Isabelle Croft had always been the queen of our campus, an ice princess enthroned, and I was the only one she ever let into her frozen kingdom. But then the new transfer, Caleb Ryder, arrived. He started engineering “chance” encounters, a constant, smirking presence in her orbit. Everyone whispered that the new flame could never outshine the lifelong friend, that Caleb’s little stunts were a waste of time. A story as old as time. They were wrong. It all shattered the night a man with a grudge against the Croft empire slipped past campus security and took Caleb hostage. In that moment, Isabelle’s composure finally broke. She didn’t hesitate. She threw herself in front of Caleb, taking the knife that was meant for him. Even as she lay bleeding, her life fading, she just caressed Caleb’s face. “As long as you’re okay…” she whispered. I stood on the edge of the crowd, the world’s biggest fool, a punchline for a joke I never knew I was a part of. Later, in the sterile silence of the hospital room, Isabelle was a mess of tubes and monitors. She struggled to speak, her voice a dry rasp, but her words were for me. “I don’t want to owe him anything,” she said. “Leave him alone.” A hollow laugh escaped my lips. This twisted little drama of love and hate belonged to them now. I had no part to play. The moment that man chose Caleb as the perfect leverage against her, my own irrelevance became blindingly clear. Fine. I’m out. 1 I had just finalized the last of my paperwork to study abroad when Isabelle walked in. Her eyes fell on the passport and the crisp visa documents on the table, and a flicker of confusion crossed her face. “I thought we were doing this together.” It took me a beat to realize she was talking about the European trip we’d planned for the summer. A lifetime ago. This was not a tourist visa. I gathered the documents, my movements slow and deliberate, and shook my head. A practiced, placating smile touched her lips. “I didn’t forget, Leo,” she cooed. “It’s just… Caleb’s cast isn’t even off yet.” Caleb Ryder. When Isabelle had shoved him out of the way of the knife, he’d stumbled and fractured his tibia. “We’ll go as soon as he’s fully healed, okay? I promise.” “It doesn’t matter anymore, Isabelle. My plans have nothing to do with you.” The smile vanished. “Leo, I know you’re angry. But I told you, I just didn’t want to be indebted to him.” Her voice took on a sharper edge. “Besides, you waited months to do this, long after I was out of the hospital. You were obviously waiting for me. Don’t pretend this isn’t about us.” A dull ache pulsed in my chest. She thought I’d been waiting for her. The truth was, I’d submitted my applications the same night she’d taken that knife for him. The bureaucracy was slow, but she saw the delay as proof of her power over me, another reason to take my devotion for granted. I suppose I’d enabled it. For years, my love for her had been unconditional, a quiet, steady force she’d learned to treat as a natural resource. “I just didn’t want him to get hurt because of me,” she continued, her tone shifting from placating to the cool, detached logic she was known for. “It wasn’t about humiliating you.” “But you’re still sulking,” she said, the warmth gone completely. “You’ve been giving me the silent treatment for months. It makes things awkward for me and Caleb. I have to endure all the gossip and stares just to have a conversation with you.” She paused, her gaze unwavering. “I think you need a little reminder.” Her hand went to her phone. She stared right at me as she dialed, her voice perfectly calm. “Mr. Davison? I need you to terminate Leo’s father. Effective immediately.” My jaw went slack. My blood ran cold. She put the call on speaker. The hesitant voice of her father’s Senior VP came through the phone. “Ms. Croft, with all due respect, his father has been with us for nearly a decade. He’s a senior manager… and besides, I thought he and your son, Leo…” Isabelle cut him off, her voice like ice. “I said now, Mr. Davison. Right now.” Less than three minutes later, a text from my dad lit up my screen. Son, did you do something to upset Isabelle? A second later, the message was deleted. My fists clenched. My entire body hummed with a rage I couldn’t voice. Our family’s company went under ten years ago. Isabelle’s father had given my dad a position, a lifeline that kept us afloat. But before all that, before the bankruptcy, it was my father’s mentorship that had helped build the Croft empire in the first place. This wasn’t just business. This was a deliberate, cruel severing of ties, a middle finger to decades of shared history. I forced the words through my teeth. “Isabelle, have you even considered what our parents will think about this?” She was unmoved. “Why should I care? It’s not like you’ll starve. You can always come live with me. I’ll take care of you.” The condescension in her voice made my stomach turn. She knew. She knew how much I’d always hated the rumors that painted me as her follower, her glorified assistant. Ignoring my fury, she reached out, her fingers gently smoothing the crease between my brows. “Don’t be angry,” she murmured, her voice softening into a familiar, intimate whisper. “It makes you look ugly.” It was so casual, so disarmingly familiar, like a scene from a life before Caleb Ryder ever existed. A life where there were no cracks in our foundation, where she’d sketch out our future with a seriousness that belied a secret, childlike innocence—a side of her no one else ever saw. But someone else saw it now. I pulled my head back. Her hand froze in mid-air. A slow, chilling smile spread across her face, as if she’d just discovered a fascinating new game. “Leo,” she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial hush, “do you have any idea how much… when you’re angry like this…” She leaned closer. “You look just like Caleb.” 2 Screech. The sound of my chair scraping against the floor cut through the quiet cafe. I ignored the heads that turned in our direction, my gaze locked on her, cold and final. “Take care of yourself, Isabelle.” Without another word, I gathered my papers and walked out, leaving her sitting there. I didn’t look back, but I felt her eyes on me. A few seconds later, I heard her own chair move, and she stormed off in the opposite direction. Back at my apartment, an anonymous email was waiting for me. I opened it without surprise. Just as I’d expected, it was a message from my mysterious benefactor, offering a list of executive-level job openings for my father. This had been happening for months. When I first started the process of applying to schools abroad, this person had offered to handle everything. I’d refused, yet every step of the way—from transcripts to recommendations—had felt suspiciously smooth. They seemed to know everything about me, materializing with a solution every time I hit a snag. I’d tried to trace the source, but it was like chasing a ghost. As usual, I typed a polite refusal. A moment later, a formal invitation to the Croft family’s annual gala appeared in my inbox. A message from Isabelle’s father. I decided to go. It was time to sever this last tie, cleanly and for good. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Caleb Ryder there, preening in a bespoke suit from Isabelle’s private designer label. Her favor had turned him into the evening’s mystery guest, the man everyone was whispering about. I kept my distance, but he sought me out, a smirk playing on his lips as he raised his glass. “Still giving Isabelle the cold shoulder? Take some friendly advice, man. Don’t overestimate your importance.” He leaned in, his voice dropping. “After all those years you spent playing the perfect gentleman, who do you think was the one to finally get her to let go?” He loosened his tie, tilting his neck to the side. A constellation of hickeys, new and old, dotted his skin. It was impossible to count how many times she’d been with him. I closed my eyes for a second, then turned to walk away. He threw an arm around my shoulder, stepping in front of me again, his voice a greasy whisper. “She’s a wildcat in bed, you know. All that ice just melts. I bet you never even got close, did you? Too busy being the good little boy.” He laughed. “Once she got a taste of a real man, she was begging me for more.” That was it. I snapped. My fist connected with his face in a single, satisfying crack. “Keep the details of your sordid little affair to yourself.” The commotion drew every eye in the room. Caleb staggered back, blood trickling from his nose, his moment of glory shattered. I took a step back, gave a brief, apologetic nod to Isabelle’s father across the room, and headed for the exit. I’d barely made it to the lobby when Isabelle caught up to me, her face a mask of fury. “Leo, you’ve gone too far! I want you to go back in there right now and apologize to Caleb in front of everyone!” My voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. “By telling him to stop broadcasting your private life to the entire world? Was I wrong?” I let my gaze drift down to her collarbone, where a faint red mark peeked out from the edge of her gown. Her eyes widened in surprise. “You knew?” She stared at me, a strange look of disbelief on her face. “Why aren’t you angry?” Of course. In her world, I was a fixed star, destined to revolve around her forever. My indifference was a disruption of the natural order. She couldn’t comprehend it. “Oh, I get it,” she said, a confident smirk returning to her lips. “This is your new strategy, isn’t it? Trying to get my attention by pretending you don’t care.” I took another step back, putting more space between us. Seeing this, she switched tactics instantly, her entire demeanor softening. She closed the distance between us, her movements slinking and playful as she draped her arms around my neck. “Oh, come on, Leo… don’t be like this…” The cluster of hickeys on her neck was right there, impossible to ignore, a vulgar tattoo against her pale skin. Her red lips, parted and glistening, moved as she spoke. A wave of nausea washed over me. I shoved her away, doubling over as my stomach churned, and vomited onto the pristine marble floor. Isabelle’s face flushed as if I’d slapped her. Her voice was sharp with rage and humiliation. “What the hell, Leo? Don’t you dare stand there and pretend you’re so pure! I know you’ve wanted me for years!” I wiped my mouth, the bitter taste of bile coating my tongue. I forced myself to look at her and managed to choke out a single word. “Filthy.” The color drained from her face. That one word stripped her of every last shred of dignity. Her eyes narrowed, filled with a cold, venomous promise. “Fine,” she hissed. “You remember what you did tonight, Leo. I’m going to make you regret it.” 3 She had tried to placate me, to charm her way back into my good graces, and I had thrown it all back in her face. Her patience had finally reached its limit. I didn’t give much thought to how she planned to make me “regret it.” I should have. The next day at the university, I walked into class and was hit by a wall of stench. My desk was overflowing with