identity, Ethan Foster’s bed partner. I knew I could never climb into the Foster family’s world, so I never dared to have any other thoughts. But Ethan refused to accept that. When he was young, his love was passionate and sincere, and he swore again and again that he would marry me and give me a home. During those years, everyone in the city knew it. The eldest son of the Foster family, Ethan Foster, had a girl he loved down to his bones. Until Ethan was kidnapped. I broke into an abandoned factory alone to save him. Everything had been going smoothly, but just before we left, one of the kidnappers touched my calf. That one touch made Ethan’s expression change on the spot. He chopped off the kidnapper’s right hand, then stabbed a knife into his heart. Even though the Foster family was powerful and influential, killing someone still meant paying with a life. Ethan was the only son, the lifeblood of the Foster family. Because of that, Grandpa Foster came to me and asked me to take the blame and go to prison for Ethan. In return, once I finished my sentence and was released, the Foster family would acknowledge me as their daughter-in-law. Grandpa Foster had shown me kindness, and Ethan was the man I loved. After sitting in silence for an entire night, I signed the confession. Before I went to prison, Ethan knelt in front of me and cried bitterly.

“Evelyn, when you get out, I will make it up to you with the grandest wedding.” His vow still rang in my ears, but the man before me was no longer the man from back then. No wonder he often hid from me to make phone calls, and each call lasted all night. No wonder he insisted on sleeping in separate rooms from me, and he would not even eat at the same table with me. No wonder whenever he accidentally touched me, he sprang away as if he had been burned. How ridiculous that I only thought he was having trouble adjusting, so I lay in bed waiting for him in the lingerie he had once loved most. That day, Ethan flew into a rage, dragged me into the bathroom, and threw a steel wool scrubber at me. “You just got out of prison, so it’s impossible for you not to be dirty, and we’ll talk after you wash yourself clean.” After my whole body was scrubbed until the skin peeled, I curled up in the corner while tears slid down together with blood. Just as my heart was about to die, he carried me back to the bedroom and promised to give me a wedding night I would never forget. Naively, I thought he had finally changed his mind. It turned out he had only thought of an even more humiliating way to shame me. Seven years was too long. So long that the man I loved had become completely unrecognizable. Since that was the case, I would let go. Holding back the sharp pain in my heart, I called Grandpa Foster and spoke numbly. “My wedding night has been put up for auction, Grandpa, and Ethan doesn’t love me anymore, so please let me leave.” It was nearly dawn when Ethan came home. For once, he entered my bedroom and called my name in a hoarse voice. I had already gone to sleep, and his voice startled me awake, leaving me full of annoyance, but the moment I met his eyes, that anger somehow faded. Ethan and I had once had feelings for each other. When our love had been at its strongest, he had always looked at me with those eyes and said I was the most beautiful girl in the world, the one who moved his heart the most. As if possessed, I reached out and touched his brows and eyes. But when I remembered the filthy things he and his friends had said, my hand stopped halfway, then snapped back. “It’s late, so hurry up and rest.” When he heard me say that, he frowned, but he still coaxed me patiently. “Evelyn, I was wrong these past few days, and I didn’t take good care of you.” “I didn’t even notice your lips were cracked, so I made you honey water specially, come on, try some.” Sensing something strange about him, I resisted. But as soon as I turned over and got out of bed to run, the man grabbed my calf and dragged me back. “I made it with my own hands, so drink it before you leave.” He pinched my chin, forced my mouth open, and poured all the honey water into my mouth. “Cough, cough,” I choked until my face turned red and coughed violently. When I looked up again, Ethan had doubled in my vision, and my head had become heavy and dizzy. He had drugged the water. When I regained consciousness, I was tied to a European-style high-backed chair with only a layer of thin gauze draped over me. Several unsightly tags were wrapped around my ankles. Murderer, new Foster bride, cheap goods. Ethan’s assistant had even thoughtfully noted my measurements, accurate to two decimal places. The seats below the stage were filled with people, and their gazes fell over me without restraint, as if they wished they could devour me clean with their eyes. “Mr. Foster really is thoughtful, since he was worried no one would dare take a murderer like this, so he even let us inspect the merchandise first.” “Evelyn may be a little older, but her body is seriously amazing, with that tiny waist and those long legs, and I can barely hold myself back now.” “Although the starting bid is only one dollar, there are so many rich men and big shots here tonight that who knows how much it’ll cost to take her away, so I might as well feast my eyes first.”

Those filthy words were like countless sharp knives, stabbing straight into me and slicing away my dignity inch by inch. In the shadows at one corner of the auction hall, Ethan and a girl leaned together intimately. That must have been Chloe, the woman his friends had mentioned. I could not lift my eyelids, so I could only narrow my eyes and look over. The girl had long hair and wore a white dress, and from a distance, she looked somewhat like me when I was young. I did not know what she said, but it made the man beside her darken his gaze, his face full of desire. He picked the girl up in his arms and walked straight into the lounge backstage. After he had only taken a few steps, one of his friends asked, “Ethan, your wife is still here, so where are you going?” Without looking back, Ethan threw out one sentence. “Chloe is hungry, so I’m going to feed her.” Then he paused and ordered coldly, “Evelyn took the drug, so she won’t know what happens tonight, and after the inspection is over, just find someone to throw her back home, but none of you are allowed to disturb my fun.” Tears slid silently from the corners of my eyes. My heart kept falling until it fell into a bottomless abyss and made no more sound. Ethan thought that under the effect of the drug, I would not remember anything. But he did not know that so I could better protect Ethan, Grandpa Foster had long ago trained me to resist ether-type drugs. The lounge door closed with a bang. Without Ethan present, the words of the men below the stage became even more explicit. Someone even slowly approached me, the desire in his eyes completely undisguised. The gauze was torn away, and several greasy hands roamed freely over my body at the same time. Just when I was drowning in despair, someone glanced at the lounge door. Perhaps thinking of how Ethan had once protected me, they did not dare to truly do anything. The bitterness in my heart spread little by little. Ethan, who had once been jealous if someone so much as looked at me, now placed me in such a humiliating place and let others bully me. My mind grew hazy, and I did not know when I fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in my own bedroom with my pajamas intact. If not for the faint red marks still left on my wrists, I probably would have thought everything from last night was an absurd nightmare. Before I could gather myself, the bedroom door opened, and more than a dozen people rushed in at once. They hurriedly dragged me up. They did my makeup while changing me into a wedding dress. Only then did I realize in a daze that the day of my wedding to Ethan had arrived. After I changed into the wedding dress, I discovered that it was not the one I had originally chosen. The neckline of the dress I was wearing was extremely low, and without lowering my head, half of my pale chest could be seen. I was ashamed and angry, and my hands instinctively covered my chest tightly. But the woman in charge was not satisfied and forcefully pulled my hands away. “Miss Harper spent a few years in prison, and now she really has no manners at all, because what bride acts so timid at her own wedding and doesn’t even fear embarrassing the Foster family?” “This is the wedding dress Mr. Foster personally chose for you, and he said it suits a woman like you best.” I gritted my teeth as tears swirled in my eyes. Life in prison had been extremely hard, but every time I thought that after I got out, I could become Ethan’s wife openly and properly, I found the strength to keep going. It turned out the love of our youth had trapped only me from beginning to end. In a daze, I was dragged and shoved all the way to the wedding venue.

The guests were all prominent New York families, and they were dressed appropriately. Only I wore a wedding dress that barely covered my private parts, like a ridiculous clown, unsure of what to do under everyone’s gaze. As soon as he saw me, Ethan brought the girl from last night forward. “This is Chloe, the neighbor girl I grew up with, and she’s here today to be your bridesmaid.” Now even his lies were this careless and perfunctory. We had grown up together, so how could I not know whether he had some neighbor girl? What was more, the train of Chloe’s bridesmaid dress was a full ten feet long and covered in rhinestones. On her ring finger was a fourteen-carat Oppenheimer pink diamond. I remembered it, because it was the pink diamond Ethan had used to propose to me on the day I was released from prison. Only back then, he had said the pink diamond ring was expensive, so he would personally put it on me on our wedding day. No bridesmaid in the world was more glamorous than the bride. Unless she was not a bridesmaid, but the woman the groom truly wanted to marry. I did not expose him and simply looked at Ethan’s features from across the space between us. The man who had sworn again and again that he would marry no one but me had died long ago. Inside this body now was a completely unfamiliar soul. Perhaps I stayed silent for too long, because Chloe stepped forward and warmly linked her arm with mine. “Your figure is seriously amazing, and this wedding dress is such a good choice today, because it shows off your whole body so well that even a girl like me is about to get a nosebleed.” The next second, a burst of laughter suddenly rang through the banquet hall. “The Foster family’s new daughter-in-law really is shameless enough, dressing like that after being in prison, and I have no idea how Mr. Foster could have fallen for her.” “She came up to a perfectly good wedding dressed like this, like some cheap hooker, and she really can’t be brought into high society.” Mockery louder than the last was like a sharp blade, stabbing straight into my heart and making me hurt so badly that I could barely breathe. My face darkened, and I shoved Chloe away. “Since you like it so much, you can wear it instead.” Ethan protected Chloe in his arms and frowned, clearly a little displeased. “What do you mean by that?” “Chloe was complimenting your figure, so why are you being so passive-aggressive here?” “You’ve been in prison so long that you’re out of touch with society, and you can’t even tell good words from bad.” Prison, prison, prison again. Ethan had probably long forgotten that if it were not for me, those two words should have been nailed to him instead. Seeing that my face was still cold, Chloe raised a wineglass to me. “What I said just now was wrong.” “Come on, I’ll toast you, and consider it my apology.” Staring at the slightly cloudy liquid in the glass, alarm bells went off in my heart. When I looked up again, I realized everyone present had their eyes locked tightly on me. Thinking of last night’s cup of honey water, I understood at once. Yesterday was the inspection, and today was the official auction. “What, are you not going to give me this little bit of respect?” Chloe urged sweetly, with a hint of grievance in her tone. “Drink this wine yourself,” I said coldly, “because I don’t dare drink anything you offer.” Chloe’s face instantly became very ugly, and she turned to look at Ethan with tears filling her eyes. “Ethan, Evelyn, she…” Ethan frowned and stepped forward. “Evelyn Harper, don’t go too far.” “Chloe only wants to make peace with you, so why do you have to be so aggressive?” I looked directly into his eyes and asked each word slowly. “What exactly are you trying to do?” Guilt flashed through the man’s eyes, then he took the wineglass from Chloe’s hand and approached me step by step. I kept backing away until my back pressed against the cold wall and there was nowhere left to retreat. “Ethan Foster, do you want to force it into my mouth again like you did last night?” As soon as I finished speaking, he pinched my chin again. The wineglass in his hand was lifted high, the wine sloshed, and the next second, it all poured into my mouth. The cold wine flowed down the corners of my mouth, soaked the front of my wedding dress, then ran into my neck. Soon, under the effect of the drug, my consciousness became blurry again. Everything before my eyes grew shadowy, and Ethan and Chloe’s figures twisted in my blurred vision. I wanted to resist, and I wanted to call for help. But my body would not obey me, and my limbs were soft and powerless, so I could only let myself slide to the floor. My reaction stirred up everyone present into a frenzy. They cheered and screamed as they surrounded me in the middle. I did not know who squatted down and blew smoke into my face, and a cold lighter slapped my face hard twice. “We finally waited until the official auction, and after seeing you last night, you’ve been stuck in my head the whole time, making me wish I could have you right away.” “Baby, even though you just got out of prison, plenty of people are bidding on you, and I heard the price has already reached seven figures.”

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On my first day after being transferred to the headquarters as CEO. I had just pressed the button for the executive elevator when a female employee stopped me. “This is the executive elevator. Cleaners use the freight elevator. Turn left.” I froze for a second. “I’m not a cleaner.” But not only did she refuse to back down, she shrieked in a sharp voice, “If you’re not a cleaner, then are you an intern?” “Interns use the freight elevator too! If you don’t even understand a basic rule like that, you’d better get out right now!” I lowered my head and glanced at her name badge. Chloe Bennett, assistant to the general manager, wasn’t she my husband Adrian Blake’s assistant? I immediately called him to question him, but Adrian laughed indulgently on the other end of the line. “She’s just strict, so don’t hold it against her, and take the freight elevator. Otherwise, how is she supposed to hold her head up in front of everyone from now on?” After he said that, he hung up. Seeing this, Chloe looked smug. “Hurry up and get lost! Executives will be using this elevator later, so don’t dirty it!” I laughed from anger, pushed her aside, stepped straight into the elevator, and pressed the button for the top floor. Since management had been so poor before, I would handle it today.

