To marry the heir to the Astor dynasty, I reinvented my adoptive parents, turning street beggars into respected academics. Then, using my platform as a top financial news anchor, I helped my selectively mute husband seize control of his family’s empire. On our wedding day, he pressed the deed to our villa into my hands and kissed me again and again. But today, on a business trip, I overheard him confess his love to his old flame, his voice perfectly clear and steady. “Rosalind, you’re finally back. I faked this condition and married that grifter just to get my parents to finally accept us.” “Now, all I have to do is expose the truth about her fake high-society background, and you can finally marry me.” A chill washed over me, colder than any winter ice. So, he wasn’t mute. He knew I was lying from the very beginning. And he married me only to pave the way for his one true love to become the next Mrs. Astor. 1 The airport terminal was a river of people, but I felt utterly alone, frozen in place. Rosalind was wrapped in my husband’s arms, her voice thick with staged tears. “Julian, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant back then, your parents would never have been so against us.” “To think you pretended to be mute for all these years, just for me… you’ve sacrificed so much.” My husband, Julian Astor, stroked her hair with a tenderness I had once believed was mine. “It was nothing. For you and our child, it was all worth it.” His voice dropped, a low, intimate rumble. “How is he? Our Leo?” “He’s wonderful. He’s officially living with my parents, and he calls me his big sister in public, but he knows the truth,” she whispered. “You know how it is. I had to follow my parents’ plan if I wanted my inheritance.” His tone darkened. “But that’s all over now. Tia helped me secure the company. The succession is in a few days. After that, it’s just the three of us. A real family.” No wonder Leo looked at me with such hatred every time he saw me, his words always dripping with venom. He never once called me by my name. I’d always thought it was just a boy’s jealousy, angry that I had stolen his beloved uncle’s attention. Now I knew the truth. He hated me for taking his mother’s place. A blade of ice seemed to plunge into my chest, leaving a gaping, frozen wound. Just then, a look of faux concern crossed Rosalind’s beautiful face. “You deliberately made Tia fall in love with you. For three years, she’s worked herself to the bone for you.” “She’ll be heartbroken when she finds out the truth. Can you really be so cruel as to cast her aside?” Julian’s eyes flickered for a second, then he let out a cold, dismissive laugh. “Tia? A gold-digging liar raised by beggars? She was never worthy of being an Astor. Besides, I’ve given her more than she ever deserved. What right does she have to be heartbroken?” A gold-digging liar. So that’s all I was to him. A bitter smile twisted my lips, and the last of the color drained from my face. For three years, I had leveraged my career, my reputation, my everything for him. I had humbled myself, begging for his sake. I’d entertained his clients until I was vomiting blood, worked on his documents until I collapsed from exhaustion and ended up in the hospital. And I never complained. Not once. Because I truly loved him. All I wanted was to see him happy. Every night, he would bring me water, massage my tired feet, his eyes filled with what I thought was genuine concern for the toll my work was taking. I was so lost in the sweetness of it all, I never saw the truth. It was all a lie. That banquet two years ago… when that investor groped me, Julian’s face had turned to stone, but he did nothing. I thought he was enduring the humiliation for the sake of the deal. Now I realized he simply didn’t think a gold digger like me was worth offending a powerful man over. My lips trembled. I fought back the searing pain in my heart and turned to leave. But Rosalind’s voice, sharp with surprise, cut through the air. “Tia? What a coincidence. You’re at the airport too.” 2 Julian whipped his head around. When his eyes met mine, a flicker of panic crossed his handsome face. A moment later, my phone buzzed with a series of texts. What are you doing here? Are you following me? Go home. Now. Before I lose my temper. I stared at the messages popping up on the screen, a wave of bitter absurdity washing over me. For years, whenever his “selective mutism” flared up, this was how we communicated. He would point to his phone, and I would read his words. Three years. Tens of thousands of messages. My phone’s memory had filled up again and again, but I could never bring myself to delete them. I thought they were our special memories, a testament to our love. Now I saw them for what they were: proof he had never loved me at all. I pressed the power button, and the screen went dark. Something inside me went dark with it. I looked up at them, my voice surprisingly steady. “Since you can speak, why bother texting? Today was the day I was flying to Singapore to close that ten-billion-dollar deal. I wasn’t following you.” I paused, letting my next words land with the weight they deserved. “I heard everything. I’m not feeling well. I won’t be closing any deals today.” Rosalind’s face tightened with alarm. She rushed forward and grabbed my hand. “Tia, I know I’m Julian’s ex, but you’re his wife now. What you heard… we were just joking around. Don’t misunderstand.” I yanked my hand away. She stumbled back dramatically, nearly falling. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at me, her voice trembling. “Tia, I was just trying to explain. Why did you have to push me so hard?” It was a pathetic, transparent lie. But Julian reacted instantly. His hand flew out, and the sharp crack of his palm against my cheek echoed in the terminal. His face was a thunderous mask as he glared at me. “Who gave you the right to touch her?” My cheek burned. I looked up to see Julian shielding Rosalind, his eyes filled with a murderous rage directed entirely at me. My heart felt like it was being twisted by a serrated knife. For some reason, my mind flashed back to my first year at the Astor Media network. I was being hazed by the senior staff, and it was Julian who stepped in to save me. He gave me resources, mentored me, and championed my rise to lead anchor. When I was hurt, he was always there. When he was humiliated by the board and forced to face his father’s wrath in the family study, I had thrown myself in front of him, taking the eighteen lashes from his father’s cane that were meant for him. I still have the scars on my back. That was the first time I ever saw him cry. He held me so tightly. “Tia,” he had whispered into my hair, “you’re my woman. I’m supposed to protect you.” “Don’t you ever do that again. You’re more important than anything.” I had been so weak I couldn’t move, but I hadn’t felt the pain. I was drowning in the sweetness of his love. Now, this one slap from him was a pain beyond endurance, a disappointment so profound it shattered me completely. I closed my eyes. “Julian, I’m done being your fool.” “Since you love someone else, let’s get a divorce.” 3 His face was a canvas of shock, which quickly melted into a sneer. “Don’t play the victim, Tia. Of all the gold diggers out there, I chose you to be Mrs. Astor.” He took a step closer, his voice dripping with condescension. “I made you. From a nobody to the most famous financial anchor in the city. I gave you money, power, access. You got everything you ever wanted. So how exactly are you a fool?” “And divorce?” He scoffed. “I decide when this is over. You don’t have the right to even suggest it.” His arrogance was a physical blow, shattering what was left of my heart into dust. I stared at him, forcing back the tears that burned my eyes. “I really did love you, Julian.” “You think I faked my background because I’m a gold digger desperate to climb the social ladder. But I only did it so I could marry you.” The resources he gave me were just opportunities. I was the one who worked myself to the bone to seize them, not just for myself, but to help him, to make him happy. But the truth didn’t matter anymore. A desolate smile touched my lips. “I’m willing to step aside. Just make it a clean break.” A flash of triumph lit Rosalind’s eyes. Julian, however, looked as if he’d been struck. His pupils constricted, and his lips twisted into a cruel smirk. “Feelings, Tia? Does a gold digger even have those? Still spewing lies at a time like this. It’s pathetic.” “Don’t worry,” he added, his voice like ice. “We’ll be divorced in three days. At most.” I didn’t argue. I went straight back to the Astor mansion. For three years, my in-laws had been nothing but kind to me, and I had deceived them. The guilt was crushing. I confessed everything. “Mr. and Mrs. Astor, I’m so sorry. My parents aren’t university professors. They’re just ordinary people. My high-society identity was a lie from the very beginning. Scold me, punish me… I’ll accept whatever you decide.” Mrs. Astor simply stared for a moment, then took my hand in hers, her grip firm and warm. “Silly girl,” she said softly. “We knew you were faking it from the day we met you.” “Then why…?” I choked, unable to finish the sentence. Mr. Astor spoke, his voice calm and steady. “Because aside from your background, you were flawless.” “It’s true,” his wife added. “We saw how you cared for Julian, how you dedicated yourself to this family. We saw your kindness, your brilliance. In these three years, we’ve come to think of you as our own daughter. Do you really think we care where you came from?” Tears streamed down my face. I tried to smile through them. “But… Julian has never loved me. Rosalind is back, and he’s going to marry her. I’ve already agreed to the divorce. I’ll pack my things tonight and be gone.” The warmth drained from their faces, but they didn’t try to stop me. “Child,” Mr. Astor said, his voice grave, “we know our son. If he has made a terrible mistake, do not spare him on our account. You teach him the lesson he deserves. And remember this: we can live without a son, but we cannot live without you.” I cried in their arms for a long time before finally going up to my room. My eyes fell on our wedding photos, on all the relics of our “sweet” past, and my mind drifted. Just then, Leo walked in with a glass of orange juice. “Grandma and Grandpa said you were sad today. I brought this to cheer you up.” I looked at the five-year-old boy. He was the spitting image of Rosalind. How had I never seen it before? Still, I had helped raise him for years. It would be rude to refuse his farewell gift. “You should be happy more often,” he said, his tone oddly adult. “Don’t always look so serious.” I took the glass and drank. The taste was… wrong. Suddenly, Leo burst out laughing, a triumphant, ugly sound. “How does dog piss taste, you bitch? You think you can seduce my dad just because you’re pretty? Shameless!” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Don’t think I don’t know Julian is my real dad! Now my mom is back, and you can get the hell out!” My stomach heaved. I scrambled to the bathroom and retched until there was nothing left. When I stumbled out, Leo was waiting by the door. He shoved me, hard. Caught off guard, I tumbled backward down the grand staircase. My head cracked against a marble step, and a warm rush of blood instantly matted my hair. “You stupid bitch,” he sneered, “I’ll make Grandpa and Grandma hate you. Then they’ll have to love my mom.” Pain exploded through my body. Through a blurry haze, I saw Leo smear my blood on his own forehead and then start screaming at the top of his lungs. “Help! Tia’s hitting me! She’s hitting me!” “Tia!” Julian was suddenly there, I don’t know when he’d returned. He scooped Leo into his arms. His eyes were terrifyingly sharp. “You’d take your anger out on a child? When did you become so vicious?” I lay on the floor, the pool of my own blood spreading around me, unable to move. “I… didn’t.” Leo’s wails grew louder. “She started picking on me the second she got home! She said she hates me! Uncle Julian, it hurts!” “It’s okay, Leo, I’ve got you. I’m taking you to the hospital.” Julian soothed the boy, then shot me a look of pure disgust. “You’re a grown woman. Can’t you get up on your own? Or is this another pity play to win my forgiveness?” With that, he turned and rushed out the door with Leo in his arms. I watched him go, the pain in my heart eclipsing the pain in my head. A few years ago, when I had collapsed from exhaustion, he had raced me to the hospital, terrified I wouldn’t be okay. Now, I was lying in a pool of my own blood, and he didn’t care. He thought I was acting. So this is what it feels like when your heart dies. 4 When I regained consciousness, Julian was on the phone. His voice was soft. “Rosalind, don’t worry. Leo’s fine.” Rosalind’s voice was shrill even through the receiver. “I’ll make Tia pay for this!” Julian sighed. “Let it go. She was hurt badly. She was unconscious for a whole day.” He lowered his voice. “The succession gala is the day after tomorrow. That’s when I’ll do it. I’ll bring her beggar parents on stage and expose her for the fraud she is. Once she and her trash family are gone, the three of us can finally be together. So don’t be angry, okay?” He hung up and reached out to touch my forehead, his eyes softening with a flicker of something that looked like gentleness. I opened my eyes and jerked my head away. He froze. There were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept, but his handsome face quickly settled back into its familiar, cold mask. “You’re awake. The doctor said you have a fracture. Rest for the next two days. You need to accompany me to the gala. You can’t be absent.” I closed my eyes. I had already agreed to a divorce. Why did he still need to use me as a stepping stone? To humiliate me further, to continue paving the way for his true love? The one who falls in love first always loses. Seeing that I wasn’t responding, he left without another word. That afternoon, Rosalind paid me a visit. Her eyes were filled with contempt. “You’re tough, I’ll give you that. My son pushes you down a flight of stairs, and all you get is a fracture. I guess beggars are built to last.” The pain from my injuries was a dull, constant throb. I didn’t have the strength to fight back. I remained silent. “I know all about the stupid things you did to win him over,” she continued, her voice dripping with condescension. “Staying up all night embroidering his favorite cartoon character on a pillow just to coax him into taking his cold medicine. Pathetic. And for what? He only loves me.” When I still didn’t speak, a flicker of annoyance crossed her face. She pulled a thick stack of papers from her designer handbag and threw them onto my bed. “It’s not just my son who loves me. Julian loves me more than anything. Every single night, after you were asleep, he was on a video call with me.” “This,” she said, gesturing to the papers, “is our chat history. Eight hundred pages. From the day you got married, he has never missed a single night of telling me, ‘Goodnight, I love you, wifey’.” “For three years, he never once thought of you as his wife! You were always just a pawn.” I stared at the pages scattered across the white bedsheets. Even though my heart was already dead, even though I knew our three-year dream was a lie, I never imagined this. That they had never lost contact. A single glance at the pages revealed the depth of his devotion to her. I felt like I was submerged in ice water, the cold and pain making it impossible to breathe. Rosalind seemed pleased with my reaction. She pressed her advantage. “Surprised? He loves me so much he was willing to fake an illness for three years. He loves me so much he was willing to touch you, a disgusting beggar girl!” Her voice turned venomous. “He told me every time he touched you, he had to shower for hours afterward just to feel clean enough to sleep.” “Enough!” I shrieked, my body shaking uncontrollably. I screamed for the nurse to get her out. “Worthless beggar,” Rosalind sneered as she was escorted out. “On the day of the succession, you and your whole family can go crawl back to the gutter where you belong.” She turned, her heels clicking smartly on the polished floor as she left. I collapsed back onto the pillows, closing my eyes in despair. A few seconds later, I picked up my phone and dialed my secretary. “On the day of the Astor succession gala,” I said, my voice cold and clear, “initiate a full short sale on Astor Corp.” I had been weak because I loved Julian Astor. But he had forgotten who I was. I was the woman who had clawed her way out of the slums. I was no fragile flower, easily crushed. He didn’t want a peaceful separation. Fine. Then I would make sure he knew nothing but pain. 5 On the night of the gala, my parents arrived, dressed in elegant, well-fitting clothes, their movements hesitant and cautious. “Look,” a socialite sneered to her friend, “there they are. Tia’s fake ‘professor’ parents. They’re actually just beggars.” A wave of suppressed laughter rippled through the crowd. “Look at their hands. So wrinkled and rough. You can tell they’ve spent their lives in filth.” “They don’t even know how to stand properly. I can smell the poverty from here.” “I can’t believe Mr. Astor put up with it for three years. He told us all to be here tonight to give them a proper humiliation and welcome Ms. Wright. When he arrives, we really have to put on a show!” My parents must have overheard some of the whispers. Their faces grew tighter with shame, but they tried not to show it. My father, trying to imitate the other guests, reached for a glass of champagne. But his hands, covered in calluses and cracked skin, were a stark, jarring contrast to the delicate, crystal flute. The waiter’s disdainful glance was like a physical burn, and he snatched his hand back. My mother’s eyes lingered on the exquisite pastries on the buffet table, and she swallowed unconsciously. The gesture immediately drew a sharp laugh from a nearby heiress. “Has she been reincarnated from a starving ghost? It’s like she hasn’t eaten in a century. I feel like I’m catching the stench of poverty just by being in the same room.” My mother’s face flushed a deep crimson. She looked down at the floor like a scolded child. Watching them, I felt as if a thousand needles were being driven into my heart, over and over again. My parents had lived a life of hardship, but they had always given me their best. And now, because of my foolish pursuit of a lie, they were being flayed alive in this glittering palace of cruelty. They didn’t understand the rules of this world, but they remembered the roles I had asked them to play, and they were trying so desperately to protect their daughter’s fragile dignity. My fists clenched. Finally, Julian arrived, with Rosalind on his arm, the picture of a king and his queen. I walked straight through the sea of mocking eyes and stopped in front of him. He gave me a cold look, and just as he was about to speak, I threw two documents at his chest. “Sign the divorce papers. After this, you and I are done.” One was our divorce agreement. The other was a paternity test. It proved, conclusively, that Julian Astor and Leo had no biological relationship. The room erupted in shocked gasps. As Julian stared at the papers, his face a mask of disbelief, I turned, took my parents and his own parents by the arm, and walked out of that disgusting hall with my head held high. “Tia! What is the meaning of this? Stop right there!” Julian’s face was dark with fury. He started to follow, but his phone began to ring, then ring again, a frantic, incessant sound that stopped him in his tracks. He answered it, roaring, “What?” The voice on the other end was hysterical. “Mr. Astor, it’s a catastrophe! The company’s stock is in freefall! Someone initiated a massive short sale! We’re about to go bankrupt!” “And the one who did it… it was your wife, Ms. Tia Wright!”