rotting garbage. Students nearby pinched their noses, shooting me looks of disgust. The whispers followed me. “Guess Leo’s not the golden boy anymore. Looks like Caleb is the real deal.” “Yeah, Isabelle would never do something like this to someone she actually cared about.” “I heard she told everyone not to help him. He’s going to be totally ostracized.” “Serves him right. He was always just her shadow anyway. It’s not like he has any other friends.” An involuntary tremor ran through me. She was using my own trauma against me. After my family went bankrupt, this was my life. The social ruin, the isolation, the constant, petty acts of cruelty from people who suddenly saw me as less than human. Back then, Isabelle had been my shield. She’d stood in front of me, a small, fierce protector against the world. And now… she was the one orchestrating the attack, using the very wounds she’d once healed as a weapon. Had she forgotten? Or did she simply not care anymore? I fought to steady my breathing, telling myself to stay calm. I was about to start clearing the mess when Caleb Ryder and a group of his cronies from the football team burst into the room. “Leo,” he said, a malicious grin spreading across his face. “Isabelle asked me to deliver a little gift.” I froze, a knot of dread tightening in my stomach. Without another word, Caleb nodded to his friends. Two of them, built like linemen, grabbed me. I struggled, landing a solid punch on one of them, but I was outnumbered and overpowered. Caleb leaned in close, holding up his phone. A live video was playing. The subject was my father. My pupils contracted. “What are you doing?!” I roared. On the screen, my dad was at the wheel of his car. The camera shook violently, and the car swerved, hitting a concrete barrier. Before he could even unbuckle his seatbelt, a burly man with menacing tattoos covering his arms yanked him out of the car. Caleb’s voice was a gleeful whisper in my ear. “I just mentioned to Isabelle that my jaw still hurt from your punch. She was more than happy to tell me exactly where your weak spots were.” Just then, Isabelle herself walked into the classroom. She saw me being restrained, but her only concern was for Caleb. “Feeling better now?” she asked him softly. Every muscle in my body strained, veins popping on my neck. “Isabelle!” I snarled, the name a curse. She finally looked at me, her expression cold as stone. “You hit my boyfriend at my family’s gala. That’s the same as hitting me. Humiliating me.” She shrugged. “Your father loses a leg. Caleb lost face. It seems like a fair trade.” Caleb, basking in her defense, smirked at me and spoke into his phone. “Do it.” “NO!” With a surge of pure adrenaline, I threw the two men off me and lunged for the phone. But I was too late. I saw it all. The man on the other end of the call lifted a heavy iron pipe and, without a moment’s hesitation, brought it down on my father’s leg. The sickening crack of bone and my father’s agonized scream hit me at the same time. My world tilted. I stumbled, nearly collapsing. Isabelle’s face paled slightly. She rushed forward to steady me, but her words were utterly devoid of compassion. “Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like it happened to you.” It felt like a hand was crushing my heart. She knew. She knew my dad and I had been a team, just the two of us, since I was a kid. She knew how he’d worked himself to the bone to build a life for us, only to lose it all. She remembered how she’d been the one to comfort me, to fight for me, when everyone else had turned their backs. Back then, I thought we had a bond that could never be broken. How ironic. When the love died, it didn’t just disappear. It twisted, metastasizing into a weapon she now aimed not just at me, but at the only family I had left. Something inside me snapped. I launched myself forward, kicking Caleb square in the chest and sending him sprawling. Before anyone could react, I brought my heel down hard on his uninjured leg. Not satisfied, I grabbed a broken chair leg from the corner and began bringing it down on his leg again, and again, and again. The room was filled with the sounds of my ragged breaths and the wet thud of wood against flesh. The other students were frozen, staring in horrified silence. “Leo, stop!” Isabelle, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fury, threw herself in front of Caleb, shielding him with her body. The chair leg connected with her arm. She cried out in pain. A chilling cold washed over me. She was protecting him. Just like I had once protected her. Caleb pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. “Isabelle, why would you do that?!” But she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were locked on me. “Are we even now, Leo?” she asked, her voice strained. I gripped the makeshift club, my knuckles white. I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. “If this makes you feel better,” she gasped, “then you have to promise to leave Caleb alone from now on.” I stared at her, incredulous. The man she was protecting had just ordered my father’s leg to be broken. His own injuries were superficial at best. And she was asking me to call it even? “Leo, I don’t want you to live with so much hatred in your heart. It will destroy you.” Caleb, clutching his leg, glared at me with pure venom. “The one who can’t let go of a grudge is him, Isabelle,” I bit out. “I was just returning the favor. You should be saying that to him!” Her face twisted in disbelief. “I already told you! Your father’s injury was payback for you hitting Caleb in public! That doesn’t give you the right to attack him like this!” A wild, humorless laugh escaped my lips. I was done talking. I shoved her aside, grabbed a whole chair this time, and brought it down towards Caleb. Today, he was going to learn what regret really felted like.

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1 The day Dr. Adrian Vance brought his girlfriend home, my job, as head of his security detail, was to meticulously scan their personal belongings for listening devices. Suddenly, Lily Medak pointed a trembling finger at me, her eyes welling with tears. “You men are all the same! We’ve been apart for one month—one month! — and you’re already keeping a canary on the side.” I, the canary in question, was speechless. Who, me? All six-foot-one, one hundred and eighty pounds of me? There was no sugar daddy footing my bills; I was drawing a government salary as a bodyguard. … Dr. Adrian Vance was a key government scientist, a national asset whose latest research had put him on the radar of hostile operatives. The state had assigned me, one of their top agents, to ensure his safety. To prevent his family from being used as leverage, I’d moved his parents and his girlfriend into the safe house with him. Full protection detail. Before I could even speak, Lily clung to Adrian, her voice rising hysterically. “Don’t even try to deny it! If this woman isn’t your little pet, then why is she living with you? And why is she going through our luggage? I’m the lady of this house! I’m your girlfriend! You think I would ever do anything to hurt you?” “I know you’re a world-renowned scientist, and I’m just an ordinary woman,” she sobbed, changing tactics. “The gap between us is huge, I have no right to question you, it’s just…” With that, she threw herself into Mrs. Vance’s arms and began to wail. Adrian’s mother immediately started comforting Lily while scolding her son. “Lily has been with you for so many years! How could you do this to her?” Adrian rubbed his temples, a deep weariness in his eyes. “Mom, what are you talking about?” he explained. “I would never betray Lily. Riley is my government-assigned bodyguard. My work has put me at the top of an international hit list. This is a necessary precaution.” Lily shot up, her voice cracking. “You’re lying! Who’s ever heard of a bodyguard who looks like that? She’s your kept woman, and you know it!” Adrian’s brow furrowed in frustration. “Kept women are for billionaire CEOs, Lily. I’m a scientist. Every paycheck I’ve earned for the last five years, I’ve sent directly to you. Where would I even get the money?” Her face was a mask of disbelief. Adrian sighed. “What do I have to do to make you believe me?” Lily lifted her chin, looking down her nose at me. “I don’t believe a word you say. I only believe what I see with my own eyes!” I had been kneeling by the door, finishing my sweep of their luggage. Now that the job was done—no bugs, no cameras—it was time to deal with Miss Medak. I slowly rose to my feet. Lily had been looking down at me, but as I unfolded to my full height, her gaze had to travel up… and up. By the time I was standing straight, she was staring up at me, her mouth agape, wide enough to fit a tennis ball. I spoke calmly. “Miss Medak. Perhaps now you can believe that I am not Dr. Vance’s… canary.” “You’re… like, six-foot-four?” she stammered, swallowing hard. I simply smiled and handed the cleared luggage to the family. A professional operative never reveals exact personal details. My silence, however, did nothing to dampen her newfound curiosity. She began circling me, inspecting me from all angles. “I mean, you’re tall, sure. But maybe he’s into that sort of thing,” she mused. “There’s no rule that says a six-foot-four woman can’t be a kept woman…” Her words left not just Adrian and me, but also his parents, utterly dumbfounded. Adrian started apologizing to me while trying to pull Lily away, but she took this as proof that he was siding with me. She wrenched her arm free and shot me a contemptuous smirk. “Did you really think you could hide your affair from me? I’m the main character in this story! I can see the chat feed!” “The chat feed told me everything! It told me you betrayed me, and that this woman is your little plaything! It warned me that if I don’t get rid of her now, you’ll eventually have my family’s empire burned to the ground and leave me for dead!” 2 Having delivered her breathless monologue, Lily’s chest heaved with emotion. Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he wanted to say something but had no idea where to start. Lily grabbed the front of his shirt. “Tell me! It’s me or her!” “Lily, for the love of God, stop reading those trashy romance novels! Burn my family’s empire to the ground? I’m a scientist, not a ruthless billionaire. And what is this about a chat feed? You’re not making any sense.” He shot me an apologetic look and tried to lead her away. But my internal alarms were screaming. Something was wrong with her. I stepped in front of them, blocking their path. “Apologies, Doctor. Miss Medak is not acting rationally. I’m going to need her to cooperate with an official assessment.” Adrian started to protest, but he met my unyielding gaze and let his hand fall from her arm. My credentials were unimpeachable; his own superiors had introduced me, and my file included protection details for world leaders. He knew better than to question my judgment. “Adrian, help me!” Lily shrieked. “Don’t let this evil woman take me! She’ll kill me! I’ll come back with a kidney missing!” Adrian didn’t move. I escorted Lily to a small, soundproofed debriefing room. No matter what I asked, she stuck to her story: I was Adrian’s mistress, and a stream of scrolling comments only she could see had told her so. Based on my training, she wasn’t lying. She genuinely believed it. After a moment’s thought, I called in a medic. The diagnosis was… unexpected. Lily had cooked herself a lunch of wild mushrooms. Apparently, she hadn’t cooked them thoroughly enough, inducing a hallucinogenic state where she believed she was seeing a live chat feed about her own life. After treatment, she returned to normal. A background check I’d ordered also came back clean. She and Adrian were childhood sweethearts, her social circle was tiny, and her only hobby was reading romance novels. She had no connections to any foreign entities. But even after the doctor explained that her “chat feed” was a mushroom-induced trip, she remained convinced I was Adrian’s canary. She took every opportunity to sneer at me, and one day, she even tried to shove me down the stairs. She seemed to forget that I was a six-foot-one elite operative. There was no way a civilian like her could move me an inch. After putting her entire body into the effort and failing to make me budge, she changed tactics, let out a yelp, and threw herself down the staircase. By the time Adrian rushed over, she was a mess of red-rimmed eyes and crocodile tears. “Adrian, don’t blame Riley! I’m sure she didn’t mean to push me!” After calling the medics, I projected the security footage onto the living room’s main screen. When the video showed the part where Lily was straining with all her might to push me, Mrs. Vance couldn’t stifle a snort of laughter. Lily shrieked, “You have cameras?!” “Miss Medak,” I stated calmly, “my sole purpose here is to protect Dr. Vance. This entire residence, excluding the bathrooms, is under 24/7 surveillance, monitored by a three-person team in real-time. I would advise you to choose your actions carefully.” Her face flushed crimson. She was speechless. After that incident, I did my best to avoid her. But today, a confrontation was unavoidable. There was a critical issue during the testing phase of Adrian’s project. I had to get him to the research institute immediately. The moment we got in the car, Lily threw herself in front of it. “Where are you two going? On a secret date behind my back?” Adrian tried to explain the urgency of the situation. Lily just covered her ears, chanting, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening!” Finally, she lay down on the pavement in front of the tires. “If you insist on taking your mistress on a date, you’ll have to run me over first!” 3 Adrian looked exhausted, the apology in his eyes deepening into profound guilt. I glanced at my watch. We didn’t have time for this. I gave a subtle look, and two of my team—both built like refrigerators—materialized and simply lifted her out of the way. Adrian opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and remained silent. In the car, he finally spoke. “I’m so sorry, Riley. I apologize for all the trouble she’s causing. When this is over, I’ll make sure your superiors know how professionally you’ve handled this.” I kept my eyes on the road, my focus absolute. As long as Adrian’s work helped strengthen our country, Lily’s petty dramas were less than a nuisance. As we approached the institute, my instincts screamed. Something was wrong. I slammed on the brakes and yanked Adrian out of his seat just as he was starting to ask what was happening. A split second later, our car erupted in a massive fireball. The force of the blast sent us rolling. I shielded him with my body, absorbing the impact as we skidded across the asphalt. I kept him pinned beneath me, my eyes scanning our surroundings for threats. “What do you think you’re doing?!” A car screeched to a halt behind us. Lily jumped out, pointing an accusing finger. “You shameless hussy! I knew you were after my boyfriend! You kept me from coming along just so you could throw yourself at him, didn’t you!” “You home-wrecking fox! I’m going to kill you!” She let out a war cry and lunged, her hand raised to slap me. The next second, I had her wrist in an iron grip. I applied the slightest pressure. “Ow, ow, ow!” she screamed. “Shut up!” I hissed. “The people who planted that bomb are still nearby. Unless you want to die, be quiet.” Thankfully, the institute was located next to a military base. Backup arrived within minutes. While Adrian was in his emergency briefing, Lily circled me like a vulture. She tried to give me a look of contempt, but because I was so much taller, she had to crane her neck to do it, which made her attempted intimidation look ridiculous. I ignored her completely. Eventually, her stream of insults dried up, leaving her parched and frustrated. Just then, Adrian emerged from his meeting. Lily immediately threw herself into his arms. “Adrian, she completely ignored me! Can you believe the nerve?” she pouted. “Look, I’ve decided that since she’s useful for protecting you, I’m willing to let her stick around. But she has to know her place, and you have to promise that you’ll always love me most. Swear to me you’ll never let her hurt me.” The other researchers coming out of the meeting stared at her, their expressions a mixture of confusion and morbid curiosity as their gazes shifted to Adrian. Adrian’s face turned beet red as Lily continued her tirade. “Enough!” He finally lost his patience. “What are you talking about? This is the 21st century! We don’t have mistresses and second wives! Stop talking nonsense!” His shout stunned her into silence. Then, tears began to stream down her face. “I knew it. You’re tired of me. It’s all about your precious canary now, isn’t it? I was willing to compromise! What more do you want from me? Do you want me to die? I just want to live my life…” Her words made no sense to the onlookers, but Adrian and I knew exactly what she was referencing. Adrian sighed, a look of grim resignation on his face, and began to soothe her. Just like that, her tears vanished, replaced by a triumphant smile. She hugged him tightly, and over his shoulder, where no one else could see, she shot me a smug, provocative smirk. Right. She hadn’t forgotten her role in the drama. After we returned to the safe house, Adrian and Lily had a long talk. When she emerged, her eyes were red and swollen. She walked straight up to me. “Riley, I’m sorry,” she said. “I was wrong. I promise I won’t call you a canary or anything like that ever again.” I gave a curt nod, accepting her apology. For a while after that, things were quiet. Until another critical issue arose with the data, requiring Adrian to hold an emergency meeting with his research team. Given the recent bombing, it was decided the team would come to the safe house. With so many high-value targets in one place, I ramped up security protocols. All day, Lily watched me with a strange, unnerving smirk on her face. 4 My senses were on high alert, but she did nothing besides prance around her room trying on an endless series of flashy dresses. I wrote it off as another one of her episodes. The scientists had all arrived and the meeting was about to begin when Lily burst into the room. She was wearing a tight, scarlet red dress that clung to her curves. She sauntered over to the conference table and provocatively perched herself on it, right in front of Adrian, batting her eyelashes. “A woman,” she purred, “needs to be soft and delicate to earn a man’s affection.” The room was filled with serious, academic types. Jaws dropped. The female scientists looked at her with disdain, while the men awkwardly averted their eyes. “Lily, what in God’s name are you doing?!” Adrian roared, pulling her off the table. “I’m in a meeting! Get out!” She stumbled, then regained her footing and pointed a finger at me. “Why does she get to stay? You’re kicking me out, but she gets to be here? She’s your kept woman! You’re finally introducing her to all your friends, and you’re still trying to hide it from me!” Adrian froze for a second, a look of pure, soul-crushing exhaustion on his face. “Lily, I am so tired. Please, just stop making things up.” “These are my colleagues! And Riley is my bodyguard! My. Body. Guard!” He was practically screaming the last words. The other researchers began whispering among themselves, casting judgmental glances at Lily. Seeing that her little spectacle had failed, she turned her fury on me. “You bitch! This is all your fault!” That was it. My patience had finally snapped. I grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up like she was a misbehaving kitten, carrying her out of the room. She flailed wildly, clawing at the air. “Let go of me! She’s seducing my boyfriend, and now she’s assaulting me!” I remained silent. She then turned on the gawking onlookers. “What are you all staring at? You work for my husband, don’t you? Why aren’t you helping me? The boss’s woman is being attacked!” “Riley is a brute! She’s huge and has no femininity at all! You should be laughing at her! Why are you looking at me like that? You’re all just NPCs! Background characters! Stop looking at me like I’m crazy!” Finally, one of the older researchers had had enough. “Riley is doing her job. As a bodyguard, her attire is appropriate, and her formidable physique provides a sense of security. Who are you to compare yourself to her? You want to compete? Let’s see you go a round in a boxing ring with her!” Others chimed in with agreement, adding a few digs at Adrian. “You know, Adrian, brilliant as you are, you really need to learn how to judge character.” Adrian’s face cycled through shades of red and white. After the meeting, Adrian and Lily had the most vicious fight I’d ever seen between them. I watched from a discreet distance. My mission was to protect him from physical harm; verbal spats weren’t in my purview. I let out a quiet sigh. This job was not easy. The moment this assignment was over, I was taking a long, long vacation. The argument ended with Adrian roaring, “We’re done! It’s over!” Lily just stood there, stunned, a look of utter disbelief on her face. Finally, she seemed to snap. “Fine! Break up with me! Just you wait until you come crawling back, begging for my forgiveness!” She stormed off, returning minutes later with a suitcase. She marched to the front door, but when she saw that no one was stopping her—not even Mrs. Vance, who had always doted on her—she paused. “It’s so late,” she muttered to herself. “I’ll never get a cab. I guess I’ll stay one more night.” And with that, she dragged her suitcase back to her room. While I was protecting Adrian, other government agencies were working to dismantle the network of operatives targeting him. I had just received an update. By tomorrow, my services might no longer be needed. That night, I heard a crash from Adrian’s room. I burst in instantly. A broken water glass lay on the floor. Lily stood before Adrian, a triumphant, crazed look in her eyes. “You took the potion I gave you! Now, you have to do everything I say!”