Chloe froze, then reached out to pull me. “Are you deaf? This isn’t an elevator someone like you can use, so get out right now!” I ignored her. I pressed the door-close button directly. The elevator doors slowly closed, and she screamed before yanking her hand back in a panic. I never expected that in such a large company, there would actually be class discrimination like dedicated elevators inside. The elevator stopped on the 68th floor. I was in no hurry to go to the CEO’s office, and I did not plan to find Adrian first either. Instead, I turned and walked toward HR, planning to take a good look at the company’s hiring standards and rules first. But before I even reached the door, a sudden force came from behind me and yanked me backward. “You actually came up here!” “This is the top floor! It’s not somewhere a person like you can come!” I turned my head. It was Chloe again. She yelled at me, “You didn’t pass my approval for full-time employment! You don’t need to report to HR, so just get out!” “You even dared to ignore what I said! If you still think you can get in, you’re dreaming!” What? I laughed from anger. “How come I didn’t know that whether interns at our company pass probation depends on you?” After hearing that, Chloe not only failed to restrain herself, but crossed her arms and gave a smug scoff. “Who else would it depend on?” “I’m telling you! Every person sent to Mr. Blake has to pass through me, his chief assistant!” “You’re just an intern, yet on your first day, you sat in the executive elevator without permission, so you clearly don’t respect company leadership at all!” “I absolutely have the right to fire you directly!” When the nearby coworkers heard the commotion, they gathered around one after another, and most of them echoed her. “Interns these days can’t handle even the slightest hardship!” “Today she’s fighting to ride the executive elevator, so tomorrow is she going to fight to sit in the CEO’s seat?!” “If Miss Bennett says you don’t pass, then you don’t pass, and even if you bypass her and go to Mr. Blake, with just one look from Miss Bennett, you still won’t pass!” “Offending Miss Bennett is no different from offending Mr. Blake! Why haven’t you gotten lost yet?” I stood in the middle of the crowd, listening to those words, and felt a breath clog in my chest, heavy and suffocating. It seemed this woman was not just Adrian’s assistant. Seeing me frozen in place, Chloe reached out and jabbed my shoulder. “Did you hear that?” “Before Mr. Blake finishes his meeting, hurry up and get lost!” “Otherwise, with Mr. Blake’s temper, once he sees I’ve been bullied, he’ll make sure you can never work in this industry again!” The moment she reached out, I caught sight of the white watch on her wrist. Wasn’t this the one Adrian asked me to buy last month, saying it was a birthday gift for his mother? There were only ten of this model in the world. Among them, this was the only one with a white strap. I never expected that in the end, it would be worn on Chloe’s wrist. I took a deep breath, slapped her hand away hard, and said coldly, “Fine, then let Adrian come say these words to me. I’d like to see whether he dares!”

The air suddenly went silent. But very soon, Chloe reacted and pointed at me as she screamed. “Is Mr. Blake someone an intern like you can meet whenever you want?” As she spoke, she suddenly frowned, and her gaze became wary and disdainful. “I get it now! I think you came here to seduce Mr. Blake.” “First, you acted special and insisted on taking the executive elevator, and then you called him by his full name in front of everyone. Aren’t you just trying to get his attention and pull some Cinderella climb-to-the-top act?!” “You think you can seduce Mr. Blake? Why don’t you take a look at whether you’re worthy!” “I’ve seen plenty of women like you.” “Too bad for you, Mr. Blake has a thing about cleanliness, and at the company, aside from me, no other woman can get close to him!” I looked at her, furious beyond words. “I’m here to work. Also, starting today, anyone can use that elevator.” Chloe froze for a second, then her entire face flushed red. “What status do you have, and what right do you have? How dare you overturn the rules I set!” “I’ve been with Mr. Blake for ten years, and the rule for exclusive elevator use has existed for ten years too!” “How dare you talk nonsense in front of me!” At that moment, a woman wearing glasses walked over from the side of the crowd and gently tugged on my sleeve. “You should just listen to Miss Bennett.” “I’ve worked on the 63rd floor for so many years, and I’ve always taken the freight elevator, so it’s not that uncomfortable.” I could not help turning to look at the person who had spoken. “This is workplace discrimination. Have you never thought about objecting?” The next second, Chloe slapped her across the face. “So what if I made you take the stairs?” “You’ve worked for so many years and still haven’t been promoted to executive level. Not being able to ride the executive elevator is because you’re useless! How do you still have the nerve to speak?” “If you dare to cut in again, I’ll make you get out too!” I froze for a second, completely unable to believe she had actually hit someone. I hurriedly pushed her away. “That’s enough! How can you hit people?” Chloe gave a cold laugh, then raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. “I didn’t just hit her, I’m hitting you too!” At that moment, the people in HR heard the commotion outside and hurriedly opened the door to come out. The person leading them was the HR manager, Megan Carter, and she recognized me at a glance as the CEO who had just been transferred over today. Her face instantly went pale, and she yelled at Chloe, “Chloe Bennett! What have you done!”

After seeing her, Chloe narrowed her eyes and looked coldly at Megan. “Megan Carter, does your HR department not want to work anymore?” “You dare recruit an intern of this level?” She pointed at me, her tone growing even harsher. “I’m telling you, just because she used Mr. Blake’s executive elevator today, I now have to find someone to clean it inside and out!” “The cost will be at least five thousand! Should that money be deducted from your HR department’s salaries?” I laughed from anger. “Five thousand for one elevator ride? That’s extortion!” “Also, do you know that what you just did already constitutes workplace violence and intentional assault? I’m going to sue you.” Chloe froze for a second, then threw her head back and burst out laughing. “You?” “I’m telling you, at our headquarters, everything is decided by Mr. Blake!” “With Mr. Blake here, what can you possibly do to me?” As she spoke, she turned to Megan with a displeased look. “Megan, cancel her internship eligibility immediately!” “After today, I don’t want to see her in the company again!” “Otherwise, once Mr. Blake finishes his meeting, I’ll hold you accountable too!” Megan hurriedly reached out to steady me. Before she could even ask how I was, Chloe yanked her away. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Why are you helping an intern?” At this point, she looked me up and down. “Don’t tell me you’re Megan Carter’s relative?” After the surrounding employees heard that, they all frowned and began accusing Megan. “Megan, this isn’t right of you, is it?” “We’ve been colleagues for so many years, and when I asked you to arrange a position for my son before, you refused, but now you’re bringing your own relative in?” “What?” Megan panicked completely and hurriedly looked at my face. When she saw the red mark on my face, her pupils instantly widened. “Are you people insane? How could you hit her?” “Do you know she is…” Before she could finish, I pressed down on her hand and gently shook my head. I did not want to reveal my identity so quickly. After all, I still wanted to collect more evidence of Chloe’s workplace violations and send her to prison. Megan roughly understood what I meant, gritted her teeth, and said nothing more. Seeing this, Chloe said smugly, “I don’t care who she is, deal with her immediately!” Just then, the conference room door at the end of the hallway was pushed open. Adrian’s meeting had ended. Across the crowd, I saw him instantly move right to Chloe’s side. “Chloe, what happened?” “I heard you losing your temper from inside. With me here, who still dares to upset you?” Chloe instantly looked aggrieved and patted his chest sweetly. “Mr. Blake! It’s just a new intern!” “Not only did she break the rules, she even threatened to sue me!” Hearing this, Adrian suddenly turned his head. “This is outrageous! Who dares to treat you like this on my turf…” The next second, he turned and saw my face clearly, and his entire body froze. Looking at his guilty expression, I could not help giving a cold laugh. “Adrian, do you think I dare or not?”

When he saw me, he instantly put distance between himself and Chloe and pretended to stay calm as he spoke. “Didn’t I tell you not to make a big deal out of the elevator?” “Why did you turn it into something as serious as a lawsuit?” Hearing this, everyone looked at me in unison. “What does that mean? Does this woman really know Mr. Blake?” “But so what if she knows him? Didn’t you hear? Mr. Blake is still helping Miss Bennett.” When Chloe heard those words, her eyes instantly reddened. She reached out and grabbed Adrian’s sleeve, her voice full of grievance. “Mr. Blake, you said that in the company, no matter who it is, everyone has to strictly follow the rules I set!” “Even if she knows you, she is no exception!” “Besides, I was only worried that some outsider with an unclear background would just sit in your private elevator like that. What if she had some infectious disease? What would you do?” When Adrian heard those words, his expression instantly softened, and he turned to look at me. “Emma, she’s just a young woman who takes rules seriously.” “I’ll have her apologize to you, and we can let it go, okay?” “Apologize?” Chloe’s expression instantly turned displeased, and she suddenly shook off his hand. “Mr. Blake! Aren’t you here to help me?” “Why are you making me apologize to her? What right does she have?” “I was only protecting your private elevator, so what did I do wrong?” I looked at Adrian with a half-smile. “Private elevator?” “Adrian Blake, the company is not a place for you to act special.” “As for her apology, I don’t accept it.” “What?!” Chloe’s eyes widened with anger. “Who said I was going to apologize?” “You don’t even count as a formal employee, so since when do you get to interfere with our company’s rules?” Adrian seemed to realize that I was truly angry. He hurriedly stepped in front of me and said to Chloe, “Enough! Be quiet for now!” Then he turned and pulled me aside, speaking in a low voice. “Emma, she’s still young, so don’t hold it against her.” “If you’re this aggressive toward a young person, who will respect you in the future?” I instinctively frowned and shook him off. “Adrian, she is creating workplace discrimination in the company, and you’re actually allowing it?” Adrian opened his mouth. “That’s not what I mean…” I turned and glanced at the watch on Chloe’s wrist, then could not help sneering. “And the way you’re protecting your female subordinate, anyone who didn’t know better would think she was your wife.” Adrian’s face immediately panicked. Just as he was about to explain, Chloe burst out laughing. “You figured that out too?” What? I turned my head and met her smug, smiling face. “I have indeed been with Mr. Blake for a long time, so what?” “Now that you know, why don’t you hurry up, apologize to me, and get lost?!” After hearing her words, the surrounding discussion grew even louder. “Oh my God! So Miss Bennett really is Mr. Blake’s girlfriend! No wonder Mr. Blake spoils her so much!” “Actually, I noticed it a long time ago. When I came back several nights, I saw them kissing in the office!” “I’m dying. This woman thought complaining to Mr. Blake would help her, but she didn’t expect that the person she offended was Mr. Blake’s girlfriend!” Adrian’s face went deathly pale. “Chloe Bennett! This is the company! Stop talking nonsense!” But Chloe did not notice his expression, and she even lifted her wrist and spoke coyly. “How am I talking nonsense?” “This was the birthday gift you gave me a few days ago!” “Since she already knows, let’s stop hiding it!” Adrian panicked and grabbed her hard, trying to drag her outside. “Are you crazy? Shut up right now!” “You’re taking the day off today, and you can come back to work once you’ve cleared your head!” “Adrian Blake!” she shouted while struggling. “What are you afraid of her for? You’re the general manager.” When I heard that sentence, I smiled. I turned to Megan and said calmly, “Ms. Carter, starting today, fire Adrian Blake.” As soon as I said that, the entire room erupted. Especially Chloe, who suddenly pointed at me. “Who the hell do you think you are?” “How can you fire Adrian? Are you out of your mind?” Adrian’s face was pale, and he suddenly slapped Chloe across the face. “Stop talking! Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Immediately after, he walked toward me. “Honey… trust me… there’s really nothing between me and her…” I sneered and shook him off. “In the company, shouldn’t you call me Boss?”

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My husband, Ethan Blake, ended up at the police station for the seventh time, and once again, it was because he got into a fight defending my best friend, Lily Scott. When I arrived at the station, his face was covered in injuries, and he comforted Lily while ordering me around. “Ava, go pay the fine first. Lily got badly frightened, so I’ll stay here with her.” Lily was crying hysterically. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been sexually harassed by some creep again, you wouldn’t have had to fight for me again.” But Ethan looked completely unconcerned. “It’s not your fault that you were harassed. If something like this happens again, I’ll still step in.” He looked at me like it was only natural. “Ava will agree that I should protect you too.” I said nothing and asked calmly, “How much compensation do we have to pay this time?” The other party’s lawyer handed me a list. This time, Ethan had hit too hard, and we had to pay forty thousand dollars in medical expenses. I froze on the spot. “What if we don’t pay?” The lawyer looked at me with sympathy. “If you don’t pay compensation, your husband will definitely go to jail.” Of course I did not agree, and I touched my lower belly before turning to leave. Just an hour ago, I had still been hesitating over whether to divorce him. Now, it seemed I had to.