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I saw the new transfer student slip a box of extra-thin condoms into my childhood best friend’s pocket. She saw me looking and covered her mouth in mock surprise. “Oh, don’t get the wrong idea, sweetie. These aren’t for me and your man.” Leo chimed in, his voice already laced with annoyance. “We ran out of the rubber membranes for the lab experiment. These are just a substitute. Don’t overthink it.” He thought I was going to throw a fit, like I always did. But I just looked down and went back to my textbook. Leo didn’t know that the day I saw him sharing an ice cream cone with her, I had already decided to transfer to a school abroad. As far as I was concerned, he was already out of the picture. 1 “We’re just using them for an experiment, Hailey. Stop being so irrational.” I hadn’t even said a word, but Leo was already on the defensive, rubbing his temples like he was bracing for a fight. Honestly, I hadn’t even been paying attention to them. I only looked up because they were being loud and I was trying to do a listening exercise for my French class. I rewound the audio and put my headphones back on. Leo seemed taken aback by my silence. The new girl, Chloe, nudged him. “Looks like your little girlfriend has a new strategy. She knows being pushy doesn’t work, so now she’s playing hard to get. You’d better go comfort her before she gives you the silent treatment for real.” “Comfort her?” Leo scoffed. “She’s not my wife. You go comfort her if you want.” “Ouch. Careful, or she might actually stop talking to you for good.” I felt his eyes on me, but I didn’t look up. “I’d pray for it,” he said, his voice cold. Chloe just giggled. “You’re so mean to her.” The classroom started to fill up, and their voices faded into the general buzz. I finished my French exercise just as my family’s butler called. “Miss, all the arrangements have been made. You’ll be leaving in seven days. I’ve also sent the information regarding Mr. Leo to your mother.” “Okay,” I said, my eyes drifting to where Leo and Chloe were whispering together. She slipped her hand under the collar of his shirt, and he didn’t pull away. I looked away, my voice flat. “After my mother has reviewed it, please inform her that I am breaking off my engagement to Leo, and that all joint projects with his family’s company are to be terminated.” 2 When I came out of the principal’s office, having confirmed that the donation my family had promised for a new computer lab would still go through even after I left, he was practically bowing to me. As I turned the corner, I ran into Leo and Chloe. “Leo, your little fiancée was just in the principal’s office,” Chloe said, her voice dripping with fake concern. “You don’t think she was telling on us, do you?” She put on a pathetic, frightened face and reached for my hand. “Please, don’t get the wrong idea. We really were just using those for a science experiment. We didn’t break any rules.” I pulled my hand away, a wave of disgust washing over me. “I don’t know you. Please call me by my name, Hailey.” Chloe’s eyes welled up with tears. “I… I was just trying to be friendly. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to get close to someone like you. Please, Hailey, don’t tell the principal. I’ll stay away from Leo from now on, I promise!” Leo stepped in front of her, his expression a mixture of anger and frustration. “Hailey, this is a school. Stop acting like a spoiled princess.” He glared at me. “You’re going to go back in there and tell the principal that you were just joking, that Chloe and I are just friends.” “It’s okay, Leo,” Chloe said, peeking out from behind him. “Everyone knows you and Hailey are inseparable. It was my fault for even thinking I could be friends with you.” She turned to leave, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Leo grabbed her arm, his eyes locked on mine. “You know, Hailey, you’re really disgusting. I’m a person, too. Why do I have to be tied to you all the time? I can’t even have my own friends! Did you buy me or something?” They went on like this, a perfectly rehearsed scene. When they finally paused for breath, I looked at Leo, at the undisguised loathing in his eyes, and said softly, “Didn’t I?” 3 I’ve always had trouble connecting with people. Besides my parents, I’ve never been close to anyone. When I was five, I was kidnapped by one of my father’s business rivals. I managed to escape, but they almost caught me again. Leo, who was just a little boy himself, stood in front of me, protecting me, and got two of his ribs broken for his trouble. In his hospital room, I, the girl who had never shown any interest in other children, told my parents I wanted to be friends with him. They were stunned. It was the first time I had ever expressed a desire for a friend. After a thorough background check, they agreed. And Leo’s parents… their eyes lit up with a greedy, triumphant light. My mother came from an old, established New York family. My father was the head of a massive Hong Kong conglomerate. For their son to befriend me, to be connected to my family… it was the opportunity of a lifetime. From then on, they were always at our house, always encouraging us to spend time together, always hinting at a future between us. My mother, worried about my social isolation, asked me if I would be okay with being with just Leo. I didn’t really have strong feelings about it, but seeing the concern in her eyes, I just nodded. I didn’t want to be a burden to them. So, the next time Leo’s mother brought up what a perfect couple we were, my mother made a verbal promise of engagement. That one, informal promise was enough to catapult Leo’s family into the upper echelons of New York society. His parents were ecstatic. They pushed Leo to be with me constantly, to keep me happy, to make sure I never changed my mind. But as Leo got older, he started to resent it. The boy who had once patiently read to me, who had always known how to make me smile, was replaced by a sullen, resentful teenager. He hated it when people called us a couple. And then Chloe arrived. The first time I saw her, she was sitting at my desk, rummaging through my things. “Leo, is your deskmate really a girl? All her stuff is so ugly. She has the worst taste.” Leo was leaning against my desk, a lazy smile on his face. “She’s not like you, all pink and girly.” “I am not girly!” Chloe pouted, and in her dramatic protest, she knocked my water bottle to the floor, where it shattered. When he saw me standing there, his smile vanished. “Chloe’s new here. She didn’t mean it. Just let it go.” I just looked at Chloe. “That was an eight hundred dollar water bottle. You have three days to pay me back.” She gasped. “Eight hundred dollars for a water bottle? Who do you think you are, a princess?” Someone behind her whispered, “She kind of is. Her family donated the new science wing.” Chloe’s face went from pale to beet red. “It was an accident! Why should I have to pay for it?” She tugged on Leo’s sleeve. “She’s just a rich snob.” “Hailey, come on,” Leo said, his voice full of a weary frustration. “It was an accident. And it’s not like eight hundred dollars is a lot of money to you. Just drop it. Don’t be so aggressive.” “Fine,” I said. “You pay for it. Eight hundred dollars. Venmo me now.” His face darkened. “Are you serious? Over eight hundred dollars?” “Yes,” I said. “My family’s money didn’t grow on trees.” The whole class was watching. Mortified, he pulled out his phone and sent me the money. Then he started packing up his books. “Chloe, you said you needed help with calculus, right? I’ll be your new deskmate.” He said it to her, but he was looking at me, waiting for me to object, to beg him to stay. I just stepped aside to give him room to move his things. He glared at me, then slammed his books down on the desk next to Chloe. In that moment, I knew I had to talk to my parents. I was fine on my own. I had their love. I didn’t need any friends. 4 The principal was on his way out when he saw us standing in the hallway. “Leo,” he said with a smile, “are you leaving early today, too?” Leo looked at me, confused. “Too? Where are you going?” “A math competition,” I said, my voice flat. The principal looked surprised for a second, then he seemed to understand. He just wished me luck and left. Back in class, our teacher was announcing the winners of the “Most Improved” scholarship. It was a scholarship my family had established to help students who were struggling but showing progress. As the teacher was talking, I heard Chloe whisper to Leo, “Thanks for all your help. As soon as I get the scholarship money, I’m taking you out to dinner.” “No problem,” he said with a smirk. But then the teacher called out a different name: “And the winner of the Most Improved scholarship is… Tiffany Liu!” Chloe shot up from her seat. “What? It should be me!” The teacher frowned. “If you have a problem, you can see me after class. Don’t disrupt the lesson.” As soon as the bell rang, Chloe chased after the teacher. She came back a few minutes later and collapsed onto her desk, sobbing. “Just because you’re rich, you think you can do whatever you want!” Everyone gathered around her, asking what the teacher had said. She stood up and marched over to my desk. “I know this scholarship is from your family, Hailey. But you can’t just abuse your power like that. Just because I’m friends with Leo, you’re jealous, so you took my name off the list? How could you be so cruel?” The whole class was stunned, their eyes now on me. I looked up from my book. “Did the teacher tell you that?” Chloe’s eyes darted away. “Do you think I’m lying? Everyone knows Leo can’t stand you anymore. You have that stupid engagement, so of course you hate me. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor. I really need that money. Please, I’ll give you back your precious Leo, just give me the scholarship.” Leo, who had just come back into the room, saw Chloe crying in front of me and his face hardened. “Hailey, if you have a problem with me, take it up with me. Don’t bully a girl.” *A girl?* I felt a new level of disgust. “First of all, your ‘little girl’ is a year older than us. She’s repeating a grade. Second…” I looked at Chloe and held up my phone, which was recording. “Everything you just said is slander. I could sue you for it.” Chloe went pale and hid behind Leo. “Fine. I can’t fight you. I’ll just let Tiffany have the scholarship. It’s a good lesson for me. The world is a cruel place.” Leo’s eyes filled with a pained sympathy for her. “Hailey, Chloe improved her score by a hundred points. Don’t take your anger at me out on her. We’re not your pawns!” Just then, Tiffany, a quiet, introverted girl who rarely spoke, stood up from her desk in the corner. She was trembling, her eyes red. She walked over to us, her voice shaking but firm. “Hailey didn’t abuse her power. I deserved that scholarship. My parents are dead, and my grandmother is paralyzed. We live on a small disability check. When Hailey found out, she was the one who convinced her family’s foundation to create this scholarship.” “But even though it was created for me, my grades were so bad, I never qualified. Until this semester. I improved my score by 109 points, and my class rank went up by 305 places. I worked hard for this. I deserve this. And Hailey… Hailey doesn’t deserve to be slandered like this!” By the time she finished, she was crying. 5 The classroom was silent. Then, a few whispers. “Hailey can be a little cold, but she’s never been a bully.” “Yeah, she’s never looked down on anyone.” “And that scholarship is a lot of money. Her family is really generous.” “Tiffany really did improve a lot. She deserved it.” The tide of opinion had turned. Chloe’s face was a mixture of white and red. She couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of the room, sobbing. Leo just looked at me, his expression complicated. “Even if you didn’t rig it, did you have to embarrass her like that? We’re all classmates.” I finally looked up at him, a flicker of real anger in my eyes. “Leo, you have some nerve.” I had never spoken to him like that before. He was my only friend, and as long as he didn’t cross a line, I was willing to keep him around, if only to appease my parents. He was stunned, then a flush of shame and anger spread across his face. “You’re being irrational,” he spat, and stormed out of the room. Chloe didn’t come back for the rest of the day. And for the first time ever, Leo skipped class. My mother, being in a different time zone, hadn’t yet been informed of the broken engagement. That night, I was reading in bed when I got a text from an unknown number. It was a picture of several opened condom wrappers. The text underneath read: **”You stole my scholarship, so I stole your man. You really thought we were just using them for an experiment? Idiot.”** Even though I had expected it, seeing the proof still made my stomach turn. I didn’t reply. I just screenshotted the picture and the text and sent it to my butler. **”Include this with the announcement of the broken engagement.”

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Three years into my marriage with Caleb Hayes, I was knocked off my bike by a car. My knee was bleeding, but I gritted my teeth and didn’t even think about calling him. He’s a Commander in the Navy SEALs. Special clearance, sensitive work. He can’t take personal calls on the job. That’s what I’d always been told. The woman who hit me was already on the phone, her voice thick with tears as she grabbed my arm. “My boyfriend’s on his way, he’s coming right now. Just wait, okay? I promise we’ll give you whatever you need to make this right.” But when a blacked-out government SUV with official plates pulled up behind her, my entire body went rigid. Caleb stepped out. He immediately wrapped his jacket around the crying woman’s shoulders, his voice low and urgent. “I got here as soon as I could. Are you okay?” And in that moment, it hit me. It wasn’t that Caleb couldn’t take calls at work. It was that his emergency contact wasn’t me. It was his first love, his old flame. His brow furrowed when he saw my bleeding knee, and his eyes stayed locked on it for a long, silent moment. The woman, his old flame, looked from him to me, a flicker of confusion in her teary eyes. “Do you two… know each other?” Caleb’s jaw tightened, but before he could say a word, I cut in. “No. We don’t.” After all, the very first clause in the marriage contract he’d given me three years ago was secrecy. Total, complete anonymity. And with our three-year agreement about to expire, I was just about out the door anyway. 1. I always knew Caleb had someone else—the one that got away. I just never imagined it would be the woman who’d just sent me sprawling onto the pavement. When Caleb arrived, for a split second, a stupid, hopeful part of me thought he was there for me. But the woman, Ava, was already running to him, burying her face in his chest. “Caleb, I’m so sorry, I hit someone,” she sobbed. He pulled off his jacket and draped it over her. His voice was steady, calm. “I’ll handle it.” I slowly looked away, down at the raw, bloody scrape on my knee. The reason Caleb hadn’t been home much lately suddenly made a gut-wrenching kind of sense. His old flame, Ava Sterling, was back in the country. She pulled away from him, turning to face me with a smile that was both apologetic and ridiculously happy. “My boyfriend’s here now. Just tell his aide what you need for compensation, and he’ll take care of it.” She gestured vaguely towards the man who’d been driving. “I’m so, so sorry about this, for making you late and for you getting hurt. Please, don’t hesitate to ask for anything. My boyfriend is… very capable. He’ll make it right!” “Thanks,” I mumbled. Caleb’s aide, Jake, looked mortified. He was one of the few people who knew about our arrangement. “Ma’am…” he started, then corrected himself. “Uh, Miss, that’s still bleeding pretty badly. It’s been half an hour. Do you… have a clotting disorder or something?” “It’s just a mild one,” I said quietly. Caleb’s head snapped towards me, his voice suddenly sharp. “A clotting disorder?” Ava looked confused. “What is it?” He didn’t seem to hear her. His gaze was fixed on my knee, his brow deeply creased. Ava finally sensed the tension hanging in the air. She looked back and forth between us. “Do you two know each other?” Caleb’s expression was unreadable, but I didn’t wait for his answer. “No,” I said again, my voice firm. He seemed satisfied with my discretion. He took Ava’s hand and started leading her away, tossing a command over his shoulder to his aide. “Get her to a hospital.” As their figures receded down the street, I pushed down the familiar ache in my chest. The contract was up in two months. It was time to start planning my exit. 2. The arrangement with Caleb was brutally simple. I needed money for grad school. A discreet inquiry through his family’s lawyer led to me, somehow, becoming Caleb Hayes’s wife. There was no wedding, no ceremony. Just a contract. He needed a marriage on paper to get his family off his back. The term was three years. The key conditions were to keep the marriage a secret from the public and to occasionally play the role of the dutiful wife at family gatherings. We wouldn’t have a real marriage, we weren’t responsible for each other’s lives, and I was even free to date, as long as it never caused a scandal that reached his family. For this, I received five thousand dollars a month. When the contract ended, I would receive a final payment of three million dollars. A severance package and a gag order, all in one. At the time, Ava was living in Europe. I didn’t even know she existed. There was no reason in the world for me to turn down a job like that. After we signed the papers, Caleb kept me close. He taught me things. How to navigate the shark-infested waters of D.C. fundraisers, how to pick out his suits, how to handle the leering advances of powerful men. I remember once, at a charity gala, some smarmy lobbyist got a little too handsy. Caleb, who was usually impossible to read, walked over and kicked the man squarely in the kneecap. Then he grabbed a heavy wine bottle from a nearby table, pressed it into my hand, and leaned in close, his body a shield behind mine. His breath was warm against my ear. “Do you know what today’s lesson is, Chloe?” I was surrounded by the cool, woody scent of his cologne, trying desperately to keep my composure. “You’re teaching me… how to push back, to seize the initiative…” He chuckled, his hand closing over mine, raising the bottle. “Good student, but this isn’t a test. It’s not that complicated.” He broke off, his voice dropping to a whisper. “It’s just a fight.” A dull thud echoed as the bottle connected with the man’s head. My palm vibrated from the impact. Caleb coolly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from my hand. “Don’t forget this again,” he said softly. “I’m the only backup you’ll ever need. Don’t let anyone push you around again.” I snatched my hand back and ran off with a mumbled, “Got it.” Any longer and he would have seen the adoration blooming in my eyes. Maybe it was because it was my first time falling for someone, or maybe it was those rare moments of indulgence from him that made me reckless. I moved into the villa he owned, and the highlight of my day became waiting for him to come home from work. We’d eat together, talk. Sometimes we’d watch a movie or go for a walk. Then one night, he came home drunk from a celebration dinner, propped up by a female subordinate, their bodies pressed close together. “Ma’am, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get Commander Hayes inside,” the woman said, her tone dripping with disdain. I didn’t move. I just held out my hand. “I’ll take my husband now.” As I was about to close the door, the woman smirked. “You know, being the Commander’s wife requires a certain… broad-mindedness. If you get jealous this easily, you’ll just make yourself sick trying to get rid of all the women who want him.” I didn’t realize Caleb was still lucid enough to hear everything. Or that he’d finally noticed how I truly felt about him. Later, after I’d made him some tea, I found him on the sofa, his eyes sharp and clear, watching me. I put the mug on the coffee table. “You’re awake. Drink this, it’ll help.” He ignored the tea, his gaze intense. “Do you know why I’ve never let you in my study?” All my earlier anger vanished, replaced by curiosity. I shook my head. He stood, waving off my attempt to help him, and led me to the study door. When he pushed it open, my breath caught. A massive painting dominated the room. It was of a girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, standing in a field of flowers, her head bowed as she smelled a blossom, only half her face visible. It was years later, after the accident, that I would recognize that face as Ava’s. Caleb leaned against the doorframe and lit a cigarette. “I’ve loved her since I was seventeen. It’s been ten years.” His voice was casual, but every word was a hammer blow against my heart. “If we hadn’t fought, if she hadn’t left for Europe in a fit of anger, she would be the one I’m married to right now.” Before I could even process that, he cut right to the chase. “I can’t give you what you want, Chloe. So don’t even start wanting it.” He paused, his voice taking on the cold, transactional tone he used in negotiations. “I’m adding a clause to our agreement. If you can’t manage your emotions, if you cross the line and interfere in my personal life, you’ll be in breach of contract. Not only will you forfeit the final payment, but you’ll owe me for damages.” The study was dark, with only a sliver of light from the hallway stretching across the floor. I watched my own shadow, frozen in place, and remembered something I’d overheard his father say about him once. Caleb had been talking about greedy business partners: *“They’re always probing the boundaries, testing the limits. Their desperate grasping is just… distasteful.”