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1 For my twenty-ninth birthday, my husband gave me a bottle of perfume. I sprayed it on without a second thought and went into anaphylactic shock. When I finally came to in the hospital, Liam was there, a bouquet in hand, with his childhood friend, Chloe, hovering by his side. I calmly asked for a divorce. Chloe immediately rushed to his defense, her voice choked with tears. “Ava, please don’t blame Liam! The perfume was my idea. I just thought the scent would be perfect for you.” Liam wrapped an arm around her, comforting her, then turned to me with an impatient glare. “You’ll regret this.” The next time I saw Liam was a month later. After being discharged, I’d spent some time recovering at my old apartment before finally returning to our villa. The housekeeper informed me that Liam had only come back once, right after I was hospitalized, and hadn’t been seen since. I wasn’t surprised. This wasn’t his only home. He had another one with Chloe. I took a USB drive to the study and printed out the divorce papers. Two copies. I signed my name and then called him. He arrived late that night, a gift bag dangling from his hand. Seeing me on the sofa, he casually issued his usual command. “Make me some soup. I was out with Mr. Harrison and the board. Drank too much. My stomach is killing me.” He tossed the bag onto the couch and went upstairs to the master bedroom. He showered, changed into his pajamas, and then came back down. He noticed I hadn’t touched the bag and pushed it toward me. “A replacement birthday gift.” I didn’t take it. He placed it on my lap. I stood up and set it aside. “Aren’t you going to see what it is?” I tried to smile, but couldn’t. I looked up at him. Our house was littered with identical gift bags. I already knew what was inside. Ever since we’d had our son, he’d put zero thought into my gifts. Skincare sets, handbags, jewelry. The styles were always the same, the brands predictable. It was as if he spent less than three minutes picking them out. He never seemed to notice that sometimes, his gifts would sit unopened for months. Only that bottle of perfume had been different. The box was unique. I’d opened it, sprayed it once, and regretted it instantly. It was rose-scented. And I am deathly allergic to roses. Even the scent is enough to trigger a reaction. I picked up the divorce papers from the coffee table and handed them to him. “My lawyer drafted these. Take a look. If there are no issues, just sign.” He froze, his hand hovering over the papers. “The soup… did you make it? I’ll go check.” I let him escape to the kitchen. He was back in a moment, his expression grim. “You didn’t make it.” “I’m tired. I don’t feel like it.” His stomach must have genuinely been hurting. He pressed a hand to his abdomen and sat back down. I pretended not to see. He sidled up next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist, his voice suddenly soft. “Ava, I was wrong. I’ve just been so busy, I asked Chloe to help me pick out your gift. How about this? I’ll book a restaurant, and tomorrow, we can have a proper birthday celebration. Just the two of us.” I looked at him and shook my head, gently removing his hand from my waist and scooting away. His face hardened. “Why? Is it really just because of the perfume?” It wasn’t just the perfume. It was because the author had stopped writing. The sweet romance novel was over. His heart had wandered, and I had developed a mind of my own. We were no longer just characters, forced to be sweet for the sake of the plot. The day after our wedding, my memories had returned. I was the female lead in a cliché romance novel. Beautiful, smart, the campus ice queen with a fatal allergy to roses. Liam was the male lead: the cold, handsome CEO-in-training with a chronic stomachache who would do anything for me. We had a sickeningly sweet college romance. After graduation, one night of passion led to an unexpected pregnancy. I had terrible morning sickness, and Liam, ever the doting partner, insisted I quit my job so he could take care of us. During the difficult months of my pregnancy, he’d scold my belly, telling our unborn son to stop tormenting me or he’d get a spanking when he came out. It was shortly after my memories returned that Chloe came back from studying abroad. She started working at Liam’s family company, becoming his special assistant. That’s when I learned that their families were old friends. After Chloe’s parents died, Liam’s family had taken her in. They were childhood sweethearts, and she had always been in love with him. And I, the supposed love of his life, had never even heard her name. A character who had never appeared in the sweet romance novel had suddenly materialized the moment it ended. But I couldn’t blame Chloe. She had confessed her feelings to Liam long ago. He knew how she felt, yet he kept her by his side. His motives were his own. While I was pregnant, they traveled for business together, drank together, attended high school reunions together. In the beginning, when I’d get jealous, he would just laugh it off. Eventually, I stopped bringing it up. And Chloe silently wedged herself between us, where she remained to this day. And now he was asking if this was all about a bottle of perfume. A wave of pity washed over me. “The perfume was just the final straw.” “Liam, I’ve wanted to divorce you for a very long time.” His brow furrowed, his eyes turning cold. “Ava, are you seeing someone else?” “I forbid it!” Before I could call him insane, he lunged, pinning me to the sofa. “Liam, no!” I struggled, but he was too heavy. When his hand started to slip under my dress, I slapped him. Hard. The sting of it stopped him. His eyes were bloodshot, a cruel glint in them. “Ava, don’t forget you’re still my wife. Am I not even allowed to touch you anymore?” The memory of the D&C I’d had to undergo after the miscarriage flooded my mind, and my whole body began to tremble. “You disgust me.” Our eyes met. I didn’t back down. He finally pushed himself off me, slumping to the floor. A self-deprecating laugh escaped his lips. “So that’s it. No wonder you want a divorce.” “Who is he?” I said nothing. He grabbed his jacket from the sofa and stalked toward the door. “Ava, you can dream on about a divorce!” “You’d better hide him well. Because when I find out who he is, I’ll kill him.” As he reached the door, a sharp pain lanced through my chest. I called out his name. “Liam.” He stopped but didn’t turn around. “Do you love me?” I asked. He was silent. I pressed on. “If you loved me, would you keep a woman who’s been in love with you for years by your side? If you loved me, would you let your mother take our son away from me, to another country?” “Liam, the day you agreed to let her take our son, I started to doubt everything you’ve ever said about love.” He finally turned, his eyes filled with confusion. “I thought we agreed to let Mom take Ethan so we could have some time to ourselves.” “You wanted that. I didn’t.” “He is the child I carried for ten months. I would never send him away for the sake of some ‘alone time.’ I’m not that kind of person.” He shook his head slightly. “But we said we’d have another baby.” A bitter laugh escaped me. “There is no other baby. I went into anaphylactic shock from the perfume. I miscarried.” The expression on his face was beyond grim. “Why didn’t you tell me when I came to the hospital?” he demanded. “I was going to tell you on my birthday. But you never came. You sent Chloe with the perfume instead.” “Liam, what good would it have done to tell you?” He was silent for a long time. “We can have another child,” he said finally, his voice flat. “No, we can’t. Liam, let’s just get a divorce.” “If we don’t, I don’t know what I might do.” I walked over to him with the papers. “Sign them.” He took them. “And you, Ava? Do you still love me?” “I’ve let go.” “Recently? Or a long time ago?” I didn’t answer. He did. “A long time ago. You stopped being clingy. When I went on business trips, you stopped telling me to be safe. When I drank, you stopped telling me to drink less. The longest I was away was that trip to Moscow. I waited ten days, and you never sent me a single message. Just like tonight, with my stomach. You couldn’t care less.” “Ava, you were the one who stopped loving me first.” “I stopped being clingy because Chloe was always with you, leaving no space for me. I stopped asking about your trips because she would post pictures of the two of you together. I stopped telling you to drink less because you were always taking drinks for her. And that trip to Moscow? I didn’t message you because I saw a video of the two of you dancing intimately in a club. I didn’t want to interrupt.” “As for tonight… you’re right. I don’t love you anymore.” “Liam, I’m making way for Chloe. I wish you both the best.” His knuckles were white as he gripped the papers. His eyes, red and furious, watched me as he tore the documents to shreds. Then, he stormed out. I had the housekeeper clean up the mess and went back to the study. I printed ten more copies. An hour later, I saw Chloe’s latest social media post. A selfie of her sitting on the edge of a bed, Liam asleep behind her. The caption read: “The man I love has never learned to love himself. If you don’t love him, why can’t you just let him go? Why do you have to torture him?” I took the ten copies of the divorce papers, got in my car, and drove to Chloe’s house.