I had barely taken two steps out of the police station. Ethan immediately chased after me and grabbed my wrist. “Ava, why didn’t you pay the fine?” I looked at him calmly. “Ethan, you’re thirty this year, not thirteen.” “You’ve been taken to the police station six times for fighting, and as an adult, you should bear the consequences yourself.” His expression changed slightly. Lily ran over and grabbed my hand, her eyes red and swollen. “I’m sorry, Ava, it’s all my fault. Someone was following me again just now, and I really didn’t know who else to call, so I called Ethan.” As she cried, she slapped herself across the face. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have called Ethan. I’d rather be hurt by someone than watch your marriage suffer because of me…” “What are you doing!” Ethan stopped her and practically pulled Lily into his arms, moving so naturally it was as if they had done it many times before. “I already said it’s not your fault. I’m a man, and I can’t ignore something like that when I see it.” “Ava, stop making a scene. Go pay the fine, then apologize to Lily!” I said nothing and only stared steadily at the man I had loved for ten years. We met ten years ago because he saved me too. A drunk creep was following me, and Ethan rushed over, grabbed my hand, pulled me into his arms, pretended to be my friend, and took me somewhere safe. At that moment, my whole heart was full of him. I liked him even more because he had a steady, calm temper. But in the ten years we had been together, he had never fought for me. Even when I was sexually harassed by a senior executive at my company, he only frowned and advised me, “Let it go, Ava. If you make a big deal out of it, how will you keep working at the company?” But for Lily, he could make exceptions again and again. The first time he fought for Lily was because Lily’s ex-boyfriend broke into her home in the middle of the night and tried to rape her. After he got the call, he rushed to Lily’s place at one in the morning and beat her ex-boyfriend until his ribs were broken. After he was taken to the police station, he was completely certain. “Ava, I know I was impulsive, but she’s your best friend, and I couldn’t watch her get ruined by someone.” He wrapped me in his arms, his voice gentle. “Your poor husband is going to prison. Can you bear that?” I clenched my fists, and the diamond on my ring finger dug uncomfortably into my skin. But it also reminded me that we were husband and wife, one unit, and I could not let him go to jail. Back then, Lily cried until she was a mess of tears and held my hand gratefully. “Ava, you and Ethan are my saviors, and I’ll never forget this for the rest of my life!” But later, again and again. Ethan made exceptions for her over and over. And every time afterward, he swore to me, “This is the last time, Ava. Next time, I absolutely won’t be this impulsive.” This time, I was truly tired. I pushed Ethan’s hand away. “Ethan, forty thousand is not a small amount.” “The baby is already four months along. I need to save money to raise him and prepare a lot of things, and I can’t come up with that much money.” Besides, I had just decided to get a divorce, and I still needed to hire a lawyer. From now on, Ethan could only handle these things himself.

His expression changed instantly, and his tone darkened. “What about the money I usually give you? Ava, where did you spend all the money?” I let out a soft laugh. I took out an accounting notebook. Everything was written clearly inside. The money for my mother-in-law’s long-term hospitalization after she got sick was over two hundred thousand. The money for his last car upgrade was eight hundred thousand. The costs of all his business dinners and socializing added up to one hundred fifty thousand. There were also the medical compensation payments from the previous six times he fought for Lily, which already totaled more than three hundred thousand. As for the money I spent on caring for myself during pregnancy and taking supplements, it was in the last column, pitifully small at only a few thousand dollars. Ethan’s brows furrowed even deeper. “What about the company’s cash flow?” “The last project blew up, and it all went into filling that hole.” My voice was very soft. “You were busy going with Lily to see a therapist, so did you forget about the company?” Lily cried harder and harder, so Ethan could only comfort her while ordering me. “Go borrow some money first, and I’ll pay it back later! Lily feels terrible right now!” I told him to wait for me for a moment. Soon, I came back with a contract. “I’ll open authorization and use the company account for you. Sign this, and finance will transfer the money to me.” He signed it without even looking. I calmly put the contract away, paid the fine for him, and turned to leave. Ethan called from behind me, “I’ll take Lily home first. It’s dark, and she isn’t safe alone.” I said nothing. He had forgotten that I was alone too, and I was also a pregnant woman four months along. The sky was dark and the road was dim, and if I walked alone, I could easily be in danger too. But whenever it involved Lily, he cared about nothing else. I slowly walked home and prepared to pack my luggage. At the same time, I spoke to my lawyer on the phone. “I already tricked him into signing the divorce agreement.” The next second, the door opened. Ethan came back, a little tiredness in his eyes, and he was carrying a bag of my favorite cinnamon cake. “Hungry? How did today’s prenatal checkup go?” “It was fine.” “Don’t take Lily’s matter to heart.” He paused, his tone carrying a trace of apology. “Remember how Lily helped us when the company was at its hardest point, so we should be grateful to her too. Saving her is barely any effort.” I froze for a moment. Back when the company was struggling and on the verge of bankruptcy, I was the one who sold my patent to fill the hole for him. I only cared about his pride, so I did not tell him the truth and instead had Lily hand the bank card to him for me. I never expected that, even now, he still believed Lily had saved him. But I no longer wanted to explain. Ethan touched my face. “All right, this really is the last time. I promise you that from now on, I absolutely won’t impulsively step in again.” But when he mentioned the sleazy man who followed Lily, the hostility and murderous intent in his eyes could not be hidden at all. I gently pulled my hand away. “You’re hurting me.” He let go, and his tone softened a little. “All right, go to sleep. Our baby needs to sleep early too.” He carried me to bed, fed me some nourishing soup, massaged my feet for thirty minutes, and carefully lit the calming aromatherapy blend made especially for me. He gently stroked my belly. “Baby, hurry and sleep. Don’t kick Mommy, or Daddy will feel bad.” He had kept up this routine for all four months of my pregnancy. A faint ache rose in my chest. Every time I was unhappy because he favored Lily, he would do these little things. They made me unable to harden my heart, and they made me want to give him one more chance. I silently looked toward the divorce agreement in the drawer. If he promised this was the last time, perhaps I could give him one chance. One in the morning. The phone suddenly rang loudly. I woke in panic, but Ethan answered the phone even faster than I did. From the other end came a heart-wrenching cry. “Okay, don’t panic. I’ll be there right away!” Ethan threw on his coat and rushed out the door. “What happened?” “Something happened to Lily. I have to go check on her.” My heart tightened, and despite his objection, I followed him out. “I need to watch you, so you don’t hit someone again.” His face looked awful, and his voice was stiff. “I won’t hit anyone.” The car arrived at Lily’s home, and he took out a key and opened the door. Lily was wearing a semi-sheer lace nightgown, and she threw herself into Ethan’s arms, her voice shrill with fear. “Ethan, thank God you came. A man climbed in through my window just now, and I was so scared…” “But I already fought him off, and this time I didn’t cause trouble for you!” “Don’t worry. I’m here.” Ethan gently stroked her back. “You protected yourself very well.” Lily smiled through her tears. “That’s only because the self-defense moves you taught me worked.” I spoke softly. “Where is that man?”

They both looked at me at the same time. Lily immediately let go of Ethan and looked timid. “I’m sorry, Ava. Did I disturb your sleep again?” I took out my phone. “Since someone broke into your home just now and threatened you, how about I call the police for you?” “Ava!” Ethan scolded me in a low voice. “She just went through something terrible. Calling the police now will only upset her more. How can you not understand something so simple?” I could not help laughing out loud. “So we’re just going to let it go? Lily, every time something happens to you, the first thing you think of isn’t calling the police, but calling my husband.” As soon as I finished speaking, Lily’s face instantly turned as pale as paper. “I don’t know anyone else in this city. I only know you two, so…” “There are cameras all around your house, and the security level in this neighborhood is very high. If a man who broke into a private home could get in, he definitely isn’t ordinary. If you don’t call the police, you’ll still be in danger again.” I cut her off and pressed the number. The next second, Ethan snatched my phone out of my hand and smashed it on the floor! Bang! The screen shattered instantly, reflecting his twisted face. “Enough!” “She is your best friend. Stop being so aggressive!” I froze in place. He patted Lily’s shoulder. “I’ll stay here with Lily tonight and go back after dawn, in case that man comes back.” “Ava, go home by yourself.” I looked at him deeply. “Ethan, if you insist on staying here with her, we’re getting divorced.” Ethan’s face instantly turned livid. “Ava, are you sure you want to make a scene?” “I’m not making a scene.” “She is your best friend, and if she’s in danger, I can’t just ignore it!” “But she’s also a woman,” I looked coldly at Lily. “I cannot accept my husband being alone in the same room with another woman in the middle of the night.” “Lily, even I don’t have a key to your place, so why does my husband have one? Aren’t we supposed to be best friends? Or did you want Ethan to come and go from your home freely behind my back from the very beginning?” Lily swayed, her face deathly pale. “Last time, he took me home, and I thought maybe it would be more convenient to leave him a key.” “Ethan, hurry and go home with Ava. I don’t want you two to argue because of me…” The next second, however, she tremblingly clung to Ethan’s shoulder as if she were about to faint. Ethan picked her up in his arms, his voice cold as ice. “Stop talking nonsense.” “I’m only staying with her. I’ll sit by the bed and keep a video call open for you. Ava, your thoughts are disgusting.” He turned and carried Lily into the bedroom, and the door slammed so loudly it shook my ears. I turned around too. Outside, the cold wind howled, and at two in the morning, there were already no taxis on the street. Just like that, I walked six kilometers step by step before I got home. My feet were already swollen from pregnancy, and by the time I got home, both of my feet had been rubbed raw with blisters. My tears fell silently and endlessly. I remembered the year he loved me most, when I twisted my ankle at a sports meet. Even though he had just finished running a thousand meters himself, he carried me on his back all the way to the infirmary. Now, he was also the one who let me walk home alone on a winter night. How ridiculous. I took out that divorce agreement and signed my name heavily. Then I bought a plane ticket to South City three days later. Ethan, you will regret this one day.

Early the next morning, Ethan came home, his eyes shadowed with dark circles. “Why didn’t you answer when I video-called you last night?” “There was no need.” He sighed tiredly. “I only wanted to prove that there really is nothing between Lily and me. I help her only because she is your good friend.” I nodded faintly. “From now on, you can help her as much as you want.” He did not understand the meaning behind my words, and a trace of relief flashed in his eyes. “I knew you were understanding.” But a moment later, he suddenly received a phone call. “Ava, how can you be so vicious!” He grabbed my wrist hard, his eyes full of disappointment and hatred. “Lily hired a private investigator and found out that you hired that man!” “No wonder she keeps running into men stalking and harassing her. It turns out you were behind all of it!” My breath caught. “I didn’t! Ethan, you’re hurting me!” “I can call the police right now and have them investigate!” He sneered. “Those men have all fled abroad. If you were capable of doing this, then of course you made perfect arrangements! You honestly scare me!” He shoved me hard. My lower back hit a sharp decoration, and pain spread through my whole body until I went numb and collapsed to the floor. His figure had already disappeared through the door. And just as I was about to get up, in the next second, a scalding hot flow surged from beneath me. I was miscarrying! I immediately called Ethan. “Ethan, please take me to the hospital. I’m miscarrying!” The person on the other end was clearly tense for a moment. “Where are you?” But the next second, Lily’s voice sounded faintly. “Ava, I know you hate me, but you can’t use a fake miscarriage to trick Ethan.” “When I saw you last time, your pregnancy was very stable. How could you possibly miscarry?” I broke down. “Ethan! Don’t believe her. I really might be miscarrying. This is our child!” Ethan’s voice suddenly turned cold. “Ava, you can even lie about a miscarriage. You truly disgust me!” The call was abruptly hung up. Using the last of my strength, I propped myself up and called an ambulance. By the time I reached the hospital, my blood oxygen was very low, and the baby was already gone. I underwent a dilation and curettage on the bed, and the pain tore through me. But Lily posted a photo on Ins. She leaned on Ethan’s shoulder, eating pizza he had made with his own hands, smiling gently. [You said you would protect me forever, and you really kept your word] Around her neck was a necklace, the one Ethan had ordered for me from France for our last anniversary, and it had just arrived. At that moment, my heart hurt so badly that it went completely numb. My four-month-old baby was gone. The final thread between Ethan and me was completely severed too. One day later. I went to City Hall and rushed through the process to get the divorce certificate. When I came back, Ethan happened to be in the kitchen making soup. Seeing me arrive, he lifted his eyes slightly. “You’re back? Lily isn’t angry with you anymore, but you need to apologize to her.” I spoke softly. “Okay.” Ethan froze for a moment, and his tone became a little unnatural. “Also, her house isn’t very safe, so she’ll stay at our place for now. I plan to turn your studio into a bedroom for her.” “Okay.” He hesitated, looked at me for a long time, and sighed softly. “I hope you really mean that.” His gaze swept over my lower belly, but I was dressed thickly, so he did not notice anything wrong. “Take good care of the baby, and stop overthinking things. I’ll go to the hospital to see Lily first, then come back later to keep you company.” I smiled and quietly placed his copy of the divorce certificate in his study. What I thought no longer mattered, because what mattered was that I was leaving. Before Ethan went out, he suddenly spoke. “Oh, right. I ordered seafood, so remember to sign for it when it arrives. Lily likes fresh Australian lobsters, so put them in the fridge.” I still nodded and said okay. Even though he had forgotten that I was allergic to seafood. Everything completely faded from my life the moment he closed the door. I dragged my suitcase and went steadily to the airport. I only left him one sentence. [Ethan, we are completely over] A few hours later, I flew all the way to South City, and after landing, I turned on my phone. But a storm of missed calls and messages instantly flooded in.