* That night, I became the distasteful one. I don’t know when Caleb left. I just stood there until the sun came up, the hollow feeling in my chest finally going numb. After that, I managed myself perfectly. I never let a single inappropriate emotion show. I was calm, polite, respectful. That was all I ever gave him. And after a while, it almost felt like I didn’t love him at all anymore. 3. Snapping back to the present, I found a walk-in clinic to get my knee patched up, called my boss to take the day off, and went straight to the hospital to see my mom. She has a tumor in a tricky spot in her brain. There are maybe two surgeons in the entire country who can operate on it. She’s always talking about checking out to save money. I popped a piece of pear into her mouth. “Absolutely not. You fainted last time you tried to walk down to the third floor for a test. Besides, I heard that Dr. Matthews, the best neurosurgeon for this, is going to be doing rounds here soon.” My mom’s doctor promised he’d get us a consultation the second he got confirmation. The thought of my mom finally getting better made my steps feel lighter as I went to the cafeteria for lunch. But the head nurse stopped me on my way. “Chloe, honey, I’m so sorry. The VIP room we had reserved for your mom… a new patient came in. A girl with serious connections. They gave it to her mother instead.” The nurse sighed. “I heard her boyfriend is a big shot in the military… name’s Hayes, or something…” At that exact moment, I saw a flash of a white dress disappear around the corner of the stairwell. It was the same one Ava had been wearing this morning. I forced a smile. “It’s okay, thank you for trying, Maria. A VIP room isn’t important. I just want my mom to get her surgery.” That afternoon, I got home to find Caleb sitting on the living room sofa. I was surprised he wasn’t with Ava. I gave him a slight nod. “Commander Hayes.” I was about to head to my room when he spoke. “How’s the knee?” “I put some ointment on it. It’s fine,” I replied. He set down his coffee and glanced at his watch. “I need you to come to my parents’ for dinner tonight. Are you free?” According to the contract, it didn’t matter if I was free. I nodded. “Yes.” I picked out a designer outfit, did my makeup, put on the jewelry and perfume—the whole routine to look the part of the polished, perfect wife. At his parents’ front door, I linked my arm through his, a familiar, practiced gesture. Inside, I smiled and greeted every family member. During dinner, Caleb’s mother suddenly asked, “So, are you two trying for a baby yet?” I was sipping my soup and choked. Caleb handed me a napkin and patted my back gently. “Mom, Chloe’s still young.” “Twenty-five isn’t that young,” she countered. “It’s time to start thinking about these things, you know.” I managed to swallow. “I know, Mom. We will.” A heavy thunderstorm started that night, so we had to stay over. One king bed, two separate comforters. It was a routine we were used to, not even awkward anymore. I came out of the bathroom in my pajamas and sat on the sofa to put more cream on my knee. Caleb looked over. “Sorry I couldn’t take you to the hospital myself today.” He looked like he was trying to figure out how to explain his relationship with Ava. I saved him the trouble. “It’s okay, Commander. The contract doesn’t obligate you to take care of me. Don’t worry about it.” I kept my voice even. “And I won’t ask about you and Ms. Sterling. I’ll keep playing my part until the two months are up.” He looked up. “Two months?” He’d forgotten the expiration date. “Yes,” I confirmed. “In two months, the contract is up, and we can get a divorce and end this arrangement.” He picked up his glass of wine, his expression unreadable. “You’ve been counting the days.” He tossed out the flat comment and then disappeared into the bathroom. 4. A few days later, my mom’s doctor called. He’d managed to secure a consultation for my mom with Dr. Matthews. For the next two weeks, I went straight to the hospital after work every day. One evening, I got into the elevator, and just before the doors closed, they were held open. Caleb and Ava stepped inside. Ava didn’t even recognize me; her eyes slid right past. Caleb paused for a fraction of a second when he saw me, but he said nothing. As the elevator ascended, Ava clung to his arm. “Thank you, thank you, my amazing boyfriend, for arranging everything for my mom. Now all we have to do is wait for the results.” She beamed up at him. “How can I possibly thank you? I guess I could let you take me to dinner…” I stared at the glowing floor numbers. After a few seconds, I heard Caleb’s low voice. “What do you want to eat?” “Let’s go to your place,” she chirped. “I’m craving your carbonara!” The elevator dinged at my floor. As I stepped out, I didn’t hear Caleb say no. Looks like I wouldn’t be going home tonight. I’d have to find a hotel. After having dinner with my mom, I checked into a nearby hotel, showered, and collapsed into bed. I was drifting in a hazy sleep when my phone rang. It was Caleb. “Hello?” I mumbled into my pillow. “When are you coming home?” his voice came through the line. “I made dinner. I’m waiting for you.” My face was half-buried in the pillow. “But… aren’t you with Ava? I didn’t want to walk in on you two… I can’t explain that… so I just got a room for the night…” Caleb’s voice deepened. “Stop worrying about things you don’t need to. Give me the hotel address. I’ll come pick you up.” I was too tired to be diplomatic. I rolled over in the blankets. “No, Caleb. I’m already in bed. Don’t bother me.” He was silent for a few seconds. When he spoke again, his tone was surprisingly soft, almost teasing. “Such a grump when you’re woken up, huh?” In my drowsy state, I wasn’t as intimidated by him. I made an annoyed sound. Through the haze of sleep, I thought I heard a quiet laugh. “Okay, you sleep. I won’t bother you.” The line clicked, and I fell back into a deep sleep. The next day, I’d mostly forgotten the conversation, except for the bold way I’d used his first name. When he called again, I braced myself for a reprimand, my voice cautious. “Is there something you need, Commander Hayes?” There was a pause on the other end before he answered, his tone flat. “Nothing. I just forgot to ask you yesterday what you were doing at the hospital.” “My mom’s a patient there,” I said, keeping it vague. “It’s nothing major. She should be out soon.” “If you need any help, contact my direct aide,” he said after a moment. I thanked him politely but had no intention of taking him up on the offer. His work was too important; I couldn’t bother his staff with my personal problems. The addendum to our contract had conditioned me to keep my distance. Asking him for help was crossing the line. I couldn’t do it. He didn’t hang up. “Commander,” I asked, “was there anything else?” I could hear the faint, rhythmic tapping of his fingers against a desk, a habit he had on the phone. “I was just wondering what time you usually take a nap,” he said casually. I was stunned into silence. Before I could respond, he added, “I’ll make sure to call you around that time from now on.” I had no idea what to make of that. Was he trying to tease me? Or was this just some new, strange way for a man in his position to mess with someone? Dr. Matthews was scheduled to be at the hospital on the 17th, with only a three-hour window for consultations. We had the last appointment. Caleb had been away on a field inspection for four days and wasn’t due back for another week. In that time, I’d seen Ava at the hospital, but she was always alone. On the morning of the 17th, I saw her chatting with the nurses at their station, looking relaxed as she munched on an apple. “My mom’s test results are only partially back,” she was saying, “but the hospital administrator told me not to worry, it’s probably nothing serious.” A nurse, busy sorting files, smiled up at her. “That’s great news. Why don’t you go for a walk? We’re a little busy preparing for Dr. Matthews’s visit this afternoon.” Ava latched onto the name. “Doctor? What doctor?” “He’s a top expert in neuro-oncology,” the nurse explained. “All his consultation slots are filled.” Then she added, “But your mother’s situation is different. She doesn’t need to see a specialist like him.” Ava took another bite of her apple, a thoughtful look on her face. “Is that so…” A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. Ava’s mom didn’t have a serious condition, and it wasn’t even Dr. Matthews’s specialty. Surely she wouldn’t try to take our appointment. But I was wrong. At two o’clock that afternoon, my mom’s doctor pulled me out of her room, his expression grave. “The appointment is gone.” The words hit me like a physical blow. My ears started ringing. “It was taken by Commander Hayes’s girlfriend. She has military family priority.” The doctor’s brow was furrowed in frustration. “I told her that her mother’s case is something I can easily handle, but she insisted. She said seeing the top professor would give her more peace of mind.” I leaned against the wall to steady myself. “Can’t he just add one more slot?” “There’s no time. Dr. Matthews has a flight to an international conference at five.” I dug my nails into my palms, the sharp pain grounding me. I pulled out my phone and tried to call Caleb. Just like always, the call wouldn’t go through to his personal line. Just a cold, busy signal. There was no time to waste. I rushed home in a cab, grabbed my marriage certificate, and raced back to the hospital. By the time I returned, two hours had passed. My doctor took me to the hospital administrator’s office. Before I could speak, the administrator held up a hand. “There’s no point. You can’t win this. You don’t have the connections.” I pushed the marriage certificate across his desk, breathing heavily. “I am Caleb Hayes’s wife. You can verify the authenticity of this document.” My voice was shaking, but firm. “I’m not here to steal anyone’s appointment. I’m here to take back what was originally mine.” I got the appointment back. After confirming the surgery schedule with Dr. Matthews, I finally felt like I could breathe again. I asked the doctor and the administrator to keep my identity a secret, but I underestimated Ava’s persistence. As I was leaving the hospital that evening, she blocked my path, staring at me until a slow, knowing smile spread across her face. “I remember you. You’re the girl I hit with my car. No wonder Caleb was so concerned when he heard you had a clotting disorder.” “I wouldn’t have done this if you hadn’t taken my appointment,” I said, looking down. “My relationship with him… it’s not what you think. I can explain.” She wasn’t interested. She just held out her hand. “I want to see the marriage certificate.” Her voice was laced with a threat. “Because if you don’t show it to me, I swear I will make such a scene in this hospital that your mother won’t get a moment’s peace, let alone a major surgery.” I had no choice. I showed it to her. Ava smiled the entire time. She nodded, handed it back, and immediately dialed Caleb’s number. The call connected almost instantly. Her eyes, now filled with tears, were locked on me as she spoke into the phone. “Caleb… you have a wife?” A moment later, I could hear the faint sound of his voice. “Who told you that?” “How could you do this to me?” Ava’s voice broke into a sob. “We’re done.” She hung up, turned, and walked away. My lips were pressed into a thin line. I took one step to follow her, but she spoke without turning back. “I wouldn’t follow me if I were you. You’re pathetic, letting your husband cheat on you. Don’t make me get violent right here in the hospital parking lot.” 5. After that, I tried calling Caleb a dozen times. Every call was rejected. I sent texts explaining what had happened. No response. He was scheduled to return from his trip on the 20th, but he didn’t show up at the villa until the 25th. Those five days, I knew, were spent placating Ava. The night before he came back, I saw her post on Instagram. It was a picture of her in a hospital bed, with Caleb in the frame, carefully picking bones out of a bowl of chicken soup for her. The caption read: *The one who’s not loved is the other woman.* Today, he was finally ready to settle the score with me. I braced myself for his anger, but when he walked in, Caleb didn’t even look at me. He just tossed his coat aside and sat on the sofa with a stack of files. A moment later, his phone rang. He answered, his voice calm, but carrying the weight of command that made the room feel heavy and cold. “Do you remember the instructions I gave you before I left?” The person on the other end was the private security guard Caleb had hired for Ava. “You told me to take care of Ms. Sterling, sir.” “Right,” Caleb said. “And you failed.” I could faintly hear the guard’s muffled apologies. “You’re fired,” Caleb stated, his tone completely flat. I stared in disbelief. I rushed over to him. “Commander, it has nothing to do with him! I’m the one who broke the contract. Don’t punish innocent people.” Only then did he finally acknowledge my presence, his eyes lifting to meet mine. “Punish innocent people?” he repeated slowly. He paused. “If you had considered that before you exposed our marriage, maybe none of this would have happened.” “That’s not it!” I argued desperately. “It was because Ava stole my mother’s appointment with the surgeon. Her doctor said we can’t delay it any longer, and he’s the only one in the country who can do this surgery…” He cut me off, his voice smooth and deliberate. “And what does your mother have to do with me?” 6. Caleb’s words were like a shard of ice, plunging straight into the softest part of my heart. I froze, staring at the undisguised coldness in his eyes. Suddenly, the past three years felt like a ridiculous, pathetic joke. I took a deep breath, forcing down the lump in my throat, and spoke, enunciating every single word. “You’re right. She has nothing to do with you.” I held his gaze. “And from now on, neither do I.”

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My husband’s “girl bro” brought over a batch of her homemade granola bars. I saw the little green specks of mold in the oat clusters and immediately told my husband not to eat them. That just made his friend, Gina, roar with laughter. “God, you’re so high-strung. It’s a granola bar, not poison. Your husband’s eaten way worse. Hell, he’s practically licked my boots clean on a dare before.” I was so angry I threw the whole tray in the trash. Leo, my husband, thought I’d embarrassed him. He gave me a hard shove. I wasn’t ready for it. The back of my head hit the corner of the counter with a sickening crack. I felt a warm wetness and the world started to tilt. It was intracranial bleeding. Gina just stood over me, looking down her nose. She pursed her lips. “See? This is why I don’t hang with girls. You breathe on them wrong and they act like they’re dying. So dramatic.” And then, ignoring my wide, pleading eyes, she grabbed Leo’s hand and dragged him out for a night of bar-hopping. Because they didn’t call for help in time, I was left paralyzed. Eventually, I died. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that same day. The day he got the moldy granola bars. This time, I pretended I didn’t see the mold at all. *** **1** “What are you staring at? It’s not every day I grace you mortals with my baking skills. The least you could do is gobble it down and thank me.” That was Gina, her voice a sharp prod in the quiet room. Leo’s ears went red, and he had a weird, flustered look on his face. Me? I was still in a daze, sitting there like a statue, my mind struggling to catch up. “Maya, you gonna stare a hole through it, or are you going to eat one? What, you think my cooking is beneath you?” I balled my fists in my lap, looking down to hide the hatred burning in my eyes. The silence got awkward. Leo finally spoke up to defend me. “Hey, lay off her. Maya’s been sick the last couple of days, just picking fights over nothing. It’s been driving me nuts.” Gina let out a sharp curse, then leaned in so close I could feel her breath on my face. “Wait, you guys haven’t been fighting about… me, have you?” she asked, a smirk playing on her lips. “We’re just bros. God, she’s so insecure. I can’t.” I shot up from the couch, tossed the granola bar I was holding onto the coffee table, and fled to the bathroom. The cold water felt like a shock against my skin. I looked in the mirror and pinched my cheek, hard. It hurt. A lot. It wasn’t a dream. I was really back. And this time, I wouldn’t stop a single damn soul on their way to hell. **2** I splashed more cold water on my face, forcing myself to calm down. From the living room, I could hear Gina’s teasing voice. “Alright, spill it. What did your wifey get all worked up about this time? Tell your big sister Gina, I’ll teach you how to handle her.” Leo’s voice was muffled as he explained our fight from a few days ago. “I told her a million times, I only changed my profile pic to your photo because I lost a bet. She won’t believe me. You really screwed me over with that one.” Gina just howled with laughter. When I came out of the bathroom, she was sprawled all over him on the couch, her body pressed against his, no space between them. She didn’t move when she saw me. But Leo tensed up, pushing her away and quickly grabbing a throw pillow to cover his lap. He gave me a weak, forced smile. “Honey, you okay? What happened?” I shook my head. My eyes flicked to the now-empty plate on the table. “Did you eat all the granola bars?” I asked, as if I was just making conversation. Leo practically tripped over himself to explain. “Yeah, I had to. Gina’s such a tomboy, she hardly ever sets foot in a kitchen. I had to show some support, you know?” Gina’s lips curved into a smug grin as she shot me a challenging look. Then she slung an arm around Leo’s neck. “That’s right, buddy. You ate my food, now you owe me. We’re going out drinking tonight, and we’re not coming back ‘til sunrise.” She turned to me. “Sorry, Maya. It’s a bros-only night. No girlfriends allowed. Don’t take it personally.” “Oh,” I said. Then I asked, “So, are you a man or a woman?” Gina rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh, then stood up and literally dropped her pants for a second. Three seconds later, she pulled them back up with a smirk. “See? Happy now? I’m basically a dude who got born in the wrong body. None of the guys see me as a girl. If you’ve got a problem, just say it. Don’t play these passive-aggressive games.” I nodded. “You’re right. If there was anything between you two, you would’ve gotten together ages ago. There’d be no room for me.” The smile on Gina’s face froze. Leo looked like he was about to jump to her defense, but I beat him to it. “In that case, I’ve got nothing to worry about. You guys go have fun.” “Just don’t drink too much. And try to come home at a reasonable hour.” Gina shot me a massive eye-roll and yanked Leo towards the door by his collar. **3** I watched them leave. The second the door clicked shut, I bolted to the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife I could find, and started hacking away at everything in the fridge. I didn’t stop until I was panting, exhausted, and collapsed on the floor. Lying there, staring at the ceiling, I finally felt a moment of release. I bit my lip, silent tears streaming down my face. The last time. The last time, I was lying just like this, my body numb. My consciousness faded in and out as I desperately tried to move, to call for help. But it wasn’t until the next afternoon, after he’d sobered up, that Leo came home and finally took me to the hospital. It was too late. The doctor’s words echoed in my memory: “The intracranial bleeding is extensive and has affected critical areas of the brain. It’s highly likely she’ll have severe conscious impairment. The family needs to prepare for the worst.” Even though my eyes were closed, I was aware. I heard everything. I heard Leo’s