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1 Our company’s new head of HR was supposed to be a rockstar. A “golden hire.” After my department pulled a month of brutal, round-the-clock overtime to land a massive project, he celebrated our success by presenting us with a bill. It was for the air conditioning, bottled water, and facility usage fees we’d incurred during our late nights. To “strengthen management,” he installed timers in the restrooms. Five minutes per person, per day. Total. If you wanted a single sheet of A4 paper, you needed to submit a 2,000-word written request in advance. Then, in the name of “cost reduction and efficiency,” he proposed to the CEO that I be laid off. This was right after my father had emergency surgery. He was in the ICU, and the bills were piling up fast. When I demanded my legally mandated severance package, Carter Price slammed his fist on the table. “Severance? You’ve got to be kidding me! If you’re leaving, you should pay back every salary you’ve ever earned. Consider it tuition for the education this company gave you!” … The day we landed the Sterling account, a wave of relief washed over the entire department. We were just starting to plan how we’d spend our commission bonuses when Carter slapped a bill on my desk with a sharp crack. “Liam,” he said, his voice slick with smug authority. “Here’s the tab for your team’s recent expenses. Settle it with finance as soon as possible.” Confused, I took the sheet of paper from him. • Utilities (HVAC): $15,000 • Bottled Water & Supplies: $5,000 • Facility Usage Fee (After Hours): $20,000 There were other miscellaneous charges, bringing the grand total to a staggering $40,000. Attached were meticulous records of our daily electricity usage and even photos of the water cooler, with the water level marked each day to calculate our consumption. After factoring in our salaries and overtime pay, we were somehow expected to pay the company $20,000 out of our own pockets. I stared at the numbers, convinced it had to be a joke. “Carter, we were working overtime to secure the single biggest client this company has seen all year. This one deal accounts for more than half of the annual revenue target. And now you want us to pay the company for the privilege?” I demanded, my voice rising. “Do you have any idea what we sacrificed? My team practically lived here for a month. Mark missed his girlfriend’s birthday for this project. Does this seem reasonable to you?” Carter shot me a condescending smirk. “For all I know, you were just using ‘overtime’ as an excuse to waste company resources,” he sneered. “I’ve seen your type before. You slack off during the day and drag out your work into the evening just to rack up some extra overtime pay.” He puffed out his chest. “Ms. Vance brought me in to instill discipline, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m putting an end to these bad habits. This company is not a charity for you to take advantage of!” Holly, the new intern, tugged at my sleeve, her eyes welling up with tears. “Liam… I promised my grandma I’d buy her an air conditioner when I got paid,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “She’s not well, and this heat… she can’t take it. Now, not only is my paycheck gone, but I owe money? Where am I going to get that kind of money? What do I do?” Carter jabbed a finger toward the young woman’s forehead, his expression dripping with disdain. “This isn’t a non-profit. Don’t think we don’t know about you Gen Z kids, always looking for new ways to fleece the company. You probably fill up your water bottles to the brim before you leave every night. Well, let me tell you, as long as I’m here, those days are over. I will not tolerate it!” My face was a cold mask. I took the bill from Holly’s shaking hands, looked Carter dead in the eye, and ripped it into tiny pieces. “We’re not paying this,” I stated flatly. “If you have a problem with that, we can take it up with Ms. Vance.” Carter was stunned. “Ms. Vance hired me at great expense to manage this company. Are you defying my authority?” I met his gaze, my voice low and steady. “I said, we are not paying. We will receive every single cent of our salaries and our overtime. If you disagree, let’s go see Diana right now and clear this up, face to face.” I had publicly humiliated him in front of the entire team. His face flushed with rage. “Liam Foster,” he seethed, “you will regret this.” He stormed off. Holly looked at me, her face pale with worry. “Liam, Ms. Vance specifically headhunted Mr. Price. If she finds out about this… are we going to be in trouble?” I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you. Besides, we just landed the Sterling account. Diana is thrilled. She’s not going to punish the team that made it happen.” Holly let out a relieved breath. Diana Vance was my girlfriend—or, she had been. We’d started this company together right out of college. After years of grinding, we finally made it. Once we were stable, she asked for the CEO title to give her a “sense of security.” I agreed, stepping back to run the sales department, continuing to build the empire for her. It wasn’t long before we were both summoned to Diana’s office. Carter was already there, standing beside her, his hair a mess, still breathing heavily from his tantrum. Diana didn’t even look at me. She just launched in, gesturing at Carter. “Liam, Carter was only thinking of the company’s bottom line! How could you undermine him in front of everyone like that? How is he supposed to manage anyone now?” she scolded. “I paid a fortune to bring him in. You need to respect his authority. You can’t just do whatever you want in a company this size!” I almost laughed. “Diana, have you lost your mind? Go ask around. Find one single company that charges its employees for working overtime. Are you trying to destroy the morale of the very people who built this place?” She glared at me. “You need rules to have order! Carter must have his reasons. Besides, if everyone starts using overtime as an excuse to freeload, how am I supposed to run a business?” I stared at her. It was like looking at a stranger. “The contract with Sterling isn’t signed yet,” I said coolly. “I can always call the client and tell them there’s no rush.” Diana panicked. “Are you threatening me? You don’t call the shots here anymore!” I rolled my eyes. “You’ve known me for seven years. What do you think?” Carter, seeing his chance, jumped in. “This is Ms. Vance’s company! How dare you speak to your boss like that?” I gave him a lazy, dismissive glance. “This is between Diana and me. Stay out of it.” He was so thoroughly shut down he couldn’t manage a single word in response. Defeated, Diana finally backed down. “Fine, Liam. You win this time. But watch yourself from now on.” I walked out of her office, a cold pit forming in my stomach. Carter caught up to me in the hallway, bumping into me hard from behind. “Oh, and Liam,” he said with a malicious grin, “I forgot to mention. To improve management, I’ve drafted a new set of regulations specifically for your department. Make sure you follow them diligently.” He thrust a thick stack of papers into my hands. My team immediately gathered around to see. “Rule #1: Clock in no later than 9:00 AM, clock out no earlier than 5:00 PM. No exceptions.” “Rule #2: Total daily restroom time not to exceed five minutes. Use of more than two squares of toilet paper per visit is prohibited.” “Rule #3: To receive any office supplies, a 2,000-word request form must be submitted for my personal approval.” “Rule #4: All leave requests must be submitted three days in advance. No request will be approved without my signature.” The list went on. Over one hundred new rules in total. The team exploded. “We’re in sales! We have client meetings all over the city. How can we possibly clock in and out at the exact same time every day?” “Five minutes for the bathroom? What if you have an upset stomach? That’s inhuman!” “And the leave policy is insane! What about emergencies? How can you plan for that three days in advance?” Carter’s smile was triumphant. “I’ve always disliked you sales types, always using ‘client meetings’ as an excuse to show up late and leave early. It’s high time you were brought into line.” He continued, savoring every word. “As for the restrooms, I’ve already had infrared timers installed on the stall doors. Every second is logged. Go over your five minutes, and you’ll be fined.” “I’m not soft like Liam. Ms. Vance has given me her full support, and I am going to teach you all some discipline!” I held up the stack of papers. “Carter, do these new rules apply to the entire company, or just to our department?” He pursed his lips. “Oh, Ms. Vance and I discussed it. We both agreed that your department has the worst discipline, so we’re starting the pilot program with you.” Just then, Holly returned from a client visit, flushed and sweating from the summer heat. “Liam, good news! The client loves our proposal and is really interested in moving forward!” she chirped, beaming. “I had to wait outside his building for two hours, but I finally caught him. God, I’m so thirsty.” She went to the water cooler and filled a large cup, downing it in one go. Carter watched her, then made a sharp checkmark in his notebook. “Holly, daily water consumption exceeding 500ml,” he announced loudly. “That’s a $150 fine.” Holly choked, sputtering water. “Mr. Price, I just had some water from the cooler! Why is that a finable offense?” Carter sneered. “It’s in the new company regulations. No employee may consume more than 500ml of company water per day. Violators will be fined.” Mark, one of our veteran salesmen, finally snapped. “Why don’t you just admit you’re targeting our department? Who the hell is going to follow these bullshit rules? I’m not putting up with this!” Carter didn’t get angry. He just smiled. “Violation of rule #35: insulting a manager. That’s another $150 fine, Mark.” Mark was stunned into silence. He opened his mouth to curse again, but I grabbed his arm and shook my head, signaling him to stop. I turned to Carter, my expression calm. “If these are the official company regulations, my department will, of course, comply with them.” Carter nodded, satisfied. “Good. Glad to see you’re finally seeing reason.” After he left, the team swarmed me. “Liam, he’s openly bullying us! How can you just take that?” “Everyone knows our department brings in most of the revenue! If he ties our hands like this, how are we supposed to close any deals?” “Let’s go to Ms. Vance! She can’t possibly let him get away with this!” I shook my head, the disappointment a bitter taste in my mouth. “It’s useless. You think Diana doesn’t know about this? She signed off on it.” Mark was furious. “Then let’s just quit! I’m not going to be treated like this!” “And then what?” I countered. “What good does quitting do right now? We all have families, mortgages, bills to pay. How are you going to support them if you can’t find another job right away?” Holly nodded slowly. “Liam’s right. So, what’s the plan? I’ll do whatever you say.” A grim smile touched my lips. “He made the rules. So, we’ll follow them. To the letter. And as for the consequences… well, that’s out of our control.” The next day, every single person in my department arrived on time. We clocked in, sat at our desks, and proceeded to do our own thing. At exactly 5:00 PM, we all clocked out and went home. Contacting clients? Impossible. What if we missed the clock-out time? For two solid weeks, our entire department enjoyed the air conditioning, played on our phones, and had a wonderfully relaxing time. Carter, however, was not relaxing. He stormed into my office, his face red with fury. “Liam! Your team is in sales! You can’t close deals sitting in the office all day! The entire company’s payroll depends on you!” I casually adjusted my new haircut. “I’d love to be out there, Carter. But you set the rules. Punctual clock-ins and clock-outs. I can’t risk being a minute late. I’m just diligently following company policy.” “You can’t go out, but you can still make calls, can’t you?” he retorted. I shook my head with an expression of sincere regret. “All that talking would make me thirsty. And the company only allows me 500ml of water a day. It’s just not enough to stay hydrated.” He ground his teeth. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you, Liam? Do you really think this company can’t function without your department?” I feigned shock. “I would never say such a thing. I’m simply abiding by the rules you put in place, Mr. Price. Isn’t this the disciplined environment you wanted to create?” He shot me a look of pure hatred and stormed out. Holly peeked in, trying to smother a laugh. “Seeing him so frustrated is the best thing ever. I bet Ms. Vance won’t be able to sit still for much longer, either.” I flicked her gently on the forehead. “Maybe, but our paychecks this month are probably going to be nonexistent. Here.” I transferred her $1,000. “Go buy that air conditioner for your grandma. The elderly can’t handle this kind of heat.” Her eyes turned red. “Liam… thank you.” “Don’t mention it,” I said, ruffling her hair. “But listen, none of you can slack off completely. Keep in touch with your clients, maintain the relationships. Just drag out the actual contract signings. Let’s see who blinks first.” Holly snapped to attention, giving me a mock salute and a playful grin. “Sir, yes sir! Mission accepted!” A month later, the company’s revenue had plummeted. It was barely a third of what it was the previous month. Diana slammed the performance report on my desk so hard it could have cracked the wood. “Liam, what the hell happened with your department this month? Why did the numbers fall off a cliff? Am I paying you all to just sit around and do nothing?” I sighed, putting on a show of helplessness. “Well, in order to comply with Mr. Price’s new regulations, my team had to strictly adhere to the clock-in and clock-out times. We couldn’t even work overtime. How are we supposed to generate revenue under those conditions?” Diana was not satisfied. “Can’t you find other ways? Stop blaming everything on Carter! A true professional doesn’t complain about their environment!” Carter, standing beside her, chimed in smugly. “Exactly. I proposed these reforms for the good of the company. I never expected Liam to use them as an excuse to stop working entirely.” I was done arguing with them. “My department followed the rules set by Mr. Price to the letter. As for the consequences, that was something I could not have predicted.” Diana clenched her jaw. “Fine. From now on, your department is exempt from the company regulations. Just close the deals. Do whatever you have to do!” Carter stomped his foot like a petulant child. “Diana, how can you just give in to him? Who runs this company, you or him? You can’t let him manipulate you like this!” Diana whispered to him, “If we don’t close some deals soon, we won’t even be able to make payroll. We’ll stabilize things first, then deal with him.” That night, I got a call from my mother. She was sobbing so hard she could barely speak. “Liam… your father… he collapsed at home. The doctors say it’s a brain hemorrhage… he needs surgery… I don’t know what to do, I’m all alone.” My heart leaped into my throat. After calming her down, I arranged for my dad to be transferred from my small hometown to a major hospital in the city. My mom’s hands trembled as she clutched mine. “Liam, this is going to cost so much money, isn’t it? The doctor said even if he pulls through, there could be permanent damage.” Her voice broke. “Maybe… maybe we should just take him home. We’ve never been able to help you with much, son. We can’t be a burden to you now.” I looked through the glass into the ICU, at my father lying motionless, hooked up to a web of tubes and machines. My heart shattered. “Mom, that’s my dad,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “I will do everything in my power to save him, no matter what. Don’t worry about the money. I’ll figure it out.” I gave her every penny of my savings. To pay for my father’s medical bills, I threw myself into my work with a desperate ferocity. After I closed several major deals in quick succession, the way Carter looked at me changed again. One evening, after my team and I had just finalized yet another big contract after hours of work, Carter called me into his office. He was practically glowing with self-satisfaction. “Liam,” he began, “Ms. Vance and I have been discussing the current market downturn. We feel it’s time to… optimize your department.” A cold dread settled in my stomach. “Optimize who?” He walked over, standing uncomfortably close. “We think it would be best for the company if you were the one to leave.” I thought I must have misheard him. “Are you out of your mind? I’m personally responsible for over half of this company’s revenue, and you want to fire me?” Carter scoffed. “Do you really think you’re that special, Liam? Without the platform this company provides, who would even take your calls? We’ll just distribute your accounts to the other team members. I bet they’ll do just as well, if not better.” He leaned in, his voice dripping with venom. “And think about it. How many times have you openly defied Ms. Vance? With a cancer like you in the office, how can we expect any other employee to respect authority?” I forced myself to remain calm. “My father is sick. I need the money. If you’re firing me, I want to hear it from Diana herself.” Carter slammed his hand on the desk. “Who do you think you are? So what if you co-founded the company? Big deal! If you can’t afford your dad’s treatment, maybe he should just go home and die! Out of humanitarian consideration, the company can send a couple of wreaths for the funeral!” I snapped. Before I even knew what I was doing, I lunged forward and struck him across the face. The sound of the slap echoed in the silent office. “Shut your filthy mouth,” I snarled. “Say one more word, and I will rip it off your face.” He was stunned for a second, then raised his hand to hit me back. I kicked his leg out from under him, sending him sprawling to the floor. Just as he was struggling to get up, Diana burst into the room. She rushed to Carter’s side, helping him up with a look of frantic concern before turning on me, her eyes blazing. “Are you insane? You can’t just attack people! If anything happens to Carter, I’ll hold you responsible!” In that moment, whatever was left of my heart turned to ice. “My father is in the hospital, and you haven’t even bothered to visit once. Now this piece of trash wishes him dead, and you’re defending him?” Diana shot back, “Your father is sick, but I’m not a doctor! What good would my visiting do? Carter is my hire. It’s my job to protect him!” I stood there in silence for a long time, the weight of her betrayal crushing me. Finally, I made my decision. “Fine. You can fire me. But I want my severance.” Before the words were even out of my mouth, Carter shrieked from behind Diana. “Impossible! You won’t get a single penny! Now get the hell out of this company!” I leveled a cold glare at him. “On what grounds? The law entitles me to it. Who are you to deny me my legal rights?” Carter’s face was contorted with rage. “Not only will you get no severance,” he roared, “but you’re going to pay back every salary you’ve ever earned! This company trained you! It’s the tuition you owe for the privilege of working here!”

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I followed a niche but incredibly heartwarming couple’s blog. It was a simple, intimate chronicle of a woman’s life with her boyfriend. The little moments. They’d bicker over sharing a single bowl of pasta, then laugh and call each other a child who’d never grow up. They’d hold each other tight under a canopy of stars on some remote hilltop, wishing time would freeze in that perfect moment. The blogger never showed her face, but her words created a world I fell in love with. Until yesterday, the day before my wedding, when the account updated one last time. 【A decade of love ends here.】 【From this day forward, he will be her husband. And I will only be her maid of honor.】 【This account will no longer be updated. Wishing my best friend, and the man she loves most, a lifetime of happiness.】 The accompanying photo was a picture of my fiancé and me, our backs turned to the camera. 1 The photo was from last week, at the bridal boutique. I remember Clara fussing with my veil, chattering away as she adjusted the delicate lace. In the mirror, her smile was wider and brighter than my own, as if she were the one about to walk down the aisle. “Zoe, you look stunning,” she’d said, her voice suddenly thick with emotion. “Nathan is the luckiest guy on the planet.” Nathan was standing a short distance away, his head bowed over his phone. At the sound of his name, he looked up and offered us a warm smile. But even then, I sensed a flicker of something strained behind his eyes. “You’re exaggerating,” I laughed, taking Clara’s hand. “If you hadn’t dragged me here, I probably would’ve just bought a dress online.” “Absolutely not!” Clara’s eyes went wide. “My absolute favorite person in the world only gets one wedding! We can’t just ‘wing it’!” She turned to Nathan. “Isn’t that right?” Nathan pocketed his phone and walked over, his arm settling naturally around my shoulders. “Why would you ever do that? My Zoe looks beautiful in everything.” His eyes scanned my dress, full of admiration. “But this one… this one is perfect for you.” Just before we left to scout locations for the photoshoot, Clara snapped a picture of us from behind. The click of the shutter was loud in the quiet boutique. When I turned to look, she just smiled and said she wanted a candid shot for memory’s sake. The night before the wedding was my bachelorette party. I got utterly wasted, and Clara, as always, was there to take care of me. When Nathan arrived to pick me up, she was gently dabbing my forehead with a cool, damp cloth. “I’ve got her,” she told him, blocking the doorway. “This is her last night of freedom. The groom-to-be isn’t allowed to interfere.” Nathan just stood there, not making a move to come inside. His gaze was fixed on Clara, his expression unreadable, complex. I was slumped on the sofa, watching them through a drunken haze. “Nathan…” I murmured his name. Only then did his eyes shift to me. He crossed the room and gathered me into his arms. “Why’d you drink so much?” Clara laughed brightly. “She’s happy, of course! She’s getting married.” “Zoe said back in college that if she ever got married, she’d get completely hammered at her bachelorette party. Tonight, her dream came true.” I did say that, I remembered vaguely. We were watching some cheesy romance movie in our dorm room. We’d promised then and there that we would be each other’s maid of honor. That promise held, even after I started dating Nathan. He lifted me carefully into his arms. “Thanks for looking after her,” he said to Clara. “It’s my duty,” Clara’s voice dropped, suddenly low. “After all… this is the last time.” I was too drunk to catch the chilling finality in her words. It wasn’t until the next morning, when I woke up alone in my hotel room and saw the notification on my phone, that it all came crashing down. I groggily tapped on the post from the blog I followed. In that single, heart-stopping moment, the hangover pounding in my head vanished, replaced by a chilling clarity. 