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On the day my husband’s terminally ill first love gave birth to his child, my parents-in-law hired ten bodyguards to stand guard outside the delivery room. They were terrified I would show up and make a scene. But I never showed up. Not even after the baby was born. Inside the room, my mother-in-law, Martha, held the woman’s hand, her voice filled with emotion. “Chloe, sweetheart, don’t worry. As long as Robert and I are here, Elena won’t dare to hurt you or the baby!” My husband, Julian, looked at his weeping “white moonlight” with pure heartache, gently wiping the sweat from her forehead. “Rest easy, Chloe. My dad has men blocking the hospital entrance. If Elena tries to cause trouble, we’ll have her thrown out!” Only when the hours ticked by and I still hadn’t appeared did Julian finally let out a sigh of relief. He honestly couldn’t understand me. He was just trying to fulfill his dying first love’s final wish to be a mother. Why did I have to be so difficult and dramatic about it? Looking at the crying newborn in the nurse’s arms, a relieved smile spread across Julian’s face. He figured if I came to apologize to Chloe tomorrow, he would let our past arguments slide. He might even graciously allow me to raise the child as my own. But he had no idea that I had just submitted my final deployment papers to Doctors Without Borders. In one week, I would deauthorize my local medical practice license, pack my bags, and disappear into a warzone. We would never see each other again, in this life or the next.

On the day Julian helped Chloe out of the luxury postpartum recovery suite, I had just finished handing over my remaining patients at the hospital. As I approached the door of our shared apartment, the sound of laughter and joy drifted out. “Oh, look at him! He has Julian’s exact brow. Chloe, darling, you are the absolute savior of the Miller family!” Martha was cooing at the baby in her arms, while Julian walked out of the kitchen holding a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup. “You worked so hard, Chloe. I made this soup myself to help you recover. You’re still so weak; you need to nourish your body.” He sat on the edge of the bed, gently blowing on the soup before feeding her. They looked like a picture-perfect, loving family. My father-in-law, Robert, was shaking a rattle to entertain the baby, his face stretched in a massive grin. “This little guy is just as lovely as his mother. Thank God he didn’t inherit Elena’s boring, robotic personality. Having a workaholic doctor for a mother would have been a nightmare.” My hand froze on the doorknob. I remembered the first time I met Robert. He had proudly patted my shoulder, telling everyone how boasting about a doctor daughter-in-law made him feel like a king. Now, he was claiming a doctor didn’t deserve to have a family. I had only been away on a one-year medical exchange program, and already, this house had no room left for me. I lowered my head, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. Julian and I had been married for three years. We used to have a baby on the way, too. But due to a terrible accident, I lost the pregnancy and suffered severe uterine damage. I was declared permanently barren. When the doctor delivered the news, I cried until I choked. Julian had held me tight, swearing he would never want anyone else to bear his children. For my sake, he willingly chose to be child-free. But now, he had broken his vow. He had shattered his own principles just to satisfy his first love’s dying wish. I still remembered the day I left for my overseas training. He had cried like a child, holding me so tightly at the gate that he almost missed his flight. Throughout the year, we had called each other every single day on WhatsApp, sharing every detail of our lives. My colleagues used to tease me that after three years of marriage, we were still acting like teenagers in the honeymoon phase. But a month ago, when I finally got a short leave to surprise him—enduring a grueling nine-hour flight without a single complaint—I walked into our neighborhood only to see Julian holding hands with Chloe. And Chloe was heavily pregnant. “Elena? When did you get back? Why are you just standing at the door?” Chloe’s soft voice snapped me back to reality. The other three people in the room instantly whipped their heads toward the entryway. When Martha saw the resignation letter in my hand, her face immediately hardened into a scowl. “Why on earth did I ever let Julian marry a freeloading curse like you? Resigning? Are you planning to sit on your lazy butt and let my son support you?” Robert chimed in with equal disgust. “You can’t even keep a stable, prestigious job. What are you good for? If we knew you were this useless, we would have never let you cross our threshold!” “Chloe’s body is fragile right now, and raising a baby costs a fortune. Instead of helping Julian ease the financial burden, you’re just adding stress. What kind of wife does that?” I looked at them, finding the whole situation incredibly dark and hilarious. “What about Julian, then? He knocked up another woman while his wife was away saving lives. What kind of husband does that?” “Elena, that’s enough! I did this for us!” Julian stood up, his brow furrowed, his eyes turning ice-cold as he glared at me. “You can’t have kids. So I let Chloe have one for you. I was trying to give you the chance to be a mother without the physical pain. Why can’t you appreciate my good intentions?” “This was a win-win! Chloe gets to fulfill her lifelong dream before she passes away, and you get to be a mother. I don’t get why you’re being so incredibly bitter!” “If Chloe hadn’t pulled me out of that car wreck two years ago, I’d be dead! Both of her parents are gone, and she has late-stage cancer. In a few months, she won’t even be in this world anymore.” “As a woman, shouldn’t you have some empathy for her? Why are you always attacking her? Or do you honestly think I’m some cheap, cheating bastard?” Chloe looked at Julian with tearful, adoring eyes, then turned her pitiful gaze to me. “Elena, please don’t fight. I know this is all my fault. I promise I will disappear from your lives as soon as I can, but please don’t let me ruin your marriage.” Looking at the four of them standing united against me, I realized something. They were the real family. I was just the outsider. Julian spoke up again, his voice dropping into a threatening tone. “Elena, my patience has limits. If you dare to target Chloe again, don’t blame me for what happens next!” “If you want to keep this marriage, fall in line. At the baby’s welcome party next week, I’ll publicly introduce you as his mother in front of all our family and friends.” Next week? I glanced at the sleeping infant in the stroller. Next week, I would be boarding a flight to the Middle East. But before I left, I didn’t mind giving them a little farewell gift they would never forget.

I nodded slowly, my face completely expressionless. “Fine.” Without waiting for their reaction, I turned around, went into the bedroom, and closed the door to pack my things. Since I had decided to leave for good, I didn’t want to leave a single trace of my existence in this apartment. The joyful laughter from the living room drifted through the door. My hands paused as I folded a sweater. “Chloe, let’s name him Leo Chloe Miller. That way, even if he has to call someone else ‘mom’ in the future, he’ll never forget his real mother.” Even without looking, I could picture Julian’s deeply emotional face as he said those words. My heart had already been torn to shreds by him anyway. I felt nothing. My mind drifted back to last month when I had rushed home, carrying souvenirs I had carefully picked out for Julian. But at the entrance of our building, I ran into them returning from their evening walk, hand-in-hand. Unlike Julian, who looked utterly terrified, Chloe had looked at me with smug confusion, questioning if I had gotten the wrong apartment. “Are you lost? This is my home.” I hadn’t said a word. My eyes were glued to her swollen belly. I had been away for ten months. My husband had moved his first love into our bed, and she was pregnant. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they had been doing. Julian had quickly scrambled to step between us, nervously stammering, “Chloe, this is… Elena. My wife.” Even after knowing who I was, Chloe didn’t back down. Instead, she put on the air of the lady of the house, condescendingly inviting me in for tea. As we brushed past each other, she whispered in a voice only I could hear: “I heard you’ve been married to Julian for three years? A substitute is just a substitute, babe. You can’t compare to the real deal.” “Now that I’m back, it’s time for you to pack up and get out.” The rage had consumed me. I couldn’t hold back. I swung my arm and slapped her across the face with all the resentment, longing, and betrayal of the last ten months. The neighbors heard the commotion and ended up calling the cops. Because it was a domestic dispute, the police didn’t press charges and told us to settle it privately at home. The moment we got back, my in-laws arrived and immediately unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse on me. They screamed that I had humiliated the family in front of the entire neighborhood. They called me an uneducated brute for hitting a pregnant woman, swearing they would ruin me if anything happened to the baby. It turned out they had known about the affair the entire time. They had fully supported it. In just one year, Chloe had become their dream daughter-in-law. I was the only one kept in the dark. I tasted copper in my mouth from biting my lip so hard. Julian had walked over, his eyes red, trying to grab my hand to play the peacemaker. “Elena, I never wanted to betray you. But Chloe’s health is failing. The doctors said she has six months at most. Her only wish was to have a child of her own.” “She saved my life. I couldn’t let her die with such a massive regret…” “I wanted to tell you, but you were so far away, and I didn’t want to ruin your studies. I figured we could talk about it when you returned.” “If you’re willing, we can raise this baby together, okay?”

Something so monstrous sounded so incredibly casual coming from his mouth. I packed the last item into my suitcase. Just then, Martha pushed the door open. Seeing the suitcase at my feet, she smirked, looking pleased. “Well, at least you have some self-awareness. Since you weren’t here, I let Chloe sleep in your bedroom. The study has been turned into a nursery. You can sleep on the couch tonight. If you don’t like it, go pay for a hotel.” I was too exhausted to fight or look for a hotel, so I just nodded and decided to crash on the sofa. But in the middle of the night, the baby’s crying kept echoing from the master bedroom. I tossed and turned, about to put in my earplugs, when I heard Chloe complaining. “Julian, make the baby stop. He’s keeping me awake.” Then came Julian’s soft, doting laugh. “You’re my only baby, Chloe. I only care about keeping you happy. Let the kid cry a bit; it’s good for his lungs.” I pulled the blanket over my head, trying desperately to block out their happy domestic sounds. But the moment I closed my eyes, I remembered the way Julian looked when he first confessed his love to me. He had been so bright, so full of life, with eyes that saw only me. But that Julian was dead. I drifted through a sleepless night and left the apartment with my suitcase at dawn. I went straight to the government office to deauthorize my domestic registry and finalize my international travel permits. Because my deployment with the NGO was pre-approved, the paperwork went through incredibly fast. The clerk didn’t ask many questions. Right before I left, she handed me a small handful of fruit candies with a warm smile. “Safe travels, doctor. Thank you for your service.” I smiled back, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders. I booked a cheap hotel nearby to store my luggage. After dropping my bags, I went out to find something to eat, only to run straight into Julian, Chloe, and his parents. Chloe was wearing a brand-new Patek Philippe bracelet, looking radiant and smug. She didn’t look like someone on her deathbed at all. “Elena! I told Julian that was you, but he insisted you wouldn’t be around here~” Her eyes locked onto the flyer in my hand, and her smile widened. “Oh… are you looking for a job? But why on earth are you looking at waitress gigs?” “Even if you’re mad at Julian, you shouldn’t degrade yourself like this…” I stayed silent. The flyer had just been shoved into my hand by a young girl shivering in the cold. I had accepted it out of pity. Seeing my silence, Chloe’s eyes flashed with triumphant glee. “You should have told us you needed work! I could have helped you find something decent.” “We’re family, after all. If you have a good job, Julian and the baby will have someone to rely on after I’m gone. It would give me peace of mind.” My silence was taken as a confession of defeat. Julian’s puzzled expression instantly hardened into pure disgust. His brows knit together, his lips curling into a sneer of utter contempt. “Why bother helping her? She chose to throw away a perfectly good residency at the hospital. If she ends up starving on the streets, she deserves it.” “Elena, I can’t believe you’d resort to playing the victim just to make me feel guilty about the baby. You are pathetic!” I looked at his familiar face, now feeling absolutely nothing but detachment. I remembered when we first got married. I had faced some heavy political drama at the hospital and wanted to quit medicine altogether. Julian had held me in his arms, stroking my hair, whispering: “We’re a team, babe. Whatever you decide, I’m with you.” “Who cares about the hospital? I’ll support you forever.” Yet here he was, standing by and letting another woman humiliate me. He had forgotten every promise he ever made. He had forgotten the love we once shared. Even Robert and Martha shook their heads in disgust. “Elena, you’re just a barren woman who can’t even carry the Miller family legacy, and you’re never home. How could you ever compete with Chloe?” “It’s no wonder Julian had to look elsewhere. You only have your own lack of charm to blame!” They spoke louder and louder, drawing stares from the pedestrians passing by. My hands clenched into tight fists, my nails digging into my palms. Before I could speak, Chloe stepped forward with a sweet smile. “We’re actually on our way to get family portraits taken. Elena, why don’t you join us? After all, you’ll be the one taking care of Julian and the baby in the future.” I gave her a flat look, refusing to say a word. Julian scoffed, wrapping his arm protectively around Chloe’s shoulders. “Chloe, you’re too sweet for your own good, but some people just don’t appreciate kindness.” “Elena, drop the attitude. Nobody’s begging you to come. Frankly, you’d just ruin the aesthetic of our family photos anyway.” With that, he pulled Chloe away toward the photo studio. “We’ll be off then! Good luck with the job hunt, Elena~” Chloe waved, throwing one last condescending smirk over her shoulder. Watching them walk away, my heart remained entirely still. To any passerby, they looked like a perfect, happy family. If this was the life Julian wanted, I was more than happy to let him have it.