broken sobs. I felt him collapse next to my bed, whispering his apologies. “I’m so sorry, honey, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have done that. Please, wake up. If you just wake up, I’ll never make you angry again.” But as the days turned into weeks, the doctor’s tone changed. “Your wife has likely entered a persistent vegetative state. The chances of her waking up are now significantly lower. If she doesn’t regain consciousness within a month, the prognosis is very poor. You need to be prepared.” This time, Leo seemed to accept the news much faster. That very night, I heard Gina’s voice by my bedside. “Dude, are you really gonna waste your life on her? Think about it. You’ll be her free nurse, wiping her ass, changing her diapers. You won’t be able to hang out with me anymore.” Leo’s laugh was bitter. “We owe her this. I’ll be the one to pay the price.” “What do you mean, *we* owe her?” Gina snapped. “If you ask me, she’d be better off dead. It’d be a relief. If you’re gonna blame me for this, fine. I’ll leave. I’ll get out of your life right now.” I heard her angry footsteps stomp away, then stop. A moment later, someone yanked the privacy curtain around my bed. And then, I heard the sound of their tangled breaths, their soft murmurs, right next to my ear. My heart shattered. **4** During the four years I was a vegetable, Leo and Gina were constantly intimate by my bedside. After being heartbroken countless times, I just went numb. When I heard them discussing stopping my life support, planning to announce their engagement to our friends, the numbness turned to hate. I wanted, more than anything, to wake up and tear their smiling faces to shreds, to make them pay. But the reality was, I was trapped. I couldn’t live, and I couldn’t die. Not until Gina got pregnant. That’s when Leo finally made his decision. In the middle of the night, he quietly pressed a pillow over my face… **5** Once I got some strength back, I sat down on the couch. I checked the date on my phone: 2021. I suddenly remembered something from my time in the hospital bed. I’d overheard a news report on another patient’s radio: “Breaking news, gold prices have hit another record high, now topping over $2,000 an ounce…” The people in the room started talking about it. One woman’s voice was particularly smug. “I got my wedding jewelry back in ‘21. Back then, it was only about $1,700 an ounce. The price has skyrocketed. I’m almost tempted to sell my gold bracelet.” I looked down at the date again. It *was* 2021. Forgetting all about the two scumbags partying at some bar, I felt a surge of excitement for the future. I immediately bought a bus ticket to the city, packed two changes of clothes, and left. In the city’s jewelry district, I spent every cent I had on gold. I didn’t even have enough left for a ticket back. As I was standing on the street corner, wondering what to do next, my phone rang. It was Gina. “Hey. Your husband is wasted. You need to get back here and take care of him.” Her voice was slurred. “It’s so weird, he didn’t even drink that much last night, but he just puked all over me. I’m not gonna bother going home, so I’m just gonna take a shower at your place. And don’t get your panties in a twist. I’ll borrow one of your T-shirts, but I’m not interested in your husband’s fifteen-minute performance.” “Gina, you shut your damn mouth or I’ll show you what a performance really looks like!” Leo’s voice, angry and loud, suddenly cut in. But before he could say more, the line went dead. I smiled to myself. Gee, I wonder. Was he sick from the booze… or from food poisoning? Suddenly, I wasn’t in any hurry to go back. I’d stay away for a while. If I saw their disgusting faces right now, I was afraid I’d grab a knife and ruin my own future. I put my phone away, hoisted the heavy black backpack onto my shoulders, and walked towards a cheap motel down the street. **6** The city had a lot of warehouses that were always hiring temps during the busy season. I found a job with daily pay pretty quickly. After my first shift on the assembly line, I checked my phone. Dozens of missed calls and texts. [Honey, why aren’t you back yet?] [Where did you go?] [I miss you, come home.] [Babe, my stomach really hurts. Where’s that medicine you bought for me last time?] Before I could even finish reading, Leo called again. “Honey, when are you coming home? I feel awful. I think I’m gonna throw up again.” His voice was weak. Weak from being sick, or weak from guilt? Who knew. I sent him my location. “I went out for a bit, but I lost my wallet and my phone. I’m stuck out of town and can’t get back.” I could hear him take a sharp breath. Then he exploded. “Maya, are you an idiot? How do you lose something that important? Did you lose your brain, too? Just taking off like that without a word, who are you trying to scare?” I held the phone away from my ear. When I hung up, I blocked his number. I gave it a day. The next evening, after getting paid and treating myself to some decent takeout, I got a call from an unknown number. It was him. “Honey, can you please stop this?” His voice was pleading. “I feel really, really sick. Please, I’m begging you, just come home.” I took a slow bite of my food. “Isn’t Gina there to take care of you?” I asked innocently. “You guys are best friends, after all.” “Is that what this is about? Her? I told you, we’re just friends! You’re my wife! I paid for that whole damn wedding, shouldn’t you be the one taking care of me?” He was losing his patience. “I’m giving you 12 hours to show up here. Or else…” He hung up, trying to sound tough. I felt nothing. I finished my dinner and went back to my room for a good night’s sleep. On the third day, I handed in my phone at the start of my shift and got back to work. When I got paid for the three days, I realized I had enough to buy another gram of gold. But I resisted the urge. Instead, I bought a bus ticket home. **7** After a few hours on a bus with rock-hard seats, I was home. I pushed open the bedroom door. Leo was still in bed. And as I got closer, I saw there was someone else in there with him. I took out my phone, snapped a quick picture of the two of them, and posted it to my social media. Caption: [So grateful to Gina for taking such good care of my husband while I was gone these past three days. You’re a true friend 🙏.] No one liked the post. I took the groceries I’d bought on the way home and went to the kitchen. I was on the second dish when Gina wandered in, drawn by the sounds of cooking. “Whoa, look who’s back. Leo was about to lose his mind looking for you. That whole ‘running away from home’ trick was pretty good. Which novel did you get that from?” I kept my eyes on the sizzling beef in the pan and smiled sweetly. “It’s fine. Leo loves my cooking. Once he eats, he’ll probably forget he was ever mad.” I turned my head just in time to see the thoughtful, calculating look on her face. **8** When the food was on the table, Leo finally got out of bed. He was clutching his stomach, glaring at me from across the room. “What are you even doing back here?” I went to the medicine cabinet and got him an ibuprofen. He took it, and a few minutes later, the tense lines on his forehead started to relax. “You always know what to do,” he said, his tone softening. “Alright, I’ll let it slide this time. But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I won’t forgive you so easily.” I smiled, my eyes flicking over to Gina. I put a piece of beef on Leo’s plate. “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I was just so angry that day. Here, try some of your favorite cilantro beef.” Now that his stomach felt better, Leo dug in with gusto. This, apparently, was too much for Gina to watch. She suddenly made a series of loud spitting noises, hacking up a piece of chewed beef onto the table. “Dude, I’m not trying to be a bitch, but you could do better. I could make something better than this with my feet.” An awkward expression flashed across Leo’s face. He shook his head at me and pointed to his own temple, mouthing the word “crazy.” I just smiled at him. Gina saw our silent exchange and it was the last straw. She flew into a rage and tried to flip the dining room table. But the table was solid wood and didn’t budge. Flushed with embarrassment, she stormed towards the door. “Fine, fine! You both think I’m crazy, right? I’ll go! I’ll disappear! Is that what you want?” The words sounded familiar. I turned and saw my husband rush after her, grabbing her hand. A sharp pain stabbed me in the chest. I remembered now. This little act—playing the victim, turning the tables, leaving in a huff only to be begged to stay—was the exact move that had sealed their “special friendship” the last time around. Calling it a friendship, while doing things that screamed affair. Kissing by the bedside of his comatose wife. The irony was sickening. **9** By the time I tuned back in, Leo had already dragged Gina back to her seat. After a barrage of soothing words from him, she lifted her chin again, arrogant as ever. “Look, I’m not bragging, but your wife’s cooking is average at best. This weekend is your birthday. I’ll cook for you. Then you’ll see what real food tastes like.” Leo laughed and agreed immediately. Gina looked at me triumphantly. “In that case, we’ll just have the party at my place. Maya, you can come over early and be my assistant.” I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. You guys should just celebrate. I’d just be a third wheel.” Gina clicked her tongue, her tone aggressive. “You can just leave after you’re done helping in the kitchen. Don’t you even care about your own husband’s birthday? Seriously, what did my boy ever see in you?” I lowered my eyes. Under the table, my thumb ran over the new gold beads on my bracelet. After a moment, I decided to fully support their get-together. In fact, I wanted as many people as possible to witness their very special… friendship. **10** After Gina left, I texted her a long list of dishes I knew Leo liked. She replied with a sticker that said, “Women are so extra.” On the day of the party, Leo got all dressed up. He used gel in his hair, put on a crisp white shirt, and even used some breath spray. Before he left, he asked me one more time. “Are you sure you don’t want to come? They got a two-layer cake. I thought you loved the frosting.” I shook my head again. “It’s just going to be a bunch of guys. I don’t really have anything to talk about with them.” Leo smiled and nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He was already halfway out the door. “I wonder what Gina got me this year. She said it’s something I’m gonna love. She’s so confident.” “Anyway, I’m heading out. I’ll send you a video later so you can see her amazing cooking.” He turned and walked, almost bouncing, into the dim hallway. About two hours later, he sent me a video. The sound was deafening. Gina, wearing a sheer purple top, had her face smeared with cake frosting. She was laughing and swearing at the camera. “You sons of bitches! It took me two hours to do my makeup and you ruined it before I could even get a selfie! Now you all have to lick it off!” For Gina’s punishments, her “bros” were always eager to comply. I switched over to my social media feed and kept refreshing. Sure enough, another one of Leo’s close friends had just posted a new video. In this one, Gina was leaning back on the couch, swearing a blue streak, her arms crossed over her chest, which pushed up her cleavage. Leo, as the birthday boy, was being teased mercilessly by his friends, his face flushed red. At the end of the video, only a thin layer of frosting was left on Gina’s face. She glared at the camera. “Are you guys trying to kill me? If you’ve got so much energy, why don’t you go have a stamina contest with Leo?” The guys around her whooped and hollered. “How do we do that? You gonna test us all out?” “Damn, Gina! You’re not playing fair! You didn’t get us a gift this big on our birthdays!” “Gina’s a legend! Look at Leo, he’s about to explode! Hahahaha!” “Dude, you guys better chill. Leo’s a married man. Maya would freak if she saw this.” The group of friends just laughed and used the chaos as an excuse to grope at Gina. I saved the video and watched it a few times. I paused it at the 0:56 mark and zoomed in on the food on the table. A cold cucumber salad, cilantro beef, BBQ chicken wings, braised ribs, and a pork rib soup. Everything looked… fine. Totally average. A slow smile spread across my face. I called Leo immediately. “Wow, Gina’s cooking actually looks pretty good. You should eat a lot. Don’t let your best friend’s hard work go to waste.” It took him a few minutes to answer. He mumbled a few words and hung up in less than ten seconds. **11** The next morning, I was making coffee when the girlfriend of one of Leo’s friends suddenly contacted me. “Hey, Maya? It’s Megan. Is my boyfriend, Kevin, still at your place?” I paused for a second. “No, he’s not here. They had the birthday party at Gina’s place last night. My husband, Leo, isn’t home yet either.” “That damn Gina again!” Megan sounded furious. “Kevin told me he was going to your house! Of course he went to see *her*. A dog will always go back to its own vomit.” I thought for a moment, then added her as a contact. I sent her the video from the party last night. A few minutes later, Megan added me to a group chat. A few other people joined after me. When there were six of us in the chat, Megan forwarded the two videos and tagged everyone. [@all Who’s free to go bust some cheaters with me right now?] The message was immediately met with a few question marks. But then two other women quickly agreed. Megan dropped Gina’s address in the chat and told everyone to meet at the apartment complex gate in an hour. Something this good? Of course I wasn’t going to miss it. **12** An hour later, I met Megan in person. She had a sharp black bob, a simple black t-shirt, and tight jeans. When she saw me pull up, her eyes narrowed. “You here for Gina?” I nodded. “I’m Maya. Leo’s my husband.” The suspicion in Megan’s eyes faded, and she immediately launched into a rant about Gina. “Remember that stupid ‘three best friends’ challenge on TikTok? She posted a video and tagged my boyfriend and a bunch of other guys, talking about how her ‘bros’ are closer than family. How they all slept crammed into one room for six months when they were broke. How it’s been ten years, and even though they all have girlfriends or are married, she just has to say the word and they’ll all come running.” Megan let out a bitter laugh. “And I was the idiot who didn’t see the massive red flag waving in my face.” She looked at me with a sort of pity in her eyes. “I’m going up there and dumping Kevin’s ass. What about you, Maya?” I managed a weak, sad smile. “I haven’t decided yet. I’ll see how it goes.” Megan looked like she wanted to say something else, opening her mouth a few times, but then she just shook her head. She was probably going to tell me to get a divorce. But divorce means paperwork. A waiting period. It’s so much trouble. And besides, there might be a better way. **13** Once the other two women arrived, our little group went up and started knocking on Gina’s door. No one answered. Finally, Megan found a spare key under the doormat and we let ourselves in. The second we opened the door, we were hit with a wall of stale smoke and booze. Three or four guys were passed out on the floor and couches in the living room. Megan walked over to her boyfriend and stared down at him like he was something she’d scraped off her shoe. “Kevin. Are you dead? Get your ass up. Now.” The other women went to find their own boyfriends, their faces grim. I didn’t see Leo in the living room. I was about to check the master bedroom when someone behind me let out a piercing scream. “Ah!” I spun around. One of the women, the one in a yellow jacket, was clutching Megan in terror. Megan looked completely bewildered. “What? What’s wrong?” The woman in yellow was shaking uncontrollably. “He’s… he’s dead.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “385172”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

“So, you must be the legendary ‘girl best friend,’ right?” “Let me guess, next you’re going to tell me a bunch of Liam’s little secrets?” “Then you’ll swear up and down you’re just ‘one of the guys’?” “Listen, I’ve read a hundred stories just like this. Your little act won’t work on me.” She said it with a smirk, like she had me all figured out. I was speechless. I turned to Liam. “You need to tell your girlfriend to delete Wattpad.” 1 Hailey chewed on her straw, tilting her head as she looked at me. Curled up in Liam’s arms, she cooed, “Zoe, honey, when you’re a guy’s ‘girl best friend,’ is it like in the stories? Do you guys, like, sleep in the same bed and play video games all night?” She sighed dramatically. “I’m so jealous. I can’t even talk to a guy without blushing!” My fork stopped halfway to my mouth. Liam, who had been texting, chuckled without looking up. “What are you talking about? Back in middle school when she came over to study, my mom kicked me out to the living room couch.” “But in the stories, the girl best friend always sneaks in to tuck the guy in,” Hailey pouted, her eyes suddenly welling up. “And she’ll pretend to be drunk and lean on his shoulder… Zoe, you wouldn’t do something like that, would you?” The private dining room went silent. Under the table, our friend Ryan kicked me, his eyes wide as he gestured toward my phone. The group chat was blowing up. “Is this girl for real? Is she auditioning for a soap opera?” “Zoe, DESTROY HER.” I slowly lifted my gaze. Hailey was blinking her big, innocent eyes, waiting for my answer. I put down my fork and turned to Liam. “Tell your girlfriend to delete Wattpad.” Hailey’s eyes immediately filled with tears. “Liam, did I say something wrong? Is Zoe mad at me?” she whimpered. “Does she think I’m intruding? Does she want you to send me home?” “It’s all my fault, I’m so stupid, I don’t know how to talk to people! Please don’t let me make things awkward for you and Zoe, okay? I’ll be more careful next time!” Liam dropped the shrimp he was peeling for her and fumbled for a napkin. He shot me a glare filled with reproach. “Zoe! Why would you joke like that? Can’t you see she’s about to cry?” He pulled Hailey into a hug, murmuring sweet nothings. “Baby, don’t cry, she’s just messing with you. She didn’t mean it.” Then, he started making frantic faces at me. “Apologize to Hailey! Now!” 2 I sighed. It was the first time Liam had brought a girlfriend to meet us. I forced a tight smile in Hailey’s direction. “It was just a joke. Don’t take it seriously.” I added, “Just a suggestion, maybe try reading something else. Sci-fi, history… you know, expand your horizons.” The rest of the guys at the table choked back laughter. Hailey’s face went from pale to beet red. The rest of the meal gave me indigestion. When we were leaving, I grabbed a big paper bag from my car and tossed it to Liam. “Here. Your sneakers.” His eyes lit up. “Whoa, Zoe, you’re the best! I thought for sure you didn’t manage to get them!” He was about to tear open the box when Hailey let out a loud sob. “Is that… a gift from Zoe? They’re so beautiful…” she wailed. “It’s not like me… my family doesn’t have much money. All I could afford to get you was a twenty-dollar keychain. I’m so sorry, Liam!” I had no idea what she was on about now. I frowned. “It’s not a gift. He has to pay me back. He asked me to pick them up for him when I was studying abroad this summer.” But Hailey acted like she hadn’t heard a word. Tears streamed down her face like a broken faucet. “Zoe, I know you don’t mean to, but when you do things like this… are you trying to remind me that I’m not in the same world as you guys? That I can’t afford to buy Liam limited-edition sneakers? That I’m not good enough for him?” She turned back to Liam, her crying escalating. “Liam, this is your secret little world with Zoe, isn’t it? I feel like such an outsider. Maybe I should just leave and stop bothering you two!” Liam stood there, helplessly trying to wipe her tears with his sleeve, the sneaker box in his hand feeling like a hot potato. “Liam, how could you accept a gift from another woman?” she accused. “You just like having her pop in and out of your life whenever she wants, don’t you?” He turned to me, his voice deliberately low. “Zoe, did you have to give them to me right in front of her? You know how she overthinks things.” He shot me another desperate look, silently pleading. I locked eyes with Ryan. He shivered and practically ran back to his own car. I rolled my eyes. “Do whatever you want with them. But you’re still paying me. They were expensive.” 