2 I’d found the account by pure chance. I was scrolling through my phone one night when the app suggested a local user to follow. The profile picture was a character from an anime I loved. Curious, I clicked. The account only had a few thousand followers. The latest post was from three days prior. It was a photo of a desk late at night, piled with work. The caption read: 【Working late again. He said he’d stay hungry with me, but ended up ordering us both takeout. That idiot.】 I found myself scrolling down, drawn in. 【He said I wasn’t eating enough and insisted on giving me the steak out of his own bowl. I told him I didn’t like it, and he just laughed and called me a picky kid.】 【Stargazing on the mountain tonight. He said he wished time could just stop right here. Me too.】 【Caught a cold, so he skipped work to take care of me. He can’t cook to save his life, but he tried to make me soup. It was burnt, but it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.】 … Reading through their story, my heart ached with a strange sense of longing. The quiet, ordinary moments, the tender details—it was the kind of love I had always dreamed of. I wanted to leave a comment, to wish them well, but comments were disabled. So I just hit ‘Follow.’ But now I knew. In every single one of their cherished memories, I was the oblivious third wheel. She said they had been in love for ten years. Nathan and I had been together for ten years. Clara and I had been friends for twenty. She moved in next door when we were ten. The first time we met, she had her hair in pigtails and handed me a strawberry lollipop. “I’m Clara,” she’d said. “We’re going to be friends now!” From grade school through college, we were inseparable. She knew all my secrets. She was there for every milestone. Sophomore year of college, I met Nathan. He was the star of the architecture department. The line of girls trying to get his attention stretched from the lecture hall to the athletic field. I was just… me. Plain, unremarkable. I never imagined he’d even notice I existed. “What are you afraid of?” Clara had encouraged me. “You’re the most brilliant girl in the Liberal Arts college. Want me to get his number for you?” Somehow, it worked. Nathan and I started dating. The first person I told was Clara. She spun me around in a hug, more excited than I was. “Yes! My girl finally got her man!” I know, in that moment, she was genuinely happy for me. There’s that joke online, that a best friend is like a second mother-in-law to a boyfriend. No matter how great he is, he’ll never be good enough for her precious girl. That was Clara. She was thrilled for me, but the first time she actually met Nathan, she looked at him like he was something she’d scraped off her shoe. Nathan and I were on a date at the campus dining hall. I’d done my makeup, picked a nice outfit. Clara had just pulled an all-nighter for a group project. She showed up with dark circles under her eyes, her hair greasy, wearing stained pajamas and flip-flops. She shoved past Nathan and plopped down next to me. He blinked, stunned, and moved to the seat across from us. Clara’s eyes raked over him, her face a mask of pure disgust. “This is him? Sweetie, I think I was wrong to be happy for you. Maybe you should reconsider?” She was merciless. Nathan’s face tightened. Later, when I asked him what he thought of my best friend, he just scoffed. “She’s… something.” I remember laughing and playfully hitting his arm. “She’s my best friend, and you’re the man I love. You two have to get along.” After graduation, Nathan and I rented a small apartment together. Clara was over constantly, crashing on our couch whenever it got too late. “You know,” she joked once, “with you two like this, it feels like I’m your adopted daughter.” Nathan would play along, putting on a stern fatherly face. “Alright then, sweet daughter, stop freeloading and go do the dishes.” The apartment was always filled with our laughter. I never imagined that our happy little world was a mirage, built on a foundation of lies. 3 I stumbled into the bathroom, splashing my face with cold water again and again, but the frantic pounding in my chest wouldn’t stop. Tomorrow was my wedding. The invitations were sent. The venue was booked. My dress was hanging in the closet. Everything was ready. My hand trembled as I tried to call Nathan. Once. Twice. Three times. No answer. I stared at the screen for a long time before, like a puppet on a string, my fingers dialed Clara’s number. The same automated message. The person you are calling is unavailable. My heart plummeted into a black abyss. I couldn’t understand. When they were together, hiding from me, enjoying their secret world… did they ever feel a single shred of guilt? Or was it just a thrill, the cheap high of a clandestine affair? I knew Clara was a travel blogger, documenting her every move across a dozen different platforms. And I knew people in social media always had countless alt accounts. I searched the hotel’s name, filtering by IP address, and scrolled through hundreds of posts. Finally, I found it. An account named OnlyTheUnlovedAreHomewreckers. The latest photo was of a man’s hands, the long, elegant fingers popping a bottle of champagne. On his wrist was the watch I’d given him for his birthday last year. It was Nathan. The caption was a single, devastating line: 【Stolen moments. Every second is a countdown.】 The comments were a mix of people cheering for their “true love” and others calling her out for being a homewrecker. Shaking, I clicked on the profile. This account was the polar opposite of the sweet, private blog. This one had over a hundred thousand followers, and it had been active for years. On this account, she had documented the story of the three of us. The very first post dripped with passive-aggressive venom. 【If I knew the campus heartthrob was this easy, I would’ve gone for him myself. Can’t believe my best friend actually pulled it off.】 【And she didn’t even tell me they were on a date. Did she have to make me show up in my pajamas with no makeup on, just so she could look better? So annoying.】 Someone in the comments joked, “Sounds like fake friends lol,” and she’d replied with a smirking emoji. When I got sick with the flu and Nathan came over to take care of me, she wrote: 【Someone’s a real princess. Just a little fever and she needs a babysitter.】 【A blessing in disguise, though. It gave him and me some time alone. She’s surprisingly good at creating opportunities for us~】 In the corners I couldn’t see, they had already built their own world. Clara posted: 【We both added each other on our private accounts without even discussing it. Is that what you call being on the same wavelength?】 Attached were screenshots of their chats, names blurred out. They talked about music, about their dreams—all the things Nathan thought were beyond my understanding. Clara was always there with the perfect compliment, the perfect validation. Talking to you is just so easy, he’d told her. For Valentine’s Day, Clara made him artisanal chocolates and mailed them to his office. She refused his offer of a gift in return, saying she didn’t want him to spend money on her. He was so touched. You’re such a special girl, he’d messaged her. They carefully maintained their plausible deniability. Every post came with a disclaimer, a nod to our friendship. He gave her a gift to thank her for taking care of me. He took her to dinner to test out a restaurant for my birthday. In her narrative, I was the spoiled, clueless girlfriend. The demanding princess. And under that flimsy cover, they reveled in the illicit thrill of their betrayal. 4 For Clara’s birthday, I bought her the limited-edition designer handbag she’d been coveting for months. The next day, she “ran into” Nathan at a coffee shop, carrying the new bag. She posted a selfie where he was “accidentally” captured in the background. She posted a photo from a movie we all saw together, of their hands secretly clasped over the armrest in the dark. The day Nathan proposed to me, Clara wrote a long, soul-baring post about her pain and her refusal to give up. 【Tonight, I need an answer,】 she wrote. 【If he loves me too, he can’t let this happen.】 She got her answer. That night, when she kissed him, Nathan didn’t pull away. They made a pact: one last wild, secret vacation together before the wedding. So Nathan told me he had to go on a week-long business trip. A wave of nausea washed over me. What overtime? What business dinners? All of it—all of it was just an excuse for their trysts. During that week, Clara’s blog was a flurry of activity. She was going to overwrite all of my memories with Nathan, she wrote, so that his future would be filled with nothing but her shadow. Like a form of self-torture, I watched every update. The same restaurants, the same hotels, the same hiking trails. The same scenery, but with a different woman by his side. I watched, first with the agony of a knife to the heart, then with a creeping numbness, and finally, with a strange sense of the absurd. I realized that once your heart truly dies, even hatred feels like a waste of energy. As dawn approached, I made a decision. The wedding had to be canceled. I opened my laptop and started drafting an email to our guests. Each keystroke was a fresh stab of pain. Ten years of love, twenty years of friendship, all turned to ash in a single night. Before I could hit send, my phone rang. It was Clara. “Zoe? Why are you calling so early?” Her voice was cheerful, completely normal. “You’re about to be the most beautiful bride in the world! You can’t be pulling an all-nighter.” I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Sensing something was wrong, her tone shifted to one of concern. “Zoe? Are you okay? Are you just having some pre-wedding jitters?” She continued, her voice laced with feigned indignation. “Where’s that idiot Nathan? Why isn’t he with you? Don’t tell me he’s not answering his phone again because of ‘work’.” “God, that boy. If you weren’t getting married tomorrow, I’d call him right now and chew him out for you!” The irony was suffocating. Just hours ago, she had posted her dramatic farewell, and now she was comforting me with the practiced ease of a devoted friend. “I’m… I’m fine,” I finally managed to choke out. “Just a little nervous. I suddenly wanted to hear your voice.” “…You silly girl,” she laughed softly. “Don’t worry. Everything will be perfect tomorrow, I promise.” “Right now, the only thing you need to do is get some sleep. I’ll handle everything else.” Suddenly, I heard a man’s muffled gasp from her end of the line. It was Nathan’s voice. I fought back the tears that were burning my eyes. “Clara,” I asked, my voice dangerously calm, “is there anything you’ve been hiding from me?” There was a beat of stunned silence on the other end, followed by a frantic, clumsy denial. “What are you talking about, Zoe? What’s wrong?” “Put your phone on speaker,” I said. Clara hesitated, but then I heard the tell-tale echo. “Clara. Nathan.” My voice was clear and steady, without a trace of a tremor. “I’m calling off the wedding.” “And I wish you two all the happiness you deserve.”