Three days before my scheduled departure, I received a text on WhatsApp from Director Jenkins. He told me that the specialist I had asked him to contact was in the city for a medical forum, and he could squeeze in an appointment to look at Martha’s chronic asthma. Martha had suffered from severe asthma for years. Though it had been managed, she still had violent flare-ups that had sent her to the ER in the past. Even while I was busy with my intensive training program abroad, I had spent my free time consulting colleagues and gathering case files to find a cure for her. Despite everything, we had been family for three years. I wanted to do this one last thing so I could leave with a clean conscience, owing them nothing. But when I told Martha I wanted to take her to the clinic, her face twisted in anger. “Why the hell would I go to the hospital? Just because I scolded you, you’re trying to curse me with a terminal illness?” “Elena, how can you be so malicious? My latest check-up said I’m perfectly healthy!” “This is a world-renowned asthma specialist who rarely takes appointments. You should really get a scan, just to be safe—” Before I could finish, Martha snatched her mug off the table and threw it at me. “Cut the crap! As if an unemployed loser like you could book a world-class specialist! You’re nothing but a liar. When Chloe stayed up all night to get me a specialist ticket, where were you?” She compared me to Chloe at every turn. Her attitude made it clear. No matter what I did, I was wrong. No matter how hard I tried, I would never measure up to Chloe. I let out a soft, hollow laugh. “If you don’t want to go, then don’t.” I was stupid for caring in the first place. Soon, the day of the baby’s one-month celebration arrived. I showed up late. The banquet hall was packed with distant relatives and acquaintances whose names I couldn’t even remember. The scale of this party was grander than my wedding with Julian. Right at the entrance, there was a massive, blown-up portrait of their “perfect family.” Julian, Chloe, the baby, and his parents. I was completely erased. The moment the relatives saw me, they began whispering and pointing. I didn’t need to hear them to know what they were saying. My aunt grabbed my arm, her face tight with fake curiosity. “Elena, dear! When did you get back? Julian never mentioned it. And when did you guys have a baby?” “I heard you finished your advanced fellowship. Are you getting promoted to Chief of Surgery at the hospital soon? Your future looks so bright!” I didn’t explain. I just gave her a polite nod. But I could see the pity and mockery in her eyes. After all, I wasn’t in the family portrait. And the woman standing next to Julian, greeting guests as the hostess, wasn’t me either. A nosey cousin pointed to Chloe, who was currently feeding Julian a piece of cake. “Elena, who is that woman?” I smiled faintly. “Julian’s new wife.” The surrounding relatives gasped, immediately crowding together to whisper the fresh gossip. Since Julian’s family didn’t care about my dignity, why should I bother saving theirs? Just then, Julian stepped up to the podium and took the microphone. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate my son’s one-month milestone.” “Before this, I never imagined myself as a father. I didn’t think I could handle the responsibility.” “But the moment I heard his first cry, I realized what it truly means to protect someone.” My aunt shouted from the crowd, “Let the baby’s mother come up and speak! Where is she?” The atmosphere in the hall instantly froze. Everyone’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Chloe. The elephant in the room was finally being dragged into the light. The guests were waiting to see who Julian would claim. I locked eyes with Julian, then slowly walked up to the stage. Before he could react, I smoothly took the microphone from his hand. “What are you doing? Don’t you dare make a scene, or I’ll destroy you,” he hissed under his breath, grabbing my wrist. I pulled my arm back with a cold glare. If he hadn’t done anything shameful, why was he so terrified of me speaking? I turned to the crowd, my voice calm and clear over the speakers. “First of all, thank you all for coming today.” “Many of you were there when Julian and I swore our wedding vows. I’ve carried your blessings with me for three years. But as you probably noticed from the portrait at the entrance, things have changed.” Julian’s face went completely pale. He lunged forward, trying to snatch the microphone back. I stepped aside quickly and kept speaking. “To be honest, I was shocked too. I spent a year saving lives abroad, only to return and find my husband living with another woman who was carrying his child.” “They even had the audacity to ask me to raise this child as my own to ‘help me experience motherhood.’ But I’m afraid I have no interest in raising another woman’s baby.” “Julian, I want a divorce.”

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My wife locked me in the bridal suite on our wedding day. All because she ran into her college sweetheart. I sat in the locked room, watching the suite’s smart TV screen. On it, she and Austin were embracing and kissing, completing the entire wedding ceremony in front of all our guests. When the reception finally ended, Chloe walked into the room. The lipstick on her lips was smeared all over her face. Yet, she looked at me with complete nonchalance. “Ethan, I couldn’t get ahold of you. We couldn’t just cancel the wedding. Besides, it’s just a ceremony anyway.” I looked at the screen again. The live feed had moved to the after-party in the suite. Austin was pinning Chloe down on the couch, his hands all over her. I smiled. Later, her company was ruined by that very man. She came crawling back, crying and begging for my help. But she seemed to have forgotten one simple fact. We were already divorced. The wedding was over, and the door to my hotel suite was finally unlocked. Chloe walked in, carrying the scent of another man’s expensive cologne. The smeared lipstick on her face made her look both pathetic and cheap. I looked at her quietly. Then, my eyes drifted back to the TV screen, which was still casting the Snapchat live stories of her and Austin. Austin was practically on top of her, and their movements were disgusting. I remembered how much effort I had put into planning this wedding. I had spent sleepless nights dreaming of our future. To find the perfect wedding ring she wanted, I had traveled to three different cities. To design the dream venue, I personally drew every single sketch. Countless nights of anticipation had led to this trash show. The pain washed over me like a tidal wave. It was the kind of agonizing betrayal that rips your chest wide open. But strangely, after the initial shock, a cold calm took over. When did Chloe start changing? I didn’t say a word. I just looked up at her. She seemed to know what I wanted to ask. She rolled her eyes, her gaze filled with annoyance. “It was just a show for the guests. You weren’t there, so should we have just canceled the whole thing? Austin was only helping me out. Don’t be so narrow-minded.” Just then, Austin walked into the room. He had a fake, apologetic smile on his face. “Ethan, don’t be mad. It’s all a misunderstanding.” I laughed out of pure anger. I pointed at the TV screen. “A misunderstanding? You call this trashy behavior a misunderstanding?” Chloe instantly stepped in front of Austin, defending him. “Don’t yell at him! If you hadn’t messed up and disappeared at the last minute, would this have happened? Austin was just trying to save my reputation. What did he do wrong? Stop throwing a tantrum!” Where did my phone go? Why was my door locked from the outside? Why couldn’t I contact the hotel staff? And why was the TV casting their live feed? The answers were screamingly obvious. Watching Chloe pretend to be innocent made her look like a clown. I didn’t say another word. I walked past them, got into my car, and drove back to our apartment. I lit a cigarette. The smoke drifted slowly under the warm yellow light and disappeared into the air. You can never hold onto smoke. Just like I could never hold onto Chloe’s heart. The wedding portrait on the wall stung my eyes. We looked so happy and in love back then. Everyone used to say we were a match made in heaven. Now, looking at it, I felt nothing but cold emptiness. Chloe didn’t come home that night. I wondered if she even remembered who she had actually married today. She sent a text saying Austin had helped a lot, so she had to buy him dinner to thank him. I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Memories flashed in my mind like a movie on repeat. Her beautiful smile when we first met, our romantic walks on the beach, the sweet excitement of planning our future… Now, those memories were nothing but sharp knives. I pulled out my phone, posted the screenshot of her and Austin kissing at the altar on Instagram, and captioned it: “Wish you two a lifetime of happiness.” The next evening, I came home from work and saw Chloe sitting on the couch. Her face was incredibly dark. I hung my briefcase on the rack and walked right past her. I had no energy left to play her games. “Ethan Carter!” She slammed her hand on the coffee table, stood up, and glared at me as if I were the one who had committed a crime. “What is wrong with you? What is this attitude, Ethan? What is the meaning of your Instagram post?”

I looked at her and laughed. The laugh was empty and cold. “What does it mean? Exactly what it says. You had your wedding with him, you spent your wedding night with him, and now you’re asking me what it means?” She frowned. A flicker of panic crossed her eyes, but she quickly covered it up with her usual aggressive tone. “Can you stop being so insecure? Austin and I are just old college friends. Yesterday was an emergency. Nothing happened between us!” Then, she sat back down on the couch, fake-wiping tears from her dry eyes. Every time we fought, she did this. Whenever she was in the wrong, she would play the victim. In the past, I always fell for it. The moment she cried, I would panic and do everything to make her happy. But this time, I just looked at her coldly. I didn’t move an inch. Seeing that I wasn’t backing down as usual, she stopped her fake sobbing. Her eyes filled with disbelief. During our years together, I had given Chloe everything she wanted. I tolerated all her whims. Maybe that was why she thought she could walk all over me without caring about my feelings. “Can’t you show me some trust? Fine, stop acting like a child. Delete the post. Don’t make us look bad in front of everyone,” Chloe said. It was laughably pathetic. I had seen the live streams. The way they touched on stage was not something you could explain away with “an emergency.” Besides, she knew exactly how much those actions would hurt me, but she did them anyway. “I’m not deleting the post,” I said. I reached into my briefcase, pulled out the divorce papers I had prepared, and slammed them on the table. “Sign this.” My voice was dead calm. Too many disappointments had turned my heart to ice. Chloe’s eyes widened as she stared at the divorce papers. “Ethan! Are you insane? We just got married yesterday, and you want a divorce over this little thing?” Yes, I felt like I was going insane. Since we got together, I had sacrificed everything for her. I turned down a high-paying job in New York just to stay in Chicago to help her build her startup. I worked day and night to give her a luxury lifestyle. I took care of her family. And in return, she trampled on my dignity. I remembered one time she went to take a shower and left her phone on the table. It lit up with a text from Austin. I caught a glimpse of it. The message was incredibly flirtatious. When I confronted her, she simply shrugged it off. “It’s just an inside joke between college friends. Don’t be so dramatic.” Back then, because I loved her too much, I chose to believe her. I even blamed myself, thinking I was working too hard and neglecting her. So, I made more time for her. I bought her expensive gifts. I took her on trips she always wanted to go on. But she just accepted everything as her right, never changing her behavior. Austin was her college sweetheart. She had never gotten over him. Back then, Austin was broke and had no stable job, so Chloe’s parents forced them to break up. Later, I met Chloe at a business gala and fell for her. She pursued me, and we naturally started dating. She was sweet and caring back then. We had good memories. But Austin’s return shattered everything. Pulling myself back to reality, I pointed at the papers. She stared at them for a second, and then a sneer appeared on her face. “Ethan, do you really think this reverse psychology works on me? It’s so old-school! You’re just jealous of Austin. Do you have to make such a big deal out of it? Stop acting up!” She swept the divorce papers off the table, grabbed her purse, and slammed the door as she went to her room. As she brushed past me, the scent of men’s cologne hit my nose again. It wasn’t mine. It made me want to throw up. My phone rang. It was my best friend, Marcus. I looked at my exhausted face in the mirror before answering. “Hey Ethan, how’s life? Any new plans lately?” Hearing his familiar voice made a lump form in my throat. “Lately… it’s been okay. Everything is… normal.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but the words felt empty. Marcus seemed to sense something was wrong. He didn’t press me. Instead, he changed the subject. “I’m looking for a partner for a few of my tech startups in New York. You know you’re the smartest business mind I know. Besides, your family has deep roots in New York. Why don’t you come back and build this empire with me?”

My heart skipped a beat. Years ago, because of Chloe, I had a massive fight with my family and stubbornly chose to stay in Chicago. But now that this marriage was dead, it was time to reclaim my life. “Alright, count me in,” I said without any hesitation. I trusted Marcus completely. I had distanced myself from my old friends because of Chloe. It was time to fix that. After hanging up, I started packing my bags. Before leaving Chicago, I went to Chloe’s company to pack up my personal belongings. When I walked into the office, my former colleagues gave me weird looks. Whispers echoed around me. I walked straight to my desk and realized Chloe wasn’t there. I asked around and found out she had gone out with Austin. Without wasting any time, I packed my things and left the office where I had poured years of sweat and tears. An hour later, I was on a flight back to New York. When I arrived, Marcus had already set everything up. He booked me into a penthouse suite at a five-star hotel. I dragged my suitcase into the room, freshened up, and got ready to meet him. As I walked down the hallway past the neighboring suite, I noticed the door was slightly ajar. It was shaking. Then, disgusting sounds came drifting out. “Austin… faster… I love you so much.” The voice was hauntingly familiar. My body froze. My mind went blank. Even though I didn’t want to believe it, I knew that was Chloe’s voice. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. But I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm. I used to cry over her betrayal. Now, I felt nothing but cold indifference. This woman wasn’t worth a single drop of my emotion anymore. Over the next few months, Marcus and I poured all our energy into our new venture. The company grew at a breakneck speed, dominating the market and drawing massive attention from Wall Street. Meanwhile, Chloe’s company, which used to rely entirely on my business strategies, began to tank. During that time, Chloe tried to reach out to me countless times. My phone blew up with her calls and messages, but I blocked her. I was too busy. After months of sleepless nights, our company was finally ready to launch its first massive round of series-A funding. We threw a grand gala. The venue was magnificent, lit by crystal chandeliers. I was chatting with some major venture capitalists when I caught a familiar figure out of the corner of my eye. It was Chloe. She was wearing a tight black dress. Her makeup was heavy, but it couldn’t hide the deep dark circles under her eyes. I later found out that a new intern in our PR department had made a mistake and accidentally sent an invite to Chloe’s struggling firm. And Austin was standing right next to her. Chloe spotted me and marched over, her high heels clicking loudly on the marble floor. She stopped right in front of me. Ignoring the crowd, she yelled, “What is your problem, Ethan? Why aren’t you answering my texts? Do you have any idea how ruined my company is because you left?” Her voice was shrill. Instantly, the chatter around us died down. Everyone turned to look at us. Austin patted her shoulder, and she calmed down a bit. “Oh, look at you,” Chloe sneered, crossing her arms. She looked me up and down with pure disgust. “Did you lose your job and come here to find a sugar mommy?” Austin laughed along, his voice dripping with malice. “Probably. He knew he had no future in our company, so he came here to beg for scraps. But honestly, a loser like him will never make it big.” The two of them laughed together. I frowned slightly, feeling a spark of annoyance, but I kept my cool. “Chloe, Austin. Long time no see. But I’m afraid things aren’t quite what you think.” Chloe scoffed. “What’s there to think? Don’t tell me you’re the CEO of this company?” She and Austin burst into laughter again. It was incredibly grating. Just then, Marcus ran over. He walked straight to me and spoke loudly. “There you are, Ethan! Come on, the lead investors from Goldman Sachs are waiting to sign the contract with you.” Chloe’s laughter cut off instantly. Her face turned pale, and then a dark, vicious look crossed her eyes. “Hmph, stop putting on a show! Even if you are the boss here, don’t forget we are still married! Half of this company belongs to me!” She took a step closer, her chin raised in a scheming sneer. “Ethan Carter, you better pack your things and come back to Chicago right now to pay off my company’s debts. If you hadn’t abandoned me, my company wouldn’t be in this mess! This is your fault, and you have to pay for it!” She spoke with such self-righteousness, as if I truly owed her. But she seemed to have completely forgotten that she had signed the divorce papers on the night she got drunk. I took a deep breath, suppressing my anger, and looked at her coldly. “Chloe, you really have no shame. But let me remind you—we are already divorced.”