3 In the end, Liam didn’t have the heart to get rid of the sneakers. He sent me the money right away, along with a sticker of a cartoon character groveling for forgiveness. I figured that was the end of it. We were all in different majors, so it wasn’t like we’d see each other often. But the next day, I went viral on the university’s confessions page. Ryan sent me the link. “Zoe, you’re famous.” I clicked on it. It was a long, rambling post, every line dripping with manufactured angst: *”Am I being too sensitive and petty? My boyfriend has a ‘girl best friend’ he’s known for years, and I honestly don’t know how to deal with her…”* *”We just started dating, and she’s already given him a pair of sneakers that cost more than my budget for an entire semester. I’m not jealous, really, I’m just… feeling a little insecure and sad.”* *”It’s my fault for coming from a normal family. I can’t just casually drop that kind of money on a gift to maintain a friendship. I’ve been saving up to buy him something for a couple hundred dollars, but compared to her gift, mine feels so pathetic…”* *”My boyfriend said it was an old promise they made. It turns out they have so many secrets and so much history I don’t know about… Is she doing this to remind me that I’m the outsider?”* *”I really, really like my boyfriend, and I want to try to get along with his best friend, but I feel so anxious all the time. I’m so scared every day. What should I do? Should I just break up with him so they can be together after all these years?”* The comments section was already a warzone with hundreds of replies. “Wait, isn’t the OP Hailey, the prettiest girl in the English department? Then Z.L. must be Zoe Lin!” “Definitely! I saw Liam wearing a new pair of Jordans today that have like, a four-figure price tag!” “Seriously, can the ‘girl best friend’ just disappear already?!” Before I could even finish reading, I got a friend request. The profile picture was a girl in a white dress with long, straight black hair. The second I accepted, a message popped up: *”Zoe, don’t get the wrong idea! I forgot to post it anonymously! I was just sharing something from a story I read.”* 4 I replied: *”Then you should probably clarify that on the page.”* The message was sent. And then, radio silence. Hailey never wrote back. The next day, Liam dragged Hailey to my dorm to ambush me. He looked apologetic. Hailey hid behind him, her eyes red and puffy. “Zoe, I’m so sorry, Hailey didn’t mean to…” Liam started. “Then she can go to the confessions page, delete the post, and issue a clarification,” I interrupted. Hailey’s shoulders trembled, and tears immediately started rolling down her cheeks. Liam instantly shielded her. “Hailey’s very timid. If she deletes it and apologizes now, think of what people will say about her! Come on, Zoe, be the bigger person and let it go! Look how scared she is!” As if on cue, Hailey suddenly gagged and covered her mouth. I took a step back, not wanting to get blamed for whatever this was. “I’m sorry, Zoe, please don’t be mad at me… I… I didn’t mean to,” she gasped. “It’s just, when I see that you hate me, I get so anxious my stomach turns… I’m sorry, my body is just so weak…” She stumbled dramatically into Liam’s arms. I almost laughed. With acting skills like that, why was she an English major? She should have gone to film school. “Maybe you should lay off the romance novels for a while. And stop making things up.” I turned and walked away. Behind me, I could hear Liam’s soft, comforting words, and Hailey’s faint, whimpering voice. “Liam… you’re not going to listen to Zoe and break up with me, are you?” 5 During our shared elective class, Ryan nudged me. “Are you really just going to let this go?” he whispered. I was focused on the professor’s PowerPoint. “He’s going to put his girlfriend before his friends,” I said without looking away. “It’s understandable.” The words had barely left my mouth when we heard a sob from the row behind us. Ryan and I turned around. Hailey was sitting there, clutching a textbook, tears streaming down her face. She looked at me, her lips trembling. Then she shot up, covered her mouth, and ran crying from the lecture hall. “What’s her problem now?” Ryan asked, completely bewildered. I just shrugged and went back to my notes. I found out that afternoon. I was in the dining hall when Liam stormed up to my table, his face a mask of anger and disappointment. “Zoe, do you have to be like this? Hailey is trying so hard to be your friend, and you’re making passive-aggressive digs at her behind her back? Now she’s so upset she couldn’t even stay in class. Are you happy now?” Ryan and I exchanged baffled looks. Ryan frowned. “Liam, what the hell are you talking about? All Zoe said was that she understands you have to prioritize your girlfriend. How is that a dig?” Hearing that only made Liam angrier. He sneered, his eyes darting between me and Ryan. “Of course, you two stick together! You’ve been friends since you were kids, so now you’re ganging up on the outsider, is that it?” His gaze landed back on me, full of disappointment. “Zoe, I never thought you were that kind of person…” I pursed my lips. “What kind of person is that?” 6 Liam opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Ryan had seen enough. He grabbed Liam’s arm. “Alright, I’m done eating. Let’s go shoot some hoops.” He dragged him away without waiting for an answer. Staring at my now-cold food, I suddenly lost my appetite. When I got back to my dorm, Hailey was there, talking to my roommate. The second she saw me, she rushed over, her eyes red. “Zoe, I’m so sorry, I came here to apologize… I didn’t realize you and Liam were so close. It’s my fault for ruining your friendship… If you want, I can break up with him! Just please, don’t tell his parents bad things about me, okay?” She spoke between sobs, making it sound like I was bullying her, but the message was crystal clear. My roommate was staring at us with a weird expression. “What you and he do has nothing to do with me,” I said flatly. “And for the record, Liam and I are just friends. Our parents don’t get involved in our personal lives. And I have no interest in guys who already have girlfriends. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a nap.” Hailey’s face flushed, and she started crying even harder. I pulled a tissue from the box on my desk and handed it to her. “Don’t cry in here. I’m not Liam. I’m allergic to your tears.” I knew explaining was pointless. I didn’t want to waste another breath on her, so I kicked her out. 7 The week after Fall Break was Liam’s birthday. Ryan insisted on organizing a party, dragging me along because he didn’t want our friend group to fall apart. When I walked into the private room at the karaoke bar, Liam and Hailey were already there. As soon as she saw me, Hailey let go of Liam’s hand and started nervously twisting her fingers. “I know this is supposed to be a friends’ thing, and I shouldn’t be here…” she began, her voice soft and sweet. “But it’s the first birthday I’m celebrating with Liam…” Liam, his heart melting, pulled her into his arms but looked at me. “Don’t be silly. You’re my girlfriend, of course you’re supposed to be at my birthday party. Zoe’s my best friend. She won’t mind, right, Zoe?” I didn’t say anything, just pointedly sat as far away from them as possible. When it was time for the cake, Hailey clapped her hands together before Liam could. “Liam, I want to make a wish with you!” Naturally, he agreed. Through the flickering candlelight, Hailey’s gaze locked onto mine. “I wish,” she said, “that Liam and his best friend can stay… purely platonic. Forever.” She drew out the word “platonic,” her voice slow and sweet. The air in the room froze. But Liam just laughed. He ruffled Hailey’s hair and added, “You hear that, Zoe? Hailey made a wish for us. We’d better keep our friendship purely platonic!” Ryan broke the awkward silence. “Blow out the candles, man!” A little later, Hailey approached me, holding a glass of wine. “Zoe, I’d like to make a toast to you.” She staggered, then lunged straight at me. Before I could react, there was a dull thud, followed by her piercing shriek. Liam was on his feet in a second. He shoved me back, hard, and glared at me. “Zoe, what the hell?! She was trying to be nice to you! Even if you don’t like her, did you have to push her?” 8 Hailey collapsed into Liam’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. “Zoe, why did you push me? I was just trying to toast to your friendship!” For the first time, Liam looked at me with genuine anger. “Zoe, you went too far this time! Hailey told me before we even got here that she wanted to properly apologize to you!” He shielded her with his body, his brow furrowed. “You know she’s fragile! I never thought you could be so vicious!” I didn’t even bother raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t push her.” My gaze went past him, to the corner of the ceiling. I lifted my chin. “This room has a security camera. I don’t appreciate being framed.” The moment I said that, Hailey’s crying stopped cold. Liam instinctively started to look for a waiter. But Hailey grabbed his sleeve. “Liam… don’t! I… I mean, it’s fine. Let’s just say I lost my footing!” I watched her act, saying nothing. Hailey’s voice grew more frantic. “It’s your birthday! Let’s not ruin everyone’s night over something so small.” She was still sniffling, trying to move on. But the more she tried to stop him, the calmer Liam became. “It’s okay, Hailey,” he said, his voice steady. “I need to clear your name.” He might be in love with Hailey, but he wasn’t an idiot. As he said it, he gave her a long, hard look. Then he pulled his arm free and walked out of the room to find the manager and check the security footage.

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Seven years with Ethan Hayes. Six of them with his number deleted from my phone. Our only communication was through Venmo. One day, I just got tired of it all. When I asked for a divorce, he didn’t try to stop me. He was civil, even when we signed the papers. He calmly divided our assets and said, “You’re the mother of our child. We can let the past be the past.” “And if you’re ever struggling out there,” he added, “there will always be a room for you at the house.” I just smiled. “No, thanks. That wouldn’t be fair to your new girlfriend.” With that, I stood up and walked away, leaving Ethan—always so cool and composed—sitting alone at the table, just staring into space. 1 The tabloids were having a field day. Ethan Hayes, the celebrated director, had just dropped five million dollars on a pink diamond to impress his new lover. The woman on his arm was a young starlet from one of his films. She looked like she’d just graduated college, still a little baby fat on her cheeks, but with incredibly expressive eyes. The internet commenters were ruthless. *“What happened to his taste?”* Someone replied, *“You don’t get it. A man’s true love will always be eighteen.”* Another person pointed out, *“You know, she kind of looks like his wife, back when she was young.”* That sparked a wave of sentimental comments, all concluding that Ethan Hayes was just like every other man. He might play the field, but deep down, his wife was still the one. … I almost laughed out loud. Ever since we’d stopped talking, the only contact I had with Ethan was a single Venmo transaction at the beginning of each month. Five thousand dollars. The memo always read: “Expenses.” In his world, a five-million-dollar diamond was a reasonable price for a new lover’s smile. A five-thousand-dollar payment was all his nominal wife was worth. If that was love, it was a sick joke. Our marriage had been a ghost for six years, but seeing that woman with the five-million-dollar diamond on her finger still stirred something in me. It wasn’t just the money. It was the memory of a much different time. I don’t remember how long ago it was. Ethan had just been cut off by his family, and his monthly paycheck was exactly five thousand dollars. When he proposed, he fumbled with a simple, unadorned ring, carefully sliding it onto my finger. “Claire,” he’d whispered, “I promise, when we have money, I’ll get you a much better one.” I found out later that even that simple ring had cost five thousand dollars. The idiot had spent his entire month’s salary on it, choosing to live on instant ramen just for me. Maybe the five-million-dollar news had knocked something loose in my brain. I opened Venmo, found Ethan’s profile picture, and, for the first time in years, sent him a message. *“So, where’s my pink diamond?”* It was meant to be a joke. But by the next morning, he still hadn’t replied. 2 After a restless night, I finally fell asleep around dawn. At noon, my phone rang. It was the housekeeper from the family estate, gently reminding me that I was late. I checked my calendar. It was my designated day to visit our daughter, Lily. It was also, consistently, the worst day of my month. When I hurried into the estate, Lily was playing on a soft rug in the living room. A young woman was kneeling beside her, watching her with a gentle expression. To an outsider, they looked like mother and daughter. I stopped in my tracks. It was the woman from the news. “What are you doing here?” I asked. She looked up, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. She was an actress, after all. Her timing was impeccable. The first tear rolled down her cheek at the exact moment Ethan started walking down the stairs. He looked like he’d just woken up, a storm cloud of irritation hanging around him. His silk robe was open, revealing a chest covered in faint, red scratches. They were good together, I thought absently. “What are you crying about?” Ethan asked her, his tone surprisingly soft. “Ethan,” the woman said, standing up and looking at him timidly. “I think… Claire doesn’t want me here. I should go.” She made a show of leaving, but before Ethan could say anything, Lily grabbed her hand. “You can’t go! I don’t want you to go!” The young woman scooped her up. “Lily, honey, your mommy’s here now. When she’s here, I have to leave.” Lily scowled at me. “I don’t want Mommy. She’s a bad woman! I only want you.” Then they clung to each other and started sobbing, making me feel like the intruder. I watched for a moment before speaking up. “Maybe I should be the one to leave.” It was a perfectly reasonable suggestion, but Ethan’s face immediately darkened. He looked up, his eyes cutting into me. “Claire, do you think this is a hotel? You can just come and go as you please?” Before I could answer, his mother appeared at the door of the study. “Daughter-in-law,” she commanded, “come in here. I have something to say to you.” In the study, his mother was as severe as ever, her fingers working over a string of pearls, her gaze judgmental. “You’re not well enough to care for Lily yourself. Sophie is the niece of a distant relative. I’ve asked her to come here and look after Lily. Do you have a problem with that?” I shook my head. So her name was Sophie. It sounded a lot like mine. His mother nodded, satisfied. “As for you, you can’t even hold onto your husband and your own child. You’re the most useless type of woman.” I lowered my eyes. “You’re right. I am useless.” Experience had taught me that arguing with her was pointless. Agreeing with her insults was the fastest way to end the lecture. But I wasn’t prepared for what she said next. “Tonight, you and Ethan will sleep together in the guest room in the west wing. You need to get pregnant again. Then you won’t have to worry about raising Lily at all.” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Isn’t Lily enough?” “It would be better to have a boy,” she stated. “In that case, couldn’t Sophie get pregnant?” I heard my own voice, suddenly cold. “As long as it’s a Hayes, does it matter who gives birth?” “She…” For a moment, his mother was speechless, her eyes darting away. “She can’t. Besides, you are still Ethan’s wife. This is your duty.” I should have said, “I understand.” Instead, what came out was, “No.” *Slap.* 3 Five hours later, I walked out of the study, the red mark of her handprint still visible on my cheek. This is what talking back gets you, I sighed to myself. I’ve learned this lesson a thousand times, why can’t I ever keep my mouth shut? It was already dark. They wouldn’t have waited for me for dinner. My stomach rumbled. I was about to go say my goodbyes when I heard a small voice say, “Mommy.” Startled, I saw Lily standing in the doorway, clutching a stuffed bunny. I quickly covered my swollen cheek and knelt down to smile at her. “Hi, sweetie. Did you have dinner?” Lily stared at me for a moment, then tossed the bunny into a nearby trash can. “Why did you do that?” I asked gently. “You have to take care of your toys.” “It’s ugly,” she said. “I don’t like it.” I fell silent. I wasn’t good with my hands; the bunny was lopsided and amateurish. “You’re not allowed to make Aunt Sophie leave,” Lily continued, wrinkling her nose. “I’ve thought about it a lot. I wish… I wish Aunt Sophie was my real mommy.” She gave me a resentful look. “So you remember, if you make her leave, I’ll never talk to you again!” With a flick of her pigtails, she skipped away. I stayed crouched in the doorway for a long time, feeling my body turn to wood, piece by piece. My soul seemed to float out of my body, looking down at the empty shell I had become. I don’t know how I got up, how I left the estate. I was standing on the curb trying to hail a cab when a black car pulled up. The window rolled down to reveal Ethan’s emotionless face. “Get in.” He took me to a small noodle shop we used to frequent. The owner recognized us and greeted us warmly. “The usual? Two bowls of ramen?” Ethan shook his head. “Just one.” As I ate, Ethan took a call. “Sophie? What’s up?” My eyes drifted to his face. He was listening to whatever she was saying, and a small smile played on his lips. His gaze was soft, focused, and gentle. He used to look at me like that. But somewhere along the way, a chasm had opened between us, and our glances had grown cold. The gentle boy from my memories felt like a dream, so distant I sometimes wondered if I’d made him up. But seeing him now, I knew he hadn’t vanished. That gentle side of him was still there. It just wasn’t for me anymore. In that moment, a profound weariness washed over me. What was the point of this marriage? What had we been holding onto for all this time? 4 The thought was so exhausting I could barely hold my chopsticks. I felt a sudden urge to cry, but I refused to do it in front of this new version of Ethan. I wanted to laugh, but instead, a tear fell. Then another. They dripped into my soup, making the broth salty. And in that moment, a ridiculous thought popped into my head: *How does Sophie manage to cry without getting her nose all runny?* A tissue appeared in front of me. Ethan had hung up the phone and was watching me with a frown. “Did my mother give you a hard time again?” He paused. “You know you can just say no to her. You don’t have to make yourself look so pathetic every time.” Through my tears, I looked at him and said, with perfect calm, “Ethan, you were right all those years ago. We would have been better off if we’d never met.” He looked confused. “What are you on about now?” I pulled a tissue from the dispenser, wiped my face, and said the words I had thought a thousand times but never dared to speak. “Ethan, I want a divorce.” 5 If someone had told me ten years ago that Ethan and I would end up as bitter strangers, I would never have believed them. After my father died and my mother drowned herself, I never really had a home. My childhood was a blur of being passed between different relatives. I was always on edge, never knowing when I’d be sent to the next house. Growing up like that, I was not a lovable child. Then I got into NYU’s film school and met Ethan Hayes, the guy everyone orbited around. I never understood why, out of all the beautiful girls at that school, he chose me. All I knew was that first love was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted. And sweetness never lasts. The first time I went to his family’s estate for Christmas, we were thrown out before we could even take our coats off. His parents tossed the gifts I’d brought out into the snow after us. “If you insist on marrying her,” his father had said, “then you are no longer our son.” I stood there in the freezing wind, completely stunned. “What just happened?” “They’re just like that,” Ethan said, not surprised at all. “Control freaks. They want to run my entire life.” Seeing the worry on my face, he poked me in my ticklish spot on my side. I burst out laughing, trying to dodge his hand, and nearly fell into a snowbank. “Don’t worry about them,” he said, taking my hand. “They may be my parents, but I’m their only son. What father is going to disown his only son forever?” The wide street was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Red and green decorations adorned the doors and windows around us. We crunched through the snow, flakes landing in our hair, on our eyelashes, turning us into a pair of snow people. We were homeless, but we just looked at each other and laughed. After a while, Ethan hoisted me onto his back. “I should get down,” I said, worried. “You’re going to slip.” “Nope,” he said. “You’re so skinny, if your shoes get wet, you’ll get sick for sure. And then who has to take care of you? Me.” He mumbled, “Besides, it’s a man’s right to carry the woman he loves.” I blushed. He just grinned at me. “You just work on giving me a little one to carry in a few years, and see if they still have the heart to kick us out.” Embarrassed, I gave his shoulder a playful shove, and in the next second, we were both tumbling into the snow. In the end, he was the one who got sick. We spent the entire holiday break in a cheap motel. On New Year’s Eve, even with medicine, he was burning up, delirious with fever. I kept placing a cool, damp cloth on his forehead, praying his temperature would go down. It wouldn’t break. I was on the verge of tears, and though I wasn’t religious, I clasped my hands together. “Please, God, gods, whoever you are, wherever you’re from, if you just let Ethan get better, you can give all his sickness to me. I’ll take it, I swear.” … Sometime in the middle of the night, his fever finally broke. I was so exhausted I fell asleep slumped over the edge of the bed and slept right through midnight. Much later, Ethan told me that when he woke up that night and saw me sleeping beside him, heard the sound of my soft breathing, he made a promise to himself. For the rest of his life, he would never love anyone but me. “What if you cheat?” I had asked him. He looked at me, his expression serious. “Then may the gods strike that Ethan Hayes dead.” 6 Without his family’s support, we had nothing. Ethan had gone to film school because his father was a famous director. He’d grown up on film sets and had developed a passion for it. But after their falling out, his father had blacklisted him. No one in the industry would hire him. So Ethan worked manual labor during the day and wrote screenplays at night, selling them anonymously for cash. No one would cast me either, so I got a job working the night shift at a 24-hour convenience store. At the end of my shift, I’d bring home the free, nearly expired food for us to share. I was used to being poor, so it didn’t bother me. But Ethan, who had grown up with everything, never complained once. As his scripts started selling for more money, our lives slowly improved. We could afford to go out for hot pot once a week, and we didn’t have to haggle over the price of vegetables at the market. Soon, I was pregnant. Ten months later, Lily was born. Ethan was overjoyed, but I’d often find him just staring at the phone. I knew he wanted to tell his parents. But his pride wouldn’t let him. I secretly got his father’s number and, after Ethan was asleep, I called and told him he had a granddaughter who was almost a month old. His father, who was shooting a film in another state, was ecstatic. He said he’d leave immediately to come see her. I never could have imagined that one phone call would plunge all of us into hell. Maybe he was too excited. On the drive, his car collided with a wrong-way driver on the highway overpass. The car burst into flames and was knocked off the bridge. He was killed instantly. When we got to the funeral home, I still couldn’t believe it. The kind of accident you only see on the news had actually happened to us. Ethan and I knelt before the altar. His mother walked over, said nothing, and slapped me across the face. I didn’t flinch. At that moment, I felt I deserved it. “This is your fault,” she said, her eyes vacant. “My son, because he wouldn’t listen to me about you. And now my husband, dead because of you.” She stared at me, her voice trembling. “What did you ever do to my family to deserve this?” She lunged at me again, but Ethan pulled her back, holding her tight. The sound of her raw, desolate grief filled the room. Ethan held her, his eyes red, but he never looked at me. He didn’t say a single word. That silence hurt more than any of his mother’s accusations. After the funeral, after everyone had left, it happened to be Ethan’s birthday. I carefully made him a bowl of noodles. He just stared at it until the broth was completely cold. Then his eyes moved, and with a calm, almost joking tone, he spoke to me for the first time in days. “Claire,” he said, “maybe it would have been better if I’d never met you.” 7 The noodles in front of me were cold. I put down my chopsticks. Ethan looked at me, seeming both surprised and not surprised at all. “Are you sure?” he asked. “The debt I owed your family,” I said, “I think I’ve paid it off by now.” Finally saying the words I’d held in for so long made my voice feel lighter. “Besides, there are plenty of women who would love to be the next Mrs. Hayes.” “Okay,” was all he said. He stood up, as if he were being chased, and hurried out of the noodle shop. After the mandatory waiting period, I called him to arrange a time to go to the courthouse. The divorce agreement was settled quickly. “You don’t want Lily?” he asked. “She’ll have a better life with you,” I said. “And besides, she doesn’t want to be with me.” After the lawyers finished, a clerk stamped our papers with a steel seal. And just like that, Ethan and I were no longer legally bound. Maybe it was the finality of it all, but the hard edges Ethan had built up over the years seemed to soften. He was silent for a long time, then he spoke, his voice low. “Claire, you’re her mother. The past… let’s just let it go. And if you’re ever struggling, there will always be a room for you at the estate.” I froze. After all these years, it was the closest I would ever get to an apology from him. But now, it meant nothing. I smiled. “No thanks. It wouldn’t be fair to your new girlfriend.” I added, “And I’m confident I can build the life I want for myself.” I stood up and walked out of the courthouse, my steps light. Ethan was still sitting there, maybe watching me, maybe just staring into space. 8 I moved out and didn’t see anyone from the Hayes family for a long time. After so many years out of the workforce, I quickly discovered how hard it was to get back in. While scrolling through job sites, I’d often see news about Ethan and Sophie. Sophie at a basketball game with him, Sophie on a trip to Japan with him. In the photos, Ethan looked thinner, his eyes colder and more melancholic. Sophie was always nestled by his side, her expression adoring. Someone on Twitter called Sophie a homewrecker, and she replied directly: *“Sorry, but he’s single.”* My old friends called, shocked. To each of them, I gave the same reply: *“Yes, Ethan and I are divorced.”* They all expressed their sympathy, but only one of them, Maya, asked the right question: *“So what are you doing now?”* I told her, *“Looking for a job, but not having much luck. You know of anything?”* Maya’s reply was triumphant. *“I was waiting for you to ask. You let Ethan snatch you up way too early, had a kid right away, and spent years being nothing but the woman behind the man. From now on, you’re working for me. Love, men, relationships… they’re all unreliable. Power and money, that’s what you can count on.”* … I couldn’t help but smile at the long string of texts from Maya. She was a partner at a film production company. I started as her assistant. I worked long hours, and even though my boss was my friend, I was determined not to slack off. On Valentine’s Day, flowers were being delivered to the office all day. I assumed the flurry of romance had nothing to do with me. Then I got a call. I thought it was my lunch delivery and told the guy to just leave it at the front desk. But he insisted. The item was too valuable; he had to deliver it to me personally. It wasn’t food. It was a ring. A black velvet box, lined with deep red silk. In the center sat a pink diamond ring, its facets catching the light and throwing off a blinding sparkle. There was no note, no card. But I knew who it was from. I put the ring back in the box and had the courier return it. A few hours later, a notification popped up on my phone, from the one app I hadn’t blocked him on. A Venmo message: *“I thought you wanted it.”* I stared at the message for a few seconds, then typed back: *“I don’t want it anymore.”* His reply was instant. A single word. *“Hah.”* I didn’t respond. I just blocked him, severing the last line of communication we had left.

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My husband Leo’s car was blocking the neighbor’s driveway. I grabbed the spare key to move it. He had just left for a three-day conference in the city. I slid into the driver’s seat. The navigation screen was still on, displaying his recent history. One address had been searched repeatedly, and even saved as a favorite. “Annie’s Place: 7 Crescent Moon Bay, Unit 901” I scrolled through the history, my fingertips turning to ice. For the last six months, there were regular trips to that address, with the return time always logged after midnight. He’d told me he was working late, entertaining clients. I took pictures of everything on the screen, then dialed my father-in-law’s number. “Dad, Leo has been going to Crescent Moon Bay a lot recently. Do we have any relatives over there?” There was a pause on the other end of the line. When my father-in-law finally spoke, his voice was tense. “Don’t panic, Sarah. I’m on my way.” 1 Less than half an hour later, the doorbell rang insistently. My father-in-law stood on the porch, his usually immaculate suit jacket buttoned incorrectly. “Where is he?” he demanded, his sharp eyes scanning the room. I held out my phone, the screen facing him. “7 Crescent Moon Bay, Unit 901. Dad, do you know where that is? Leo told me he had work dinners every Wednesday and Friday.” His gaze fell to the screen, and his face turned ashen. He didn’t answer, but I saw his hand tremble slightly. “Maybe… maybe it’s a colleague’s place. He has a lot of young people in his department…” “Dad,” I said, taking my phone back and looking him straight in the eye. “What kind of male colleague would name his home ‘Annie’s Place’?” All the strength seemed to drain out of him. He sank onto the bench by the door and covered his face with his hands. “That bastard,” he rasped. “His mother mentioned something last month, said he was getting a little too close to a female coworker…” He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. “Sarah, it’s my fault. I didn’t raise him right. I’ll handle this for you.” “Dad, this is beyond your control now,” I said, handing him a tissue. “I just want an explanation.” “What are you going to do?” he asked, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength. “If this gets out, his career is over!” “Did he think about his career when he was doing this?” My voice was devoid of any warmth. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to make a scene at his office.” I walked over to the balcony. The city lights were just beginning to twinkle. “He’s away at a conference, right? That gives me some time to pay a visit to this ‘Annie’.” “No!” My father-in-law shot up and blocked my path. “It’s too dangerous for you to go alone! A woman like that, she’s capable of anything!” “What’s she going to do, eat me?” I said, looking at him. “Dad, I’m not going there to fight. I just need to see it for myself. I need the closure.” He stared at me, his expression a mixture of emotions. Finally, he sighed and dropped his hand. “Fine. If you have to go, I’ll go with you. I want to see what kind of trash he’s been messing with.” “You can’t come,” I said, stopping him. “If you go, are you going to disown him on the spot, or are you going to beg on his behalf? Either way, it will just escalate things and make him feel like we’re the ones cornering him.” “So what, we just sit here and do nothing?” “What does Leo care about most? His reputation. His position as a junior partner.” I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through my contacts. “What do you think would happen if I anonymously sent his navigation history and the address of that apartment to the DA’s office?” “You wouldn’t dare!” He snatched the phone from my hand. “Do you want to ruin his life?” “He ruined my life first!” I stared him down. “Dad, what do you think his main competitor, that guy Mark, would do with this information? Do you think Leo’s promotion would still be a sure thing?” The color drained from my father-in-law’s face. His hand went limp, and the phone fell onto the sofa. I picked it up and put it back in my pocket. 2 “I’m not actually going to send it,” I said. “But Leo needs to understand that the thing he values most is now on very thin ice.” I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. “Where are you going?” “Crescent Moon Bay,” I said, opening the door. “Don’t worry, I’m not going inside. I just want to know the name of the owner of Unit 901.” “And then what?” “And then,” I said, pausing, “I found something else in his car.” I pulled up a photo of a crumpled receipt on my phone and showed it to him. “A receipt from a pharmacy last month. For prenatal vitamins.” “What?” He shot up from the bench, nearly losing his balance. “Sarah, what are you saying?” “He told me he was out of town with his boss on a business trip last month. Dad, who do you think he was really with at that prenatal appointment?” My father-in-law stared at the photo, frozen, unable to speak. I walked out, leaving his heavy, ragged breathing behind me. The elevator’s metal doors reflected my face—expressionless, but with eyes as cold as steel. My phone buzzed. A text from Leo: *“Made it to the hotel, babe. This conference is a big one. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.”* I slowly typed back: *“Okay. I have some good news for you too.”* Charging over to Crescent Moon Bay without a plan would only tip them off. I called my sister, Claire. “Claire, I think Leo is cheating on me.” The other end of the line went silent. “Do you have proof? That scumbag!” I told her about the navigation history and the receipt. “Send me the address. I’ll have someone run a check on the owner, the property records, everything. What’s your plan? Are you going to confront him?” “No,” I said. “Not yet. I need to know who this woman is, and if he’s moved any of our assets. When I kick him to the curb, I want to make sure he leaves with nothing but the clothes on his back.” My sister laughed. “Alright, Sarah! Leave it to me. Owner’s info, building access records, financial transactions… I’ll get you everything. You just stay calm. Don’t let him suspect anything.” “He’s back in three days.” “That’s plenty of time. I’ll be in touch.” After I hung up, I went back into the living room. My father-in-law was still sitting there, looking like he’d aged ten years. “Sarah…” “Dad,” I interrupted, “stay out of this. And don’t tip him off. I’ll handle it.” He opened his mouth, then just waved a tired hand. The rest of the day, I acted completely normal. I even cooked dinner as usual. My father-in-law barely ate, his eyes constantly darting in my direction. That afternoon, a message from my sister came through. “Got it. The owner is Annie Wen, 26, single. She’s a VP at a consulting firm that works with Leo’s company. Parking garage surveillance shows her red car parked next to Leo’s every Wednesday and Friday night. The times match.” A few blurry but identifiable screenshots followed. It was him. And a photo of Annie, her arm linked through his, a triumphant smile on her face. I replied: “Keep digging. Especially the money.” I decided to take a drive to Crescent Moon Bay. I told my father-in-law I was just going for a walk. He just nodded, his eyes full of a complicated mix of emotions. I parked across the street from the apartment complex. A few minutes later, a flashy red Porsche Macan pulled up. The window rolled down, and it was her. Perfectly made-up, smiling as she talked on the phone. I watched her disappear into the underground garage, and I felt the blood turn to ice in my veins. I texted my sister: *“I just saw her. I need you to check their shared expenses, any money he’s moved without my knowledge.”* She replied instantly: *“On it. I’ll dig up everything. Are you… are you holding up okay?”* I typed back two words: *“I’m fine.”* My heart was dead, but my mind was clearer than ever. Now, it was their turn to suffer. 3 I drove home, my face a mask. My father-in-law was waiting for me. “Sarah, did you… see her?” “Yeah, I saw the car,” I said, my voice flat as I took off my shoes. “I’m tired. I’m not eating.” I went into the bedroom and locked the door, collapsing onto the bed. The tears I’d been holding back finally came, soaking the pillow. Tears for the five years of my marriage, for the trust I’d so blindly given, for the promise of a life together that was now just a lie. When the tears finally stopped, I got up and splashed cold water on my face. My reflection stared back, eyes red and swollen. “Sarah,” I said to myself, “that’s enough. Tears are useless.” He would be back in two days. I opened my laptop and started organizing. The navigation screenshots, the owner’s information, the surveillance photos, Annie’s picture… I encrypted and backed up everything. Messages from my sister started rolling in. “Found regular charges at a high-end sushi restaurant. Every Wednesday or Friday, on Leo’s card.” “Annie posted a picture on Instagram of a new watch. Same model as the one you gave Leo last year, just a different color. The purchase date matches.” “No hotel records. Looks like the apartment is their main spot.” “Still working on the bank records. He’s being careful.” Reading through it all, my heart was numb. This wasn’t a one-time mistake. This was a second life he had carefully constructed. The next day, I went into his home office, pretending to organize his files. In a hidden compartment of his old briefcase, I found a flash drive I’d never seen before. I plugged it into my computer. It contained a single encrypted folder. I called my sister, and she had someone remotely crack it. Thirty minutes later, the folder was open. Inside were stock trading records. My sister called immediately, her voice tight with suppressed rage. “Leo has been liquidating a joint investment account. Over the last six months, he’s cashed out over nine hundred thousand dollars!” “The money was funneled through several third-party accounts and ended up with Annie!” “He used it for the down payment on the Crescent Moon Bay apartment! The deed is in her name!” My hand trembled on the mouse. Nine hundred thousand dollars. That was the money we had been saving to buy a bigger house. Any lingering hope I had for him died in that moment. That evening, I went to the supermarket and bought the freshest ingredients. My father-in-law watched me come in, laden with grocery bags. “Sarah…?” “Leo’s coming home tomorrow,” I said calmly. “I’m making him a welcome-home dinner.” My father-in-law’s lips moved, but no words came out. He just looked at me with a mixture of guilt and helplessness. All the pieces were in place. The evidence, the lawyer, and my own dead heart. Welcome home, Leo. He arrived the next afternoon. I was in the kitchen, the sweet and sour aroma of his favorite pork ribs filling the house. The table was set with all his favorite dishes. My father-in-law sat in the living room, pretending to read the newspaper, his eyes darting nervously toward the kitchen. The sound of a key in the lock. “Honey, Dad, I’m home!” Leo walked in, dragging his suitcase, a weary but happy smile on his face. He kicked off his shoes and headed straight for the kitchen, his arms open to hug me from behind. I picked up a platter of food and turned at the exact right moment, neatly avoiding his embrace. I smiled, a perfectly calibrated, welcoming smile. “You’re back. Go wash up. Dinner’s almost ready.” He seemed to hesitate for a second, but my movements were so natural, he didn’t question it. “Okay! It’s good to be home!” He walked to the table and reached for a piece of pork. “Wash your hands first,” I said, my voice gentle, betraying nothing. “Right, right, of course!” He went to the bathroom, humming happily. My father-in-law stood up and started setting out the rice bowls, never once looking at his son. The atmosphere at the dinner table was strangely harmonious. Leo was starving. He ate heartily, regaling us with detailed, witty stories about his “conference.” I listened quietly, smiling, nodding, serving him more food, playing the part of the perfect wife. My father-in-law barely touched his food, just stared down into his soup. When the meal was over, Leo leaned back in his chair, satisfied. “I’m so full! Nothing beats a home-cooked meal!” He looked at me, his eyes full of warmth. “Thanks, honey. You worked hard.” I put down my chopsticks, picked up my napkin, and slowly, deliberately, wiped my mouth. The smile on my face faded. I looked him straight in the eye. “Are you full?” I asked, my voice soft. “Huh? Yeah, I’m stuffed.” He was starting to sense the shift in the mood, his expression turning serious. “Good. Now that you’re full, let’s talk.” “Talk about what?” “Let’s talk about Crescent Moon Bay,” I said. “Number 7, Unit 901.”