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On the day of our engagement, my fiancé’s childhood best friend showed up in a black funeral dress and a lace veil. The banquet hall went dead silent. Marcus, my fiancé, quickly pulled me aside to explain. “Nora’s baby boy just passed away three days ago. She’s still drowning in grief…” “Just be the bigger person, Chloe. It’s already a huge favor that she even dragged herself to our engagement party. Don’t be so petty.” I stared at Marcus and his precious childhood friend, Nora, completely speechless. Did he seriously just use the phrase “be the bigger person”? I wasn’t an idiot. If Nora wanted to mourn a freaking dog, that was her business. Even if she wanted to call that dog her biological father, what did it have to do with me? But now, Marcus was openly taking her side at our own engagement party. He even had the nerve to tell me not to get worked up over a dead dog… I grabbed the edge of the VIP dining table and flipped it. *Crash!* Champagne glasses shattered, and the expensive cake splattered all over the floor. Screw this engagement!

The table lay in ruins, food and drinks scattered everywhere. Everyone in the hall gasped, their eyes locking onto us. Marcus stared at me, his face a mask of utter disbelief. He probably never imagined that I, the girl who had always been gentle and submissive for the past six years, would do something so wild. “Chloe! Are you out of your mind?” “Today is our engagement party!” I looked up, my eyes ice-cold as I swept a glance over him. Then, I let out a soft laugh. “Oh, right. Our engagement party.” “Too bad. I don’t feel like getting engaged anymore.” The moment those words left my mouth, Nora, who was standing right behind Marcus, swayed on her feet. It was as if she had just received a fatal blow. She weakly grabbed Marcus’s arm, her eyes instantly welling with tears. “Chloe… sweetie… is it… is it because of me? Did I do something wrong?” She bit her lower lip, her voice trembling as she sobbed. “I… I really only came here today to give you guys my blessings.” With that pathetic, victimized look, she made me look like some kind of heartless monster. I was too tired to play along with her little drama. “Your blessings?” “Tell me, Nora. What kind of sane person wears a literal funeral gown to someone else’s celebration to offer ‘blessings’?” My question cut through the room like a knife. Instantly, every guest’s eyes zipped right to her. Actually, the murmurs had started the second Nora walked in. But she had ignored them completely, doing nothing but squeezing herself closer and closer to Marcus. Under the harsh glare of the crowd, Marcus’s face turned a violent shade of crimson. He instinctively stepped in front of Nora to shield her. “Chloe! Stop making a scene!” He lowered his voice, his tone laced with a harsh warning. “I already told you, Nora’s baby boy just passed away! She is absolutely devastated right now!” “You should show some empathy!” Hearing the word “baby boy,” the surrounding guests gasped in understanding. “Oh… so she lost her son. That’s heartbreaking.” “Yeah, her own child just passed, yet she still forced herself to attend her friend’s engagement. That is true loyalty.” “Still, though… wearing black to a celebratory party? It’s a bit of a bad omen, isn’t it?” The whispers weren’t loud, but they were crystal clear. Hearing the crowd tilt in her favor, a flash of smugness crossed Nora’s eyes. She leaned weakly against Marcus’s chest, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls. “Marcus… it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have come.” “I just… I just wanted to see you be happy with my own eyes. We grew up together. You’ve always been like a big brother to me…” She cried so delicately, looking completely helpless. Marcus’s heart practically broke for her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her. Then, he turned to me, his eyes filled with deep disappointment. “Chloe, apologize to Nora. Now.” “She’s already going through hell. How can you be so malicious and twist her pure intentions?” Watching this disgusting display of “brotherly-sisterly love,” the last bit of warmth in my heart died. I let out a cold sneer. “You want me to apologize to her?” Under everyone’s bewildered stares, I slowly lifted my chin. “She chose to put on a funeral dress for a dog, and then she brought her little circus to my engagement party!” “Marcus, let me ask you. Why the hell should I care about her dead pet?” The entire banquet hall erupted into a frenzy.

Marcus’s face flushed from red to white, then to a sickly green. I decided to throw more gas on the fire. Taking a step forward, I raised my voice so everyone could hear. “Everyone, I am truly sorry for the clown show you had to witness today.” “But I think there’s something you all should know.” “This ‘baby boy’ my dear fiancé keeps talking about…” I dragged out my words, watching with satisfaction as the color drained completely from Nora’s face. “…is just a dog.” “Nora wants to treat a dog like her child? Fine. That’s her business. I don’t give a damn.” “But bringing her funeral attire to my engagement party to curse my relationship? No way in hell.” The moment the truth came out, the chatter in the room doubled in volume. But I was done listening. I clapped my hands twice. Right on cue, two of my family’s private bodyguards stepped into the hall. I pointed a manicured finger at Nora, who was cowering behind Marcus. “Go.” “Strip that depressing black rag off her.” Nora shrieked, trembling violently as she tried to hide behind Marcus. “Marcus! Save me! I’m scared!” Marcus finally snapped out of his shock. He shielded her fiercely. “Chloe! Don’t you dare!” He glared at me with a ruthlessness I had never seen in him before. “If you go this far today… we are done. Permanently!” “Done?” I let the word roll around in my mouth, and then I laughed. “Marcus, get one thing straight. You are the one who is done.” By now, the guests had fully processed the situation. “Oh my god, a funeral dress for a dog? Is that girl crazy?” “There are all kinds of freaks in this world. Treating a dog like a kid is one thing, but wearing black to an engagement? She did that on purpose to ruin the day.” An older woman who did business with my family—known for her bluntness—snorted loudly. “Honestly, sweetie. You call a dog your son, but does the dog even know who its daddy is?” The roast was brutal and precise. The crowd fell into a hushed, amused silence. Nora’s face was no longer just pale; she looked like a walking corpse. But I only had eyes for Marcus. We had been together for six years. From college campuses to the corporate world, I thought today would be the beginning of our forever. But who would have thought he would turn on me at our own engagement party, all for Nora? What normal man doesn’t protect his own fiancée? Was I too blind in the past, or did he just hide his true colors too well? Suddenly, I realized I needed to re-evaluate his entire history with Nora. Before today, he had sworn to me a thousand times that they were just childhood friends. And they indeed kept their distance in public. But now, the mask was off. I took a deep breath, pulled out my phone, and sent a text to my dad. [Dad, the engagement is canceled.] My parents had just wrapped up a $500 million deal in Europe. Right now, they should be on their private jet back to the country. Seeing that I wasn’t backing down or apologizing, Marcus felt like he had completely lost face in front of everyone. His expression turned icy cold. “Chloe, I’m asking you one last time. Are you going to apologize?” “If not, this engagement is off!” He thought he could use the engagement to control me. After all, he knew how deeply I loved him. Behind him, a flash of pure ecstasy lit up Nora’s eyes. Too bad for her, I caught it. I smirked, raising my phone to my ear. “Fine with me.” I tapped a contact, and the call connected instantly. “Hey, Mr. Davis.” “Yes, it’s Chloe. You don’t need to come over for the signing ceremony.” “The engagement is canceled.” Marcus’s eyebrows knitted tightly. A wave of confusion and unease washed over his face. He stared at me. “Chloe, what the hell are you doing?” “Why are you calling a lawyer?”

Looking at Marcus’s confused and anxious face, I found it hilarious. “Why am I calling a lawyer?” I repeated his question, my voice light and airy. “To handle the aftermath of our canceled engagement, of course.” “For example, the engagement gifts my parents prepared for us.” I paused, my eyes drifting to the pale-faced girl behind him. “You remember those two 20,000-square-foot commercial retail spaces in the luxury downtown district?” “My dad was going to transfer them to our names so we could collect the rent as pocket money.” “Oh, and one more thing.” “My dad was going to bring you into his company. Direct entry as a Vice President.” I watched Marcus’s pupils dilate in pure shock. I smiled, delivering the final, crushing blow. “Now, all of that is void.” For a second, Marcus was stunned. But then, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world, he burst into loud laughter. “Hahaha!” He laughed so hard he almost doubled over. “Chloe, have you completely lost your mind?” “To save your pathetic pride, you’re fabricating stories about your parents now?” “Giving us prime retail properties? Making your man a VP? Who do you think you are, a character in a Netflix drama?” His mocking reminded me of something. For the past six years, I had indeed been “lying” to him. But that was my parents’ idea. Years ago, I rejected all the arranged matches my family set up. I insisted on finding true love on my own. So, my dad made a bet with me. He said that human hearts are unpredictable. Only love without the filter of extreme wealth can show someone’s true character. Thus, I became Chloe, the daughter of an ordinary working-class family. Even when our parents met before the engagement, my parents wore simple clothes and drove a battered old sedan. I had asked them why back then. My dad had only said one thing. “Men change, Chloe. The ultimate test of his character must last until the wedding day.” “Right now, it’s only an engagement.” Looking back, my dad was incredibly wise. Unfortunately, Marcus couldn’t even pass the engagement test. Oh well. Since things had reached this point, there was no need to hide it anymore. Last night, I had begged my parents to let me tell Marcus the truth today to give him a surprise. But they had to fly out suddenly for a major international client. They only promised they would make it back in time for the ceremony. Though they hadn’t arrived yet, I was more than happy to reveal the truth myself. I couldn’t wait to see the regret on Marcus’s face. I looked at him, speaking clearly and deliberately. “Marcus, listen carefully.” “I am the sole heiress of the Vance Group.” A three-second dead silence fell over the room. Then, the entire hall erupted into roaring laughter. “The Vance Group? Haha! The multi-billion dollar multinational conglomerate? This girl’s lies are getting out of hand!” “Did Chloe snap under pressure? Just because her last name is Vance, she thinks she’s *the* Vance heiress? What a joke.” “I mean, the guy was wrong first, but there’s no need to make up such an embarrassing lie. This is painful to watch.” At that moment, Marcus’s aunt, Brenda, who had been watching the drama unfold from the crowd, finally stepped out. She sneered, looking me up and down with utter disdain. “Chloe, sweetie, I know you’re hurt. We might not be rich, but we have morals. You can’t just stand there and lie through your teeth.” “The heiress of the Vance Group? How do you even say that out loud without blushing?” I sneered inwardly. When we were discussing the wedding budget, Marcus’s family cried about how poor they were. Brenda wept, saying Marcus’s parents died early and she had a hard time raising him alone. My heart softened. I lowered my expectations, agreed to a cheap venue, and even promised to support her after the wedding. And yet, on the day of our engagement, they trampled my dignity under their feet. I didn’t want to waste another breath on them. “Believe it or not, I don’t care.” I swept my gaze across the room, locking onto a few specific corners. “Some of the guests here today are actually business partners of the Vance Group.” I slowly raised my hand, pointing to a middle-aged man holding a champagne glass not far away. “For instance, Mr. Donald, the CEO of EastGroup.” Mr. Donald’s hand froze mid-air. I shifted my finger to the other side of the room. “And him. Mr. Harrison, the Chairman of Apex Realty.” Hearing his name, Mr. Harrison’s expression changed instantly. The guests’ gaze flicked back and forth between me and the two business moguls. The laughter of Marcus and Brenda died in their throats. I crossed my arms, looking at them with a smirk. “Is my identity real or fake?” “Why don’t you ask them yourselves?”