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Six years after I cut off all contact with my parents, my adopted brother secretly reached out to my wife. He told her my parents missed me terribly and hoped we could all be a family again before it was too late. I touched the scar on my forehead. I got it when I was eight, the day my brother slammed a door on my hand, breaking the fingers I used to play the piano. When I tried to hit him back, my father stopped me. My wife, unable to bear the sight of my brother’s sad, puppy-dog eyes, tried to reason with me. “It’s ancient history, honey. Just let it go.” My daughter, clutching a new Barbie doll my parents had sent, chimed in, her voice indignant. “Daddy, I can’t live without my grandparents and my uncle! You have to make up with them! If you don’t, then I don’t want you to be my daddy anymore!” A wave of exhaustion washed over me. I nodded slowly. “Fine.” 1 The moment I handed her the divorce papers, Evelyn’s face was a mask of disbelief. “Just because I want you to make peace with your parents?” “Yes. Just because of that.” “What about our daughter? She’s only five. What’s going to happen to her?” Just then, our daughter, Chloe, charged into the room like a tiny bull, slamming into my leg. Pain shot up my shin. “You’re a monster, Daddy!” she shrieked. “Grandma and Grandpa didn’t raise you to be a monster!” I gritted my teeth against the pain. “Who taught you to talk like that?” Chloe looked guilty for a second, her eyes darting to my brother, Ethan, who was hiding behind the door. He’d been my father’s best friend’s son, and he’d lived with us since we were kids. “It’s my fault, big brother!” Ethan said, his voice dripping with faux innocence, a look I had come to despise. It was the same look that had gotten me into trouble countless times. “I was telling Chloe the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and she must have picked up a bad word.” But Evelyn and Chloe were already defending him. “Jacob, you’re always so busy with work. You can’t blame Ethan for helping to look after Chloe.” “Daddy, I love Uncle Ethan the most! If you’re mean to him, I don’t want you anymore!” I hadn’t said a word, but the two of them were already leaping to his defense. I saw a flicker of triumph in Ethan’s eyes, and the disgust and hatred in my gut reached a boiling point. 2 I didn’t waste any more words. I handed the pen to Evelyn. “Sign it. You’re free to be with whoever you want.” She looked at me, her eyes full of disappointment. “Can you please stop being so dramatic? I just want our daughter to have more family in her life. Your family.” My head felt like it was going to explode. I remembered when Ethan first came to live with us. My parents had told me, “You’re three months older than Ethan. From now on, you have a brother. You need to take care of him.” He wasn’t named Ethan then. My dad said since his parents had both died, he should take our last name. He was just a small, helpless little boy. I gave him my treasured comic books, the chocolates my mom bought for me, the toy cars my dad brought home. “Can I really think of this as my home from now on, big brother?” Ethan had asked, his eyes wide. I remembered my parents’ words and nodded. But from that day on, he was always on the verge of tears, always looking at me with a wounded expression. My parents thought I was bullying him. They called me selfish and gave all my things to him. When I was six and a half, my room became his. The bookshelf that held all my comics became his. When I was eight, the piano lessons I’d been taking for four years were canceled after Ethan “accidentally” slammed a door on my fingers. When I was twelve, my birthday party was replaced with a celebration for Ethan’s win at a dance competition. The cake was mango-flavored, his favorite. My parents took endless photos of him. No one remembered I was allergic to mangoes. When I was eighteen, I was forbidden from entering a math competition because, as my parents said, “We need to save that money to hire a better piano teacher for Ethan.” When I was twenty-two, years of malnutrition caught up with me. I developed a severe stomach condition that required expensive surgery. My parents refused to help. Instead, they bought business-class tickets to Europe to watch Ethan compete in a piano competition. I nearly died on the way to the hospital. That’s when I met Evelyn. She was horrified by my story and swore she would always be on my side. Six years later, she was the one asking me to let them all back into my life. 3 “I’m not signing this, Jacob,” Evelyn said, her voice firm. I ignored her and went to the bedroom to pack. In the back of the closet, I found a stash of expensive gifts. A master-crafted tea set, a high-end massage chair for the elderly, a pair of luxury leather shoes for men. They were well-hidden. Evelyn rushed in, as if she’d just remembered. “What is this?” she asked, the divorce papers still in her hand. She couldn’t meet my eyes. Chloe held up her Barbie doll, her voice smug. “Those are the presents Mommy bought for Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Ethan.” “And that’s not all, Daddy!” she taunted, sticking her tongue out. “You don’t get anything because you were bad!” She was trying to provoke me. I started walking toward her. Ethan ran in and shoved me back. “Don’t you dare touch Chloe! She’s their only grandchild! You have no right to hit her, even if you are her father!” That was the last straw. I grabbed his collar and punched him, hard. “Aah!” he screamed. Chloe immediately activated her smartwatch. “Daddy’s hitting Uncle Ethan! Grandma, Grandpa, come quick and teach him a lesson! Daddy’s a monster! I don’t want him to be my daddy anymore!” 4 I snatched the watch from her. Of course. They had a group chat. It was called “Chloe and her favorite Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy, and Uncle.” I was the only one left out. The chat was a lively, happy world without me. My daughter, who had stopped sharing her kindergarten stories with me, told them all about the new cute boy in her class. Evelyn, who had been coming home later and later from work, was taking Chloe to “family dinners” all the time. With her bonus, she had arranged for my parents to have full medical check-ups and had booked a European tour for Ethan. Everyone in the chat was so happy together. My father, who was always so stern with me, praised his granddaughter for being just like him, able to spot a bad guy a mile away. My mother, always so easily swayed, gushed about how beautiful and thoughtful Evelyn was, and how she wished Evelyn had met Ethan first. *“My son is getting so old, and he’s still not married. It’s so worrying.”* And then there was Ethan, of course. Calling Evelyn his “dear sister-in-law,” all shy and sweet. It had clearly melted Evelyn’s heart. She hadn’t bought me a gift in years, but she was constantly sending them money. “Jacob, let me explain,” Evelyn said, her voice pleading. She insisted she was just trying to pave the way for me to reconcile with my parents. “Ethan isn’t as bad as you say he is. Why can’t you just try to get along with them?” Get along? I couldn’t stop myself. I slapped her across the face. 5 Seeing me hit the two people she cared about most, Chloe went ballistic. She started kicking and punching me. “Grandpa was right! You’re a devil! You broke your own fingers and blamed it on Uncle Ethan! You deserve to have no one love you! Get out! Get out! I don’t want you as my father! I like Uncle Ethan better! So do Grandma and Grandpa and Mommy!” I was stunned. This was the daughter I had raised. I had made every single one of her baby food purees. I had bought every toy and picture book in this house. Evelyn was always busy with work; I was the one who put her to bed at night and took her to kindergarten in the morning. Five years of my life, poured into her. And this is what I got. “You deserve it.” It hurt. There’s no denying that. So I decided to just lay it all out. “Chloe, I’m only going to give you one chance to take that back.” “I won’t! I hate you! I don’t want you to be my dad! I want Uncle Ethan! He’s handsome, he can play the piano, and he gives me candy! I like him more than you!” Every parent is worried about cavities. I limited her sugar for her own good. Seeing the cold fury on my face, Evelyn tried to intervene. “She’s just a child, Jacob. Don’t take it so seriously.” In her eyes, a parent should always forgive their child, no matter what. In her eyes, she was doing this for my own good, trying to mend my broken family. I was the one making a scene, threatening divorce. But I couldn’t take it anymore. 6 “Jacob, why are you still so stubborn?” I thought I was dreaming. I could hear my parents’ voices. The front door opened. I had forgotten they had the code. Chloe ran to them, her face beaming. “Grandma, Grandpa, you’re finally here to punish Daddy!” Seeing them all standing there together, a happy family, my heart turned to ice. My mother looked at me with a hint of apology, but before she could speak, she saw Ethan, clutching his bruised face. “Ethan, who did this?” she shrieked, her face contorting with rage, like a lioness protecting her cub. My father’s voice boomed through the house. “Who else could it be! It had to be Jacob! Evelyn, get him out of this house! If we don’t teach him a lesson now, what if he hurts my precious granddaughter next?” Evelyn, playing the part of the dutiful daughter-in-law, tugged at my sleeve. “Honey, hitting people is wrong. Why don’t you just apologize?” She knew I had my bags packed, but she was still expecting me to back down. 7 I met Ethan’s triumphant gaze. A bitter smile touched my lips. “No matter what piece of trash I pick up, you just have to have it, don’t you?” He looked startled. “What are you talking about, big brother? I don’t understand.” My father grabbed my collar. “Jacob, I am ordering you to apologize. And don’t you dare threaten my wonderful daughter-in-law with divorce. She works so hard to support this family. If you have any guts, you’ll leave with nothing.” Evelyn tried to pull him off. “Dad, this is between me and Jacob. Please, don’t get involved.” “Hmph! If he hadn’t pretended to be sick all those years ago, you never would have missed Ethan’s performance. You two could have been together by now.” I shot a sarcastic look at Evelyn. No wonder the photo of a boy’s back in her desk drawer had looked so familiar. The boy who had taken her breath away. She had told me not to be jealous, that he didn’t even know she existed. Any last shred of feeling I had for her vanished. I signed the divorce papers and picked up my suitcase. Evelyn tried to stop me, but my parents held her back. Chloe clung to her mother’s leg. “Don’t worry about him, Mommy! He’s just a stay-at-home dad! He has nowhere to go! Grandma and Grandpa said he’ll come crawling back after a few days of being hungry.” While Evelyn hesitated, I walked out the door and didn’t look back.

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The man I loved fell in love with someone else while trying to bring me back to life. When I woke up, Ethan asked me what I wanted. I was about to say I wanted to finish our wedding, but then, lines of text flooded my vision. *“Omg the male lead is so devoted, he’s a literal god but he still hasn’t forgotten about resurrecting his mortal side-character ex.”* *“The side character is so shameless. She just got brought back to life and she’s already demanding a title? Our girl has been with him through thick and thin for a million years!”* *“Whatever, she’ll just get taken back to the heavens, act like a brat, and get ignored. That’s when the male lead will finally realize our girl is his one true love!”* I thought for a moment, then replied, “I want a divorce.” 1 Ethan froze. He looked almost exactly as he had the day I died, only even more handsome, more ethereal. “Rose, are you joking?” he asked, his voice cracking with disbelief. *“The competitive female side character wants a divorce? That makes no sense!”* *“This old hag is definitely just threatening him to get what she wants. So pathetic! Why would the author write such a trashy character?”* *“Just wait, our girl is about to show up with their kid. Let’s see how this plays out for the side character!”* The words scrolling through my mind were vile. Apparently, I was seeing the live comments from a webnovel called *The CEO’s Rebellious Darling: Heaven’s Emperor, Please Be Gentle.* Ethan was the male lead, a talented but aloof and arrogant prodigy. I was the “white moonlight” ex-wife he was trying to save, the one who had died protecting him from a divine trial. To bring me back, he had embarked on a cultivation journey with the female lead, a half-demon, half-immortal named Lily. They were a classic enemies-to-lovers pair, supporting and growing with each other over nearly a million years. Lily confessed her love for him multiple times, but Ethan, with me still in his heart, always refused her. Until, during a particularly difficult trial, he couldn’t break through his cultivation bottleneck. So he slept with her. She got pregnant. Twice. Their first was a daughter. Now she was pregnant with their son. And me? After being resurrected, my personality would supposedly take a dark turn. I would become jealous and petty, constantly fighting with Lily in the celestial court. I would even frame her for things, causing her to have a miscarriage. Ethan would come to despise me, and the next time I acted out, he would destroy me with a single blast of divine energy. My soul, scattered to the winds. What a joke. 2 “Ethie-bear! Rose must still be groggy from her million-year nap. After all, she’s still just a mortal, her human body is so frail. Why don’t you let her rest here in the celestial court for a while?” A fairy in flowing red robes floated toward us on a cloud. Her belly was slightly swollen, and a miniature version of herself stood beside her. “Daddy-bear! Up!” The little girl, munching on a candy apple, ran straight for Ethan. “Lily-bug, I thought we agreed, no more candy until your new teeth come in,” Ethan said, his hand, which had been holding mine, automatically reaching out to scoop the child into his arms. *“There it is! The pet names! Ethie-bear and Lily-bug! Even their daughter calls him that, so cute! He’s a god but he still lets them call him that. This little family is everything!”* *“Is someone feeling a little…extra? I’m not naming names.”* *“Our girl is too sweet, offering to let the side character stay in the celestial court! It’s so sad she doesn’t know what’s coming.”* I bit my lip and tried, “My love.” Ethan didn’t react. He was too busy bantering with Lily. “My love!” I said, louder this time. That finally got his attention. He put the child down and knelt before me, pulling a box of celestial pills from his sleeve. He had the same shy look on his face I remembered from when we were young. “Rose, I’m sorry. It’s been so long since anyone called me that. Let me introduce you. This is Lily, my partner on my cultivation journey. When she said your mortal body was frail, she didn’t mean it as an insult. Human bodies are just… fragile.” “So… tonight, I’ll personally transfer my cultivation to you. Then you can become an immortal, just like me, and we’ll never have to be apart again.” I pointed to the mother and daughter. “She has your daughter, she’s carrying your child, and you’re telling me, in front of her, that you and I will never be apart?” As expected, Lily’s eyes welled up. The little girl started hitting me with her tiny fists. “You bad woman! You made my mommy cry! Apologize to my mommy!” *“The side character is playing the innocent victim now? There, there, Lily-bug, don’t cry.”* *“If the side character wants a divorce so bad, she should just leave. She can jump from the God-Slaying Terrace and go back to the mortal world.”* *“She’s just saying that. That bitch would never give up the wealth of the heavens and the promise of eternal life.”* As I turned to leave, Ethan grabbed my arm, and at the same time, grabbed Lily’s as she was about to turn away. “Rose, where are you going?” “To the God-Slaying Terrace. I told you, my wish is to divorce you.” He frowned, confused. “Just because Lily and I have children? Are you really that petty?” *Was I petty?* My husband had fallen in love with another woman while trying to resurrect me. Wasn’t I allowed to be angry? “Let me go.” I didn’t want to be the vicious person the comments described. Leaving was my only choice. He did let go. He let go of Lily’s hand and wrapped his arms around me from behind, holding me tight. “My only goal on this journey was to bring you back. Without you, nothing I’ve done has any meaning.” My own eyes started to tear up. We had been through so much together when we were young. Maybe I should trust my Ethan, not these strange, scrolling words. 3 “Daddy-bear! Mommy’s tummy is bleeding!” Lily was clutching her stomach, her face pale. Ethan let go of me and transferred some of his energy to her to stop the bleeding. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he didn’t push her away, just lifted her into his arms. “Lily is showing signs of premature labor, Rose. I’ll be right back.” She was having his child. It was his duty as a father to be there. I couldn’t just let an innocent baby die. Especially not Ethan’s child. But a selfish part of me thought, *if I hadn’t died, we would have had children. We would have been a normal, happy couple.* “Rose, Lily is just a good friend who happens to be carrying my children. Don’t overthink it. There’s no love between us.” My nails dug into my palms. I swallowed my resentment. “Okay.” 4 Ethan was still worried I would jump from the God-Slaying Terrace. He had me locked in a lavish palace, guarded by hundreds of celestial soldiers. The servants were forbidden to speak to me. I had no way of finding the Terrace, no sense of time passing. *“Omg that was a close one, the side character didn’t do anything and Lily had a healthy baby boy! The male lead said he looks just like him when he was born!”* *“Does anyone else think the side character is looking a little…old?”* *“A day in the heavens is a year on earth. The male lead has been with Lily for fifteen days while she recovers from childbirth. The side character is a thirty-year-old hag now.”* Thirty, an old hag? Ethan and Lily were a million years old, but they still looked like teenagers. I looked in the mirror. There were fine lines around my eyes, and my skin had turned a sallow yellow. I was aging. One day, two days, ten days. I missed my parents. I missed my family. I never got to see my mother’s hair turn gray, never saw my father grow old. I never brought honor to my family. Back then, I was so consumed by Ethan. He needed a special cauldron for his cultivation, and our family was the only one in the region with the knowledge to forge it. No one believed that a cursed, star-crossed boy like him could ever become an immortal. So I knelt in our ancestral hall, bowing until my forehead was bloody, begging my parents, my elders. The only condition they gave was that Ethan had to marry into our family. On our wedding night, a great storm raged. I used my own body to shield him from a divine trial. He broke through to the next stage of cultivation, becoming the most powerful mortal in the land. And I died. How much pain must my parents and my family have felt, seeing me sacrifice myself for a man. It wasn’t worth it. I didn’t understand then. I thought a young boy’s love could last forever. I couldn’t die of old age here. I had to go home. I had to make things right with my family. 5 “Rose, are you still mad at me?” Ethan’s voice was right behind me. I turned, and there he was, bathed in a holy light, more radiant than ever. And I was withering away. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. “Rose, Lily had a boy. He looks just like me when I was born.” *“The Heaven’s Emperor has a great memory if he can remember what he looked like as a baby.”* He sighed. “Rose, will you call me ‘my love’ again?” I tried to push him away, but he was too strong. “When we were kids, you used to fight off all the bullies for me. Remember, Rose? You, a girl, wrestling with them, getting covered in mud and bruises. You won so many of their fighting crickets that we sold them at the market and bought four bags of sesame candy. We ate so much we just lay on the stone steps and watched the moon.” How could I forget? Under the moonlight, a tiny Ethan had bravely proposed to me. “I, Ethan, will marry Rose in ten years! I will never take another wife, never have a concubine! For this life, and all the lives to come, I will only love Rose! The stars are my witness, the heavens are my judge! If I break this vow…” Little Ethan scratched his head. I was laughing so hard, chewing on my candy, that I fell over. “If you break this vow, you’ll never get to eat sesame candy again!” To a six-year-old Ethan and a five-year-old me, there was no worse fate. “Rose, I’ll give you half of my cultivation. You won’t get old anymore. Please, don’t be mad at me.” The lights suddenly went out. My robes were being untied. Ethan had somehow moved me to the bed. I closed my eyes. The comments flooded my vision again. *“Nooo, he’s going to be tainted!”* *“Poor Lily-bug, all alone with two kids! Author, stop torturing the female lead!”* *“See, I knew the side character couldn’t stand getting old. And she was talking about divorcing him and jumping from the God-Slaying Terrace. She’s so fake.”* A wave of anger washed over me. A normal mortal woman, jumping from the God-Slaying Terrace, with nothing. How was I supposed to survive in a world teeming with gods and demons? How was I supposed to find my family, who had long since been reincarnated? If Ethan was willing to give me his power, why shouldn’t I take it? 6 The next morning, my face was young again. And I could feel a strange power humming within me. It must have been Ethan’s cultivation. He was still asleep, holding me so tightly I could barely move. I tried to sit up. “Lily-bug… stop it…” he murmured in his sleep. When we were making love, he had told me a thousand times that he loved me, only me. But now, in his most unguarded moment, he was thinking of her. *“The side character should open her eyes and see who the male lead really loves in his subconscious!”* *“The side character only spent fifteen years with him. Our Lily spent a million years with him. It’s obvious who he loves more.”* *“The side character thought she could die and become his unforgettable love, then come back and win his heart. Too bad. The one who isn’t loved is the third wheel. The angst is delicious!”* *“When is she going to jump already? I can’t take it anymore.”* I shook my head, but I couldn’t get rid of the comments. So I decided to just lean into it. “In that case, why don’t you tell me where the God-Slaying Terrace is.” 7 The comments exploded. They didn’t seem to know I could see them. *“Is she talking to us?”* *“Is the side character crazy? Or am I crazy? How can she see the comments?”* *“Side character, if you can see this, make a heart shape.”* A heart shape? I didn’t know what that was, but I pointed to my own heart. “Like this?” The comments went silent for a moment, then flooded in, a chaotic torrent. “You guys, slow down, I can’t read this fast,” I said, my head starting to throb. *“Does that mean she saw all the mean things we said about her?”* *“We weren’t wrong, though. She is a bitch.”* *“But she hasn’t done anything evil yet.”* *“I wish our Lily-bug could see this. Why did it have to be the character I hate the most?”* *“Guys, has anyone noticed that the next chapter is gone?!”* *“OMG you’re right, it’s blank! Someone message the author and ask if it’s a bug!”* *“I thought this was a completed novel. I’ve read it a bunch of times.”* *“Does that mean… our comments can change the plot?”* *“Don’t get ahead of yourselves. She’s just a villainous side character.”* Side character or not, I was the protagonist of my own life. “So… can you tell me where the God-Slaying Terrace is now?” 8 Following the comments’ directions, I slipped out of the palace. Ethan’s cultivation allowed me to turn invisible and evade the celestial guards. “This is the God-Slaying Terrace,” I said, looking at a well surrounded by a rainbow-colored mist. Through the clouds, I thought I could see my deceased family. “Mom, Dad, your daughter has been unfilial. I’m coming to find you.” Just as I was about to jump, a red light shot out and wrapped around me like a rope. “Where are you going, big sister Rose?” Lily asked, holding her baby. She looked weak, and there was blood seeping from under her robes. Her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying. “I’m jumping from the God-Slaying Terrace to make way for you two.” I tried to use my cultivation to break free, but the rope only tightened. “This is the Immortal-Binding Rope. The stronger your cultivation, the harder it is to escape.” She dragged her weak body over and knelt before me. “Are you mad at me, big sister Rose? If I’ve done something to offend you, I apologize.” The comments started fawning over her again. *“Our Lily-bug looks even worse than when the side character framed her and caused her to miscarry.”* *“I’m starting to regret telling the side character where the Terrace is. She should have just stayed in her lane and been the villain.”* *“The female lead is apologizing, and she hasn’t even done anything wrong!”* *“The side character is just using us to bully the female lead!”* *“Next time she asks for directions, I’m giving her the wrong ones and letting her get into trouble.”* Hah. These commenters were so quick to jump to conclusions and so hypocritical. I didn’t have time for them. I focused on trying to conceal my cultivation so I could escape. I had started cultivating at the same time as Ethan, and I had actually progressed faster than him. I had only pretended to be weaker to protect his ego. If I hadn’t died before breaking through to the next stage, I might have been just as powerful as he was now. Lily must have sensed the rope loosening. She chanted a few words under her breath. “I’m not giving Ethie-bear to you. We’re soulmates. You should just do your part and hate me. That’s enough.” A small, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips. Something was wrong. Suddenly, the rope around me vanished. Lily fainted, and the baby, who had fallen to the ground, started wailing. Ethan arrived, his brow furrowed. Seeing the scene, he shot me a look of pure hatred. “Lily-bug told me you were jealous of her, but I didn’t believe it. I thought you weren’t the type to be petty. I never loved her, my heart has always been with you. Why couldn’t you just leave her alone? She was worried you would be in danger if you returned to the mortal world, so she tried to stop you. And you attacked her to get free!” “I never knew you could be so cruel. She just gave birth, she’s weak. Now she’s hemorrhaging. Are you trying to kill her? Bringing you back was my obsession for a million years. Now that my wish has been fulfilled, we are even.” He picked up Lily, his eyes red. “You wanted a divorce? Fine. I’ll give you a divorce.” He cut off a lock of his hair and threw it at my feet. As he left, he sneered, “You have no idea what the mortal world is like now. I bet in three days, you’ll be on your knees, praying at my statue, begging me to come get you.” I turned my back to him and swallowed the last of my tears. “You’re mistaken, Your Majesty. You and I… we will never meet again.” And I jumped.

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During freshman orientation, my boyfriend, Leo, gave the hot chocolate I’d bought for myself to his “girl best friend,” Fiona. This time, I didn’t get mad. I didn’t get jealous. I didn’t throw a fit. I just looked at him calmly and said, “Leo, this isn’t working. Let’s break up.” I was completely serious. He just laughed, that cocky, careless laugh of his. “You mean it this time, Chloe?” I nodded. He pulled out his phone and, right in front of me, blocked my number. “Alright, Chloe. Let’s make this breakup last a little longer than usual. Give me some peace and quiet. Let me see what other girls are out there in college.” Then he slung his arm around Fiona’s shoulders, turned, and walked away. One of his friends asked him, “Leo, man, Chloe’s gorgeous. Are you sure you want to break up with her?” He scoffed. “Nah. But we’re in college now. I gotta teach her a lesson, knock that attitude out of her. Let her sweat a little.” “You don’t believe me? I bet you, in less than three days, she’ll be crying and begging me to take her back.” That night, I called my mom. “Mom, I’ve decided to study abroad. Can you start the application process for me?” 1 It was the last day of orientation, and my period was due any minute. It was always a nightmare—cramps, bloating, the works. At home, I’d make a big pot of hot chocolate, which always helped. But here, in the middle of a college campus, that wasn’t an option. So I ordered one from a local cafe. The moment the delivery notification came through, my stomach cramped, hard. I had to go, now. I asked my boyfriend, Leo, to grab the delivery for me from the front gate, then ran for the nearest restroom. When I came back, my hot chocolate was in the hands of Fiona, Leo’s “girl best friend.” She had already drunk half of it. I frowned. “Leo, why did you give my drink to someone else?” My stomach was twisting in knots, and I’m sure I looked as terrible as I felt. “Oh, this was yours?” Fiona said, hopping over to me like an annoying grasshopper and holding out the cup. “Sorry, Fluffy… I thought Leo bought it for me. I mean, out of all his friends, I’m the only one who drinks this stuff. My bad.” “Fluffy, you’re not mad, are you? Please don’t cry again, I can’t handle it…” I took a deep breath, trying to push down my irritation. “My name is Chloe, Fiona. Can you please stop with the ridiculous nicknames?” The way she drew out the “Flu” in “Fluffy” was dripping with a strange, mocking tone. “Chloe, Fluffy, what’s the difference?” she said with a shrug and a smirk, bouncing her leg. “You’re not even fluffy. Why do they call you that?” Leo’s friends all burst out laughing. “So, Leo’s little girlfriend is a cat?” “No wonder she’s so high-maintenance!” “Making our boy Leo get her deliveries for her!” The hot chocolate was forgotten. I was now the butt of their jokes, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for Fiona to just take my stuff. I looked at Leo. “What is this?” He was getting impatient. “It’s just a cup of hot chocolate, Chloe. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?” “You know…” I started, but I didn’t know how to finish. I couldn’t exactly announce to a group of guys that I was on my period. The cramps were getting worse, and I felt my face pale. “Know what?” Leo snapped. Fiona pointed at me and laughed. “Fluffy, you must have really bad cramps. You know what they say, if your cramps are that bad, you probably can’t have kids. Leo, you’re going to be heirless!” She paused, then added, “Okay, okay, don’t cry. Here, you can have it back.” She held the cup out to me, but I just grabbed Leo’s arm. “Apologize.” “What?” He looked at me like I was insane. “Chloe, you want me to apologize to you?” “Yes,” I said. “You gave my drink to someone else. You should apologize.” I was dead serious. Leo stared at me as if I’d grown a second head. “What, you want me to write a ten-thousand-word apology and post it on the campus bulletin board? Who do you think you are? And who gave you the right to order me around like your personal delivery boy in the first place?” I took another deep breath. “If you don’t apologize, we’re breaking up.” Before Leo could even respond, Fiona jumped in. “No, no, no, Fluffy, don’t do that! Leo and I are just friends! Don’t break up with him because of me!” That was it. I had reached my limit. “Fiona,” I yelled, “I’ve told you a million times, stop calling me Fluffy! Don’t you understand English? And what does our relationship have to do with you?” Leo snatched the half-empty cup from Fiona’s hand and threw it at my face. We were so close, I had no time to react. The hot chocolate splattered all over me, and the straw, by some cruel twist of fate, poked me right in the eye. In an instant, tears and hot chocolate were streaming down my face. 2 Through the blur, I heard Leo’s voice. “Always crying. Did your dad die or something? You wanted to break up? Fine. Just don’t come crawling back to me in three days. I want to see what other girls are out there in college. I mean, I can’t exactly marry someone whose major is swine reproduction, can I?” With that, he grabbed Fiona and walked away. I just stood there, stunned. He was right. My major was swine reproduction and herd management. But I had applied for English literature. I had gotten my acceptance letter for the English program. I had no idea how I had been switched to this… When Fiona found out, she had laughed hysterically. “Flu-uffy,” she’d drawn out, “hahaha, your name and your major are a perfect match! You’re both animals!” I had gotten into a huge fight with her over that. The next day, Leo had texted me: *“Chloe, Fiona and I are going to Yellowstone. Come if you want, don’t if you don’t.”* I was at the airport, at the gate, waiting. Leo and I had been planning a trip to Yellowstone since we were freshmen in high school. We’d heard it was beautiful, like a paradise on earth. I had been looking forward to it for so long. After we graduated, I had tried to make plans with him, but he had to go with Fiona to her hometown first. He was gone for days. When I confronted him, he’d said, “Chloe, can’t you have a little compassion? You know Fiona’s situation.” “She’s just going back to get her birth certificate and stuff for college. I’m just helping her out.” I did know Fiona’s situation. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was thirteen. She lived with her grandmother and her uncle. Her uncle and his wife were good to her. She had everything their own kids had, and more. Her uncle, probably trying to overcompensate, gave her a huge allowance. But she had gone off the rails. Smoking, drinking, hanging out at internet cafes, getting into fights. She had even spread a rumor that her uncle was stealing her inheritance. Once, she had even hit her aunt, putting her in the hospital. After that, no one dared to discipline her. She and her grandmother moved back into her parents’ old house. She had access to all the money her parents had left her. I honestly didn’t see what was so pitiable about her situation. Then, after graduation, it was time to choose a college. Leo and I had known each other since kindergarten. We were next-door neighbors. He had asked me out in middle school, but I’d told him to wait until college. He had asked me out again in high school, and at my birthday party, in front of all our family and friends, he had promised to “protect Chloe for the rest of his life.” I was touched. We encouraged each other, studied together, and planned to go to the same college. After we graduated high school, we officially started dating. Our test scores were similar, so we applied to the same university. But when my acceptance letter came, my major, which was supposed to be English, had been changed to swine reproduction. I had checked the “willing to be reassigned” box on my application, but still… It’s not that there’s anything wrong with animal husbandry, it’s a vital industry. But I’d only ever eaten bacon, I’d never even seen a pig in real life. My mom was worried. “Chloe, this has to be a sign. Let’s just send you to study abroad.” I knew she was right. But I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Leo, of being on the other side of the world from him. And I knew that if I went to the kind of prestigious school my mom had in mind, Leo and I would be finished. So I had smiled at my mom and said, “Swine reproduction isn’t so bad. I can get all my certifications in college, and when I graduate, I can go to Wyoming, buy some land, and raise cows and sheep and pigs… maybe even some exotic animals.” I had even added, “Farming is a noble profession, you know.” My mom had just laughed. 3 And so the matter was settled. At the same time, Leo had asked me to go to Yellowstone. It was the trip we had been planning since we were freshmen. We booked our tickets and packed our bags. But when I got to the airport, he told me he had changed his flight and had gone a day early with Fiona. I just stood there, stunned, as the final boarding call echoed through the terminal. I sat on a bench, not moving. I’m not a dramatic person, but I had to fight to keep the tears from falling. I never went to Yellowstone. Leo kept texting me. *“Chloe, are you here yet?”* *“Chloe, where are you?”* *“I’ll come get you.”* *“Just text me back.”* I just stared at my phone. Finally, he called, his voice full of frustration. My hand slipped, and I answered. When he found out I wasn’t coming, he started yelling at me, calling me high-maintenance, petty, and difficult. “Chloe, do you have to ruin everything? So I changed my flight and came a day early. Is that such a big deal? You’re not coming? You’re going to make my whole life a regret?” “Fine. Be that way.” Later, Leo and Fiona’s social media was flooded with pictures from their trip. Yellowstone was as beautiful as I had imagined. I just watched in silence. A few of my friends asked if Leo and I had broken up. I didn’t answer. Right before school started, my mom asked me again. “Chloe, are you sure you want to go learn about pigs? And then move to Wyoming and be a farmer?” “Pigs are kind of cute,” I’d said. After a week of orientation, before classes had even started, I regretted it. I wiped the sticky mixture of hot chocolate and tears from my face. I had a classmate tell the orientation leader I was sick, then I went back to my dorm, took a shower, and changed my clothes. I called my mom. “Mom, I’ve thought about it. Animal husbandry is not for me. I want to study abroad. Is it too late?” My mom’s voice was full of concern. “Chloe, are you okay?” “I’m fine,” I said, my voice calm. “I just realized that while the drama of high school is great, it eventually has to end.” My mom knew about me and Leo, so she was worried. “It’s never too late to study abroad, honey. If you’re sure, I’ll start the process now. You’ll be leaving after October. You should take some time to hang out with your friends, say your goodbyes.” I smiled and agreed. After I hung up, the cramps were so bad I had to take two painkillers. Just then, my phone buzzed. A message from Fiona. I opened it. It was a voice recording. One of Leo’s friends was asking, “Leo, man, Chloe’s gorgeous. Are you sure you want to break up with her?” Then Leo’s cocky voice. “Nah. But we’re in college now. I gotta teach her a lesson, knock that attitude out of her. Let her sweat a little.” Someone else laughed. “Dude, go easy on her. You don’t want to actually lose her.” Leo scoffed. “No way. She’s obsessed with me. I can do whatever I want, she’s not going anywhere. You don’t believe me? I bet you, in less than three days, she’ll be crying and begging me to take her back.” Then Fiona’s voice. “Leo, if you’re going to do it, do it right. Make her get on her knees and beg before you take her back.” Leo laughed. “Deal!” The recording ended. Then a text from Fiona: *“Flu-uffy, you’d better not give in so easily. Don’t come crawling back and begging for forgiveness in three days.”* I blocked her number. 4 The next day, my mom confirmed that the study abroad application was in progress. I just had to handle the withdrawal process at my current university. “Okay,” I said with a smile. “Chloe, I have someone taking care of all the paperwork. You don’t have to do a thing,” my mom said. “But you can’t change your mind.” “I won’t, Mom. I promise.” “Good,” she said. The week passed peacefully. Without Leo and his psycho sidekick, college was actually pretty fun. Most people were normal. On Friday, I got a simple dinner from the dining hall and was about to go back to my dorm to binge-watch some shows. I had worked so hard in high school, I hadn’t had any time for TV or books. Now that I was free, I was determined to catch up. My good mood was ruined when Fiona showed up. The dining hall was half-empty, but of course, she had to sit right across from me. “Fluffy,” she said in that exaggerated, mocking tone of hers, “you’ve been holding out for a whole week? How many times have you cried to Leo behind my back? What, is he ignoring you? Did you know I was meeting him here for dinner, so you came to intercept him? Tsk, tsk. Just apologize to him already. I really thought you were going to hold out this time. But here you are, pretending it’s a coincidence. Oh, right, Leo said he wants you to get on your knees and beg. Why not do it now? There’s hardly anyone here.” I just looked at the contorted expression on her face and felt a wave of nausea. “Fiona,” I said calmly, “I’ve told you many times, don’t call me Fluffy. It makes me angry.” “I know you’re angry,” she said with a dramatic flair. “I love seeing you angry and helpless.” I was still calm. I picked up the free soup that came with my meal and threw it in her face. Before she could react, I grabbed my stainless steel tray and slammed it into her head. It all happened so fast. *Wham, wham, wham.* She shrieked and fell backward, her chair tipping over. The sound of her short skirt ripping was audible. A flash of white thigh, a thong, and a few stray pubic hairs were visible. I grabbed a chicken leg from my tray and, while she was screaming, shoved it in her mouth. I straddled her, made a fist, and started punching her in the head. It took a moment for everyone in the dining hall to react. Fights usually start with an argument. I had gone from zero to a hundred in a split second. A crowd of students and staff rushed over and pulled me off of her. “Fluffy, I’m going to kill you!” Fiona screamed, trying to cover herself as she lunged at me. I grabbed a plastic chair. “Fiona, you can hit on my boyfriend all you want. I don’t care. I can always find a new one. But who the hell do you think you are, giving me nicknames?” As I spoke, I threw the chair at her. Just then, Leo came running in. He grabbed me by the hair, and with his other hand, slapped me hard across the face. I tasted blood. “Fluffy,” he snarled, “apologize to Fiona.”

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