“Mr. Donald! Mr. Harrison! Please say something!” Marcus’s aunt, Brenda, practically lunged at the two moguls like a stray cat. “What she’s saying… it’s a lie, right? Don’t let this crazy girl fool you!” Mr. Donald and Mr. Harrison exchanged a look, both looking slightly awkward. After all, this was someone else’s family drama. Eventually, Mr. Harrison put down his glass and spoke in a calm, authoritative voice. “Miss Chloe Vance did indeed identify us correctly.” He paused, studying me with a look of curiosity. “However, while we know the Chairman of Vance Group has a daughter, he keeps his private life extremely guarded. We… have never had the honor of meeting her in person.” His response was politically perfect. He didn’t confirm my identity, but he didn’t deny it either. Yet, it was enough to spark the whispers of doubt again. “I knew it! How could she be…” “Just because she knows who the local CEOs are doesn’t make her a billionaire’s daughter. She has some nerve.” The last bit of worry in Marcus’s eyes vanished, replaced by deep disgust and mockery. “Chloe, how much longer are you going to keep up this act?” Nora whimpered on cue, tugging at Marcus’s sleeve with a fragile look. “Marcus, don’t blame Chloe. She’s probably just… in shock. That’s why she’s talking nonsense.” What a textbook green-tea bitch. Watching them play their roles, the smirk on my face only grew colder. “An act?” I chuckled, my gaze bypassing them and landing on the two moguls again. “Then I have a question for you gentlemen.” “Mr. Donald. Mr. Harrison.” “Why did you two bother to show up at a low-end engagement party like this?” That one question silenced the entire room. The moguls froze. The guests were stunned. True. EastGroup and Apex Realty were massive names in the business world. Meanwhile, Marcus’s family was barely lower-middle class. How on earth did they manage to invite these high-profile figures? Mr. Harrison and Mr. Donald exchanged another look, a sudden realization dawning on them. Mr. Harrison cleared his throat, an apologetic smile on his face. “Well, Chairman Vance booked a meeting room on the third floor of this hotel to discuss a bidding partnership with us this afternoon.” “On the phone, he casually mentioned that there was an engagement party on the first floor at noon. He suggested that if we were free, we could drop by to liven up the place.” “We figured anyone who could get Chairman Vance to speak up for them must be a close relative. So, we came.” His explanation plunged the hall into a suffocating silence. All eyes locked onto me once more. But a second later, the crowd erupted again. “Wait! If she’s really the Vance heiress, why would the engagement party be in a basic four-star hotel? That makes zero sense!” “Exactly! And she hid her identity for six years? For what? Because she liked how poor and messy he was?” “But why would Chairman Vance mention this party then? And if it’s his own daughter’s engagement, why isn’t he here? The math isn’t mathing!” The waves of doubt crashed over me. This time, the look Marcus gave me was pure, unfiltered disgust. He took a step forward, pointing a finger directly at my face. “Chloe, I really misjudged you.” “I thought you were just a bit stubborn, but you’re actually a vain, pathological liar!” “Just to save your pathetic pride, you played everyone in this room!” He took a deep breath. “You ruined this engagement party.” “You are paying for every single cent of the bill!” “From today on, I, Marcus Miller, never want to see your disgusting face again!” With that dramatic declaration, he turned around, holding Nora protectively as he made a move to leave. I watched his retreating back, coldness radiating from me. I was about to speak. Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the banquet hall were slammed open from the outside. A loud, booming voice echoed through the room. “Chairman Arthur Vance of the Vance Group has arrived!” “Make way for our distinguished guest!”

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My stepdaughter won first place in the state science competition, so I bought her the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max she had been begging for as a reward. That night, she happily took the phone. But the second she turned her back, she was on Snapchat complaining to her bestie: “Ugh, the old hag is so desperate to take credit!” “She’s literally handing me a gift my dad prepared for me ages ago and claiming she bought it.” “She does absolutely nothing all day except blow my dad’s money!” “Thank god I slip hormone-disrupting birth control pills into her water tumbler every day. If the stepmonster actually gets pregnant and has a kid, she’ll ruin my inheritance.” “My dad’s money and this house are mine! She’s not getting a single cent!” Reading this, I felt like I had been plunged into a frozen lake. Lily had no idea. To take care of her properly, I had gotten a tubal ligation years ago. And her supposedly wealthy father? His company went bankrupt four years ago, and he’s been living off my charity ever since. Since that’s how they feel, they won’t get another dime from me.

The box of the brand-new iPhone was carelessly tossed at Lily’s feet. There was no excitement on her face, not even a genuine smile. My heart sank. Did she not like it? To test my theory, I plated some freshly cut fruit and walked into her room. Lily was in the shower. I was about to set the plate down and leave when my eyes caught the glowing screen of her phone. It was a Snapchat chat history with her bestie, Maya. [Omg, Lily! Your dad actually got it for you?] As if possessed, I picked up the phone. Under Lily’s Bitmoji, a string of freshly sent messages stared back at me. “Yeah, but the old hag is so desperate to take credit!” “She’s literally handing me a gift my dad prepared for me ages ago and claiming she bought it.” “She does absolutely nothing all day except blow my dad’s money!” I froze. Marcus’s money? He had lost every single penny in the stock market four years ago. I was the one keeping this entire family afloat. Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I kept scrolling. “Thank god I slip hormone-disrupting birth control pills into her water tumbler every day. If the stepmonster actually gets pregnant and has a kid, she’ll ruin my inheritance.” “My dad’s money and this house are mine! She’s not getting a single cent!” I felt numb. Instinctively, I touched my slightly bloated stomach. Over the past two years, I had gained nearly forty pounds. I had cut out all junk food and worked out like crazy, yet the weight wouldn’t budge. I thought it was just my metabolism slowing down with age. So, this was the real reason. The hilarious part was, to make Lily and Marcus feel secure, I had secretly undergone a tubal ligation during our second year of marriage. I literally could never have children again. Memories of the past seven years flashed through my mind like a horror movie. When Lily craved those organic cronuts from a trendy bakery across the state line at 3 AM, I drove two hours without a second thought to get them for her. When she was bullied at school, I walked away from a multi-million-dollar business deal to go to the principal’s office. I stood up to the school board and those wealthy, Karen-like parents like an absolute mama bear to protect her. And every time she threw a tantrum, Marcus would always say the same thing: “Chloe, she’s just a kid. Cut her some slack.” Yeah. She was just a kid. A kid who poisoned my water every day and plotted to kick me out of my own home. At that moment, my heart turned to ash. With trembling fingers, I scrolled further up the chat history. The log went back years—all the way to the day I married Marcus. [The dress she wore today is so tacky. What is my dad’s problem?] [The dinner she made tonight was disgusting. I threw it straight into the trash.] [She actually tried to redecorate my mom’s old study. I screamed at her until she backed off. Too funny.] [My dad actually complimented her today. Gross.] Every single text was a knife twisting in my chest. I held the phone, barely able to breathe. Just then, the bathroom door opened. Lily walked out, wrapping a towel around her wet hair.

Seeing me, her brow furrowed in instant annoyance. I forced a smile and handed her the fruit plate. “I brought you some fresh fruit.” My voice was quiet, completely void of emotion. Lily’s eyes darted instantly to the phone on her desk. Seeing that the screen was back on the lock interface, she visibly relaxed. Once she felt safe, she immediately put on her usual arrogant, spoiled-teenager attitude. “Knock before you come into my room next time,” she ordered. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, she added, “Actually, don’t come in at all without my permission.” I looked at her, suddenly wanting to laugh. She seemed to have forgotten that this house was my pre-marital property. To make her feel welcome back then, I had hired the best interior designer to turn this sun-drenched bedroom into her dream princess suite. The ceiling featured a hand-painted starry sky by a renowned art professor, costing six figures. The bed was fitted with imported Italian silk velvet sheets that had to be sent to a specialty dry cleaner. The Swarovski crystal music box on her vanity was a rare collectible I had someone import directly from Austria. Even that limited-edition designer Barbie was something I had fought for at a private auction. Every single item in this room was bought with my hard-earned money and care. And now, the “princess” of this house was banning me from entering. I said nothing. My mind was screaming, but my face was a mask of dead silence. I turned around and quietly closed the door behind me. I walked back to my master bedroom, locked the door, buried my face in the pillows, and finally let the tears sob out. Lily’s cruelty broke me. But… she was only sixteen. Marcus and I were high school sweethearts, each other’s first loves. If not for a misunderstanding back then, we wouldn’t have wasted ten years apart. After his first wife died in a car accident, we crossed paths again. We cleared up the past and got back together. I cherished this second chance at love. I loved Marcus, so I loved Lily by extension, treating her like my own flesh and blood. I really believed that if I gave them my heart, they would eventually return the warmth. I was dead wrong. Crying solved nothing. I wiped my tears and stood up. In the mirror, my face was pale, my eyes swollen. I couldn’t live like this anymore. I needed to make a choice. But first, I had to see where Marcus stood. Taking a deep breath, I called him.

The phone rang a dozen times before he finally picked up. “Hey.” I gripped the phone, my knuckles turning white. “It’s me,” I said, my throat feeling like sandpaper. There was a second of silence on the other end. “What’s wrong? Have you been crying?” Marcus asked. “Did you and Lily have another fight?” Before I could even answer, he sighed. “She’s just a kid, Chloe. Cut her some slack.” Those words felt like a needle driving straight into my brain. I smiled bitterly. “Marcus.” “Yeah?” “Do you love me?” The air instantly froze. Over the line, I heard the sound of papers shuffling, followed by the metallic click of a lighter. He was lighting a cigarette. “Why are you asking that now?” his voice was laced with impatience. “We’re married.” Right. Married. When I emptied my savings to bail his company out, he said we were married. When I stepped back from my career to raise Lily, he said we were married. But now, when I asked if he loved me, all he could say was that we were married. My heart grew colder by the second. “Oh, by the way,” he said, as if suddenly remembering something. “I have a new project coming up, and I’m short two million dollars.” “Wire it to my account tomorrow.” It wasn’t a request. It was an order. I said nothing. Only his shallow breathing and the sound of my dying heart filled the silence. “Chloe? You there? What’s wrong with you?” He finally sensed something was off. I took a deep breath. “Nothing.” “Get back to work.” I hung up. The phone slipped from my palm. Two million dollars. He said it so casually. Suddenly, everything clicked. Marcus and I weren’t two high school sweethearts reunited by fate. This was a meticulously planned financial rescue mission. He knew I was wealthy. So, he brought his daughter into my house, drove my cars, spent my money, and spent every waking moment prioritizing his daughter over me. And what was I? A walking ATM. A free nanny. Details I had willfully ignored for years came rushing back. For his birthday, I bought him a Patek Philippe. The first words out of his mouth weren’t about whether he liked it. It was: “How much is this worth?” When Lily skipped school and the principal called, he was always “in a meeting,” always “too busy.” I was always the one who went. I bowed my head, apologizing to the teachers and taking the blame. Yet when we got home, Marcus would pat Lily on the shoulder and say, “Your stepmom is just making a big deal out of nothing. Just be careful next time.” See? In his eyes, I was always “your stepmom.” An outsider. This father-daughter duo enjoyed my warmth while laughing at my stupidity. No more tears came out. My heart felt dry. I had given up the golden years of my career for him. I had given up my right to be a biological mother for him. I had given him all my love and money. Now, I wanted none of it back. I picked up my phone, scrolled through my contacts, and found a number. I sent a text: *Draft a divorce agreement. I want to see it tonight.*

Marcus didn’t come home last night. The next morning, just as the sun was rising, a sharp scream echoed from downstairs. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling for three seconds. I hadn’t slept at all. I got out of bed, didn’t bother putting on slippers, and walked downstairs barefoot. In the living room, Lily was kneeling on the carpet. In front of her lay a shattered pile of colorful porcelain and metal. It was her Swarovski music box. “Mom…” she sobbed, her shoulders shaking violently. I stood on the bottom step, watching her. Hearing my footsteps, she whipped her head around. The moment she saw me, her fake sorrow instantly morphed into pure hatred. “It was you!” she screamed. “You did this!” I said nothing. “This is the only thing my mom left me before she died! Why would you break it?!” she shrieked. “How can you be so evil?!” I walked down the final step and stood before her. Bending down, I picked up a small brass key from the shards. It was the winding key for the music box. I recognized it instantly. On Lily’s tenth birthday, Marcus had given it to her, claiming her late mother had prepared it for her before she passed. She had been thrilled. But she didn’t know that I was the one who had spent weeks picking it out. “I didn’t break it. And for the record, I was the one who bought this music box for you,” I said, dropping the key into her open palm. “You’re lying!” She slapped my hand away, sending the key clattering onto the hardwood floor. “It was you! You’re just jealous of my mom, so you destroyed her memory!” The front door clicked open. Marcus was back. Lily’s eyes lit up, and her tears began to flow twice as fast. “Dad!” She scrambled over, throwing her arms around Marcus’s legs. “Dad, look at her! She broke the music box Mom left me!” Marcus froze mid-step while taking off his shoes. He looked down at his sobbing daughter, then raised his head to glare at me with deep disappointment and anger. “Chloe, what are you throwing a tantrum over *now*?” *Now.* In his mind, I was always the unreasonable villain. Lily was always the innocent victim who needed protection. “I didn’t touch it,” I said flatly. “She’s just a kid! Her mother is gone, do you have any idea how much that music box meant to her?!” Marcus’s voice boomed with rage. “Even if you hate her, you don’t take it out on a child!” I laughed. I laughed so hard tears almost came out. “Marcus,” I said, staring directly into his eyes. “In your mind, is she ever capable of doing anything wrong?” Marcus was taken aback. He helped Lily up and pulled her behind his back. That single movement spoke volumes. “Apologize to Lily,” he demanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Why should I apologize?” “Because you hurt her!” he yelled. “Apologize! Now!” I looked at Lily, who was hiding behind her father’s shoulder. She flashed me a smug, triumphant smirk. Her lips silently mouthed: *You can’t steal him from me.* She was right. I couldn’t. And frankly, I didn’t want to anymore. Who wants to fight over a piece of trash? “Fine,” I nodded. Marcus’s expression softened slightly, thinking I was backing down. “I’ll apologize,” my gaze bypassed him and landed straight on Lily. “I apologize for ever expecting fairness from your father when you framed me.” “I apologize for thinking your father had a shred of decency while you played your cheap mind games.” “And,” I paused, turning my eyes to Marcus, “I apologize to myself for ever marrying you.” Marcus’s face turned incredibly pale. “Chloe! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” “It means…” I took a deep breath, feeling the absolute resolve I had found last night. “Marcus, I want a divorce.” The anger on Marcus’s face froze. Even Lily’s smug grin vanished. “What… what did you just say?” Marcus stammered, unable to believe his ears. “I said, we are getting a divorce,” I said, pronouncing each word with crystal clarity. “My lawyer will contact you today. This house was bought before our marriage; it’s in my name. The Mercedes downstairs is in my name. I want both of you packed and out of here by tomorrow.” I looked at Lily. “And your princess room, designed by a top professional that cost me eighty thousand dollars? Too bad. You don’t get to live in it anymore.” “You have two options.” “One: pack your bags and get out today.” “Two: I call security and have them throw your trash onto the curb.” “Are you insane?!” Marcus finally snapped, pointing a trembling finger at me. “Over a stupid music box? You’re divorcing me over *this*?!” “A stupid music box?” I chuckled as if I had just heard the funniest joke in the world. “When you made me drive three hours on Thanksgiving morning to get your daughter a specific cake, that was a ‘small thing.’” “When I sat in the principal’s office taking the heat for Lily’s behavior, that was a ‘small thing.’” “When your company went bankrupt and you casually took five hundred thousand dollars from me to cover your debts, that was a ‘small thing.’” “And yesterday, when you demanded another two million dollars as if it were pocket money, that was also a ‘small thing.’” With every sentence, I took a step closer to him. With every word, his face lost more color. “Marcus, what actually qualifies as a ‘big thing’ to you?” “Would I have to die for you to think, *oh, this is serious*? Though I suppose you’d just be thrilled to inherit my estate.” He backed up until his spine hit the door, completely speechless. Behind him, Lily looked utterly terrified. I didn’t give them another look. I turned around and walked upstairs. Behind me, Marcus’s panicked voice echoed, “Chloe! Wait, let me explain… I didn’t mean it like that…”

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I was just an ordinary IT guy living a boring life. After a routine company physical, a pale-faced nurse secretly slipped me a note. “Run! Your health report was swapped. They are preparing to legally harvest your heart!” At first, I thought it was a sick prank. Until I found out that my company was falsifying my critical condition data in real-time. And an unmarked black SUV actually tried to run me over, staging an “accidental” death. Now, I am hiding in the freezing morgue of the hospital, holding a scalpel that could prove everything. Outside, the heavy footsteps in the corridor are getting closer and closer… *** ### “Dammit, search every inch! He must be hiding on this floor!” “Boss, this place is too creepy… Do we really have to search the morgue?” “Don’t miss a single corner!” Two savage voices echoed down the hallway outside. I gripped the stolen scalpel so hard my knuckles turned white. Just hours ago, I was a regular IT tech. Now, I was a “blood bag” on the run. It all started with that note. During my checkup, a pale little nurse squeezed a crumpled piece of paper into my hand, telling me someone wanted my heart. I didn’t take it seriously. Until I discovered my health monitoring data was being remotely hacked and altered. Until that black SUV tried to crush me into the brick wall of an alley. Terrified, I fled to the nearest hospital and ran blindly down into the basement morgue. *Thud!* Someone kicked the metal door of the freezer cabinet next to mine. I held my breath, pointing the scalpel at the gap in the door, ready to strike. But then, the footsteps began to fade. “Boss! I heard something upstairs! Let’s go check!” As the footsteps vanished, I let out a shaky breath and slumped against the cold metal inside the body tray. As I was trying to figure out how to escape, a faint scratching sound came from the cabinet next to me. *Scratch… scratch…* It sounded like fingernails scraping against steel. My entire body went rigid. Was it a rat? Or… The sound came again, this time with a clear rhythm. Clutching the scalpel, I slowly pushed my cabinet door open a crack. The hallway outside was empty. But the handle of the neighboring freezer tray was turning. *Click.* There was someone alive in there? A faint groan echoed from the metal box. I kicked my door open and pointed the scalpel forward. The neighboring tray slid open. A pale young guy sat up, coughing violently. “Did you escape too?” he gasped, his eyes wide with pure terror. “Did they list you as a ‘spare part’ too?” I stood there, lowering my scalpel slightly. Another victim? Suddenly, the young guy’s eyes went wide, staring right behind me. “Watch out!” I spun around, but I was too late. The prongs of a taser slammed into my chest. Thousands of volts of electricity surged through my body. Before blacking out, I saw two men in tactical gear and a man in a white lab coat standing at the door. “Take them both,” the doctor said coldly. “Patient Zero’s condition is deteriorating. We need to prep for surgery immediately.” Every nerve in my body screamed in agony. I wanted to scream for help, but my lips wouldn’t move. When I opened my eyes again, my vision was a blurry, clinical white. I was locked inside a clear pod filled with a milky white liquid. Only my head was exposed. An oxygen mask was strapped to my face, and my wrists and ankles were secured by thick metal bands. Over a dozen electrodes were glued to my bare skin. On the monitor connected to me, my heart rate was spiking wildly in bright green lines. And the guy who had been captured with me? He was already lying on a steel table nearby, his chest cavity cut open, discarded like trash. “Vitals stable. The donor is awake.” “Administer the pre-op sedative. Move him to OR-1 in thirty minutes. Patient Zero is already under anesthesia.” The doctor picked up a syringe filled with a cloudy fluid and walked toward my IV line. It was over. Utter despair washed over me, colder than the medical fluid. Once that needle went in, I would have no strength left to fight. I would have to watch them carve my heart out while I was wide awake! Just as the needle was about to pierce the tube— My vision suddenly distorted, like a glitching TV screen. Several rows of glowing text flashed right across my eyes. `[The syringe contains a high-strength muscle relaxant and sedative! Do not let him inject it!]` `[Use the physical emergency port under your right foot! Smash it! Short-circuit the system!]` `[Hurry! No time!]` *** ###

AR text?! I froze. This wasn’t a hallucination. Was it the nurse? How was she doing this? There was no time to think. Survival instinct kicked in, and I chose to trust this sudden “guardian angel.” With my right foot bound by the metal ring, I slammed my heel downward with all my might. *Bang!* I hit an inconspicuous gray cover plate on the inner wall of the medical pod! The plate popped open, revealing a messy bundle of wires and circuit boards. “Stop him!” the guard yelled, lunging forward to pin my legs. Following the glowing text prompts in my eyes, I used my toenails to snag and rip the red and blue data wires. *Sparks flew!* The metal bands locking my wrists and ankles instantly snapped open due to the power overload! The doctor slammed his hands onto the control panel, but the screen flickered wildly. The system was failing. The two guards lunged at me again. I grabbed the live, sparking wires and whipped them directly across the face of the nearest guard. `[Go to the main console! Override code: Delta-Seven-Zero-Alpha! Now!]` I scrambled out of the pod, my wet body sliding across the floor. The doctor tried to block me, but I slammed my elbow into his jaw, knocking him back. With wet fingers, I tapped the code onto the touchscreen. The master system override popped up! `[Environmental control! Fire sprinklers! High-frequency strobe light!]` I hit activate! *Swoosh—!* A freezing deluge of water rained down from the ceiling, flooding the room. The emergency lights began flashing at an blinding, nauseating speed. The guard who had grabbed my shoulder let go to shield his eyes. `[Access database! Look up your ID: B-737!]` Squinting through the pouring water, I frantically typed on the screen. I entered B-737. The screen flashed: *Donor status: Quarantined. Physical sample location: Sublevel 2, Cryo-Storage, Sector 7, Shelf C-17. Access level: Omega Lock.* My original blood samples were in the cryo-vault! `[Remember the location! Cut the power! Create chaos! Exit through the east corridor!]` I grabbed the main power cable of the console and ripped it out of the wall. I picked up a metal stool and hurled it at the nearest ceiling light. Total darkness and pouring water engulfed the room. Amidst the screaming alarms, I burst through the door and ran into the hallway. `[Left! Go straight fifty yards! Avoid the security camera!]` `[Guards coming from the right! Duck into the janitor’s closet!]` `[Go! Get out! Keep moving! Turn left at the end, take the emergency stairs down to B2!]` I ran like a madman, the AR text in my eyes updating every second. It predicted every obstacle and guard patrol route with terrifying precision. Finally, I slammed into a heavy blast door marked “B2 – Restricted Area.” `[Authorization temporarily bypassed! Get in! They’ve initiated lockdown!]` I pushed, and the door clicked open. I slipped inside, and the heavy door locked behind me with a solid hiss. But before I could even catch my breath, new red text flashed in my eyes, blinking with desperate urgency. `[Warning! Dynamic biometric scanners active in the vault! Unauthorized entry will trigger a silent alarm!]` `[They know you’re here! They are setting up a perimeter!]` `[Watch out! There’s something else inside… not just guards…]` *** ###

The heavy metal door sealed shut behind me, blocking out the shouting of the guards. `[Go straight, take the second right. Avoid the motion sensors on the ceiling.]` I hugged the wall, barely making a sound. Turning right, I saw the alloy door of the cryo-vault at the end of the hall. Next to the door was an authorization panel. I crouched down and took the wire I had ripped from the pod, carefully jamming the exposed metal threads into a green port on the panel. `[Keep it there. Bypassing authorization… Need ten seconds.]` The text flickered. The person on the other end was putting everything into hacking the lock. Behind me, the guards were already breaching the B2 main blast door. `[Success! Access granted. Status spoofed as ‘Emergency Sample Retrieval.’ You have three minutes! Go left, Shelf C!]` *Hum—* The alloy door slid open silently. I bolted inside. The temperature plummeted. My breath turned into thick white mist. The room looked like a futuristic library, filled with towering metal shelves emitting cold vapor. Thousands of labeled cryo-boxes were stacked neatly in rows. I sprinted down the icy aisle, scanning the tags. There! A standard cryo-box sat quietly on Shelf C-17. The label read: *Ethan, B-737.* Just as I reached for it— `[Stop!]` The text flashed in a violent, bloody red. `[Weight sensors active! Any weight discrepancy or illegal opening will trigger a Level 5 Lockdown!]` My hand froze in mid-air. Cold sweat broke out on my neck. They were this meticulous! `[Scan the side of the box! Look for a passive RF transmitter!]` I leaned in, using the dim blue light of the shelf to inspect the box. Sure enough, hidden in a tiny crevice on the side was a transparent micro-chip. `[Found it! It’s a real-time GPS and alarm trigger! If you move the box, they’ll know instantly.]` What now? Time was running out. My heart hammered against my ribs. `[Change of plan! Do not take the box! Use your wire to connect to the data port on the bottom of the box. Download the original sample spectrum data and storage log. That’s enough to prove your sample hasn’t been contaminated and belongs to you. We have to leave the physical sample behind.]` Leave it? I had gone through hell to get here! `[Hurry! No time to argue! This is the only way to clear your name! The port is at the bottom.]` Clenching my teeth, I realized she was right. I plugged my wire into the tiny port at the bottom of the box. `[Connection established! Downloading data… 1%]` The progress bar crawled upward painfully slowly. `[Oh no! They are brute-forcing the B2 master door! Faster than expected! Accelerate!]` The distant thud of an explosion echoed. They were in the sublevel! `[Download complete! Disconnect! Run! Use the waste disposal chute at the far end of the vault!]` I ripped the wire out and turned to run. *Click…* A mechanical whirring sound came from above my head. I looked up. At the very top of the shelf, a black automated syringe gun crept out of the ceiling. It aimed directly at my neck. The AR text in my vision began to violently warp and glitch. *BZZZ—* `[System… bypassed… by admin…]` `[Firewall… breach…]` `[Run… Ethan… run… they found m…]` The last words faded into static. And then, the AR overlay vanished from my eyes completely. She… she got caught?!

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