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During the earthquake, I shielded my son with my body. My husband arrived but only had time to save our son. By the time rescuers reached me, my limbs were irreparably crushed, leaving me dependent on their care. Years later, my son handed me a document to sever our ties. “No one will marry me with you as a burden,” he said coldly. My husband added, “You saved him—will you let your condition ruin his life?” Heartbroken, I signed and left alone. Later, while scavenging in my wheelchair, I saw them—my husband, son, and his first love—a happy family. I overheard the truth: my husband had deliberately not saved me to be with her. My son chirped, “Good thing we got rid of Mom so Aunt Lily could be my new mom.” I died from the betrayal, but when I opened my eyes, I was back under the rubble with my son. 1 “Mom, where are you going? Come back and protect me!” My son, pinned beneath the debris, watched in wide-eyed horror as I started to crawl away on my own. I didn’t look back. I just kept crawling. In my last life, I had used my body as a shield for him, creating a small pocket of survival. My reward was being cast out like trash. The image of him fawning over Lily, his arm wrapped around hers, was burned into my mind. My own son, who could look at me with such venom as he forced me to sign away my rights as his mother, could smile so sweetly at another woman. What was the point of saving a son like that? I glanced back one last time at his desperate, helpless face, then turned and scrambled towards a makeshift supply point set up by other survivors. “Please, help!” I cried, my face a mask of panic. “Save my son!” As they were disinfecting my wounds with alcohol, a familiar figure stumbled toward the wreckage. I froze. Mark. My husband. He raced toward the spot where our son was trapped. Ignoring the gash on his own arm, he frantically pulled the boy free. Our son, Caleb, sobbed hysterically in his arms. Mark glanced at the unstable pile of rubble I had just escaped from. He hesitated for only a second, then kicked out the last, splintered support beam holding up a massive concrete slab. My breath caught in my throat. So, in my past life, the slab collapsing after Caleb was saved… it wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate. I finally understood the deep-seated resentment they both held for me. I was supposed to have died under that rubble. By some fluke, I had only lost my limbs and survived. And I, like a fool, had believed Mark simply didn’t have time to save me. I had even comforted him, told him I didn’t blame him… It felt like a hand was squeezing my throat, cutting off my air. I watched as Mark kicked out the last support, then clutched our son and ran in the opposite direction. I knew where he was going. That was where Lily was buried. In the distance, a news van pulled up, and reporters with cameras started running our way. I quickly squeezed out a few tears and collapsed to the ground with a dramatic wail. 2 When Mark emerged with Lily, his rescue uniform was torn to shreds. It was obvious the situation where she had been trapped was far more dangerous. I saw them from a distance and let out a cold, bitter laugh. In my last life, Mark had defied official orders and rushed to the disaster site first. I thought he was coming for me and our son. Now I knew the truth. He came because his precious first love was buried here. Caleb, though he only came up to Lily’s waist, clutched at her clothes, trying his best to support her. Mark held Lily close, his voice soft and gentle. “It’s okay. The main rescue team is almost here. As soon as they arrive, I’ll have them take you to the best hospital nearby.” A bitter sting filled my eyes. Is this how he had cared for Lily in my past life, while I was left for dead under the rubble? “Ma’am, could you please repeat that? Who was the rescuer in the uniform who was just here?” a reporter asked, microphone extended. My eyes were red from crying. I stood before the camera and turned to look at the approaching trio. “That’s my husband,” I sobbed. “And the woman he ran off to save… is his first love.” “Sarah?” At the sound of my voice, Mark’s head snapped up. He looked from me to the collapsed rubble where Caleb and I had been, his face a mask of disbelief. “You… how are you…” “How am I still alive? Is that what you want to ask?” I cried, gasping for breath. “Reporters, do you see that broken beam over there? My husband kicked it out! After he pulled our son out, he destroyed the only thing holding up the slab. He never intended for me to get out of there alive!” I was sobbing so hard a reporter had to steady me. “Ma’am, please calm down. Take a breath and tell us what happened.” I choked back a sob. “I thought he just didn’t have time to save me! If there hadn’t been another small opening on the other side, I would have been crushed to death by him! I thought he disobeyed orders and rushed here for us, for his family. But it was for her! Captain Miller, if you wanted to be with your first love, you could have just told me! Why did you have to try and kill me?” My words sent the reporters into a frenzy. Camera flashes exploded in our faces. Mark’s first instinct was to shield Lily’s eyes from the blinding light. Then he turned to me, his brow furrowed in anger. “Sarah! What the hell are you talking about? Do you have any idea what you’re doing to Lily’s reputation?” I pointed a trembling finger at him. “You see? You see that? His first instinct is to protect her!” The crowd of survivors and onlookers erupted. “Look at his uniform, he’s a first responder! He ignored orders, and when he got here, he saved his old flame instead of his own wife?” “Lily? That name sounds familiar. Isn’t she some kind of minor internet celebrity?” “I found her! Yeah, she’s an influencer! And there’s some drama… let’s see… caught going into a hotel with a male fan late at night, confronted by his wife during a live stream…” Someone threw a rotten egg, splattering across Lily’s perfectly made-up face. “Slut! How many married men have you slept with?” “And you!” another person yelled at Mark. “You treat this trash like a treasure and leave your own wife to die? Scum!” “Reporters! Get a close-up! She wants to be famous, right? Let’s give her some attention!” Lily shrieked and buried her face in Mark’s chest. “It’s not true! I didn’t do it!” The cameras swarmed them. In this situation, the smart thing for Mark to do, especially in his uniform, would have been to step away. But after a moment’s hesitation, he pulled Lily behind him, shielding her with his body as the cameras captured his every move. He glared at me. “Sarah, tell them the truth, now! Are you trying to ruin an innocent person’s life?” Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed for the cameras. “An innocent person? You call the woman you abandoned me to save innocent?” “That’s right! You left your wife, and you think you’re in the right?” a bystander shouted. “Get them! Beat the scumbag and the homewrecker!” “Don’t you dare touch my daddy!” Caleb launched himself forward, standing in front of Mark. His small body radiated a surprising amount of force. “My daddy and Aunt Lily are innocent! Don’t let my mommy fool you! She’s a liar!” He pointed at me. “She’s not the poor victim you think she is! Just a little while ago, she left me under the rubble all by myself and crawled out to save her own skin. I was crying so loud, and she didn’t even look back! If my daddy hadn’t come and saved me, I’d be dead right now!” The crowd fell silent. 3 Mark seized the opportunity. “That’s right. When I arrived, my wife was already gone from the site. I kicked that beam to eliminate a potential hazard, not to harm her like she claims!” His eyes reddened, and the sight of a strong man looking so wronged was enough to sway some people. “We’re husband and wife. Caleb is our son. If she had still been in there, don’t you think my own son would have told me? It was only because I confirmed she was safe that I took action.” “As for saving Ms. Hayes,” he continued, gesturing to Lily, “it was because I couldn’t find my wife, and someone else needed help. But I never imagined… Sarah, I never imagined you would slander me like this.” The crowd’s eyes widened, and their suspicious gazes turned on me. One of the survivors nodded. “That’s right. When she came running over here, her son wasn’t with her. He must not have been rescued yet.” “So you’re a mother who abandoned her own child?” “If you were still under there, your son would have told his dad. He must have said you were gone.” Now, the cameras were all pointed at me. “We almost fell for it! Slandering a first responder! How could you do that to your own husband and child?” “You ditch your son and then get mad when your husband saves someone else? You’re unbelievable!” Rotten vegetables rained down on me. Someone threw a bucket of dirty water. The flashing lights hurt my eyes, and real tears began to fall. In my past life, when I was still under the rubble, my son hadn’t said a word. And the beam still broke. But that was a memory from another life. No one would believe me if I told them. So instead, I collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain. “Oh my god! Look at her back! It’s covered in blood!” “Quick, get some bandages!” The woman who had given me alcohol earlier rushed to my side. My eyes were red as I looked into the cameras. “I never thought… I never thought that running out to find help for my son, without even tending to my own injuries, would be twisted into me abandoning him,” I cried out. “If I really wanted to leave him, why would I have shielded him with my own body… Ah!” The woman poured alcohol on my back, and I screamed in agony. She comforted me while telling the reporters, “It’s true! When she came to us, all she said was ‘save my son.’ If I hadn’t forced her to sit down and get treated, she would have bled out!” The alcohol stung my wounds. Every movement sent a fresh wave of excruciating pain through me. The accusations from the crowd died down. Everyone watched as the wounded mother twitched in agony, their faces filled with pity. Caleb looked at my back, a flicker of remorse in his eyes, before he turned away and muttered, “Serves you right. I never asked you to protect me.” His voice was quiet, but someone heard him. “What did you just say, you little brat?” “See? I told you! A heartless father and a heartless son! Get them! Don’t let them get away! We have to expose these scumbags!” “That’s right! Post it online so everyone knows what they’re really like!” “What are you doing? You can’t do this!” Mark instinctively protected Lily, but that only enraged the crowd further. “He’s still protecting the other woman! Get them! Don’t let any of them go, big or small!” I was helped to the side, just outside the circle of chaos, and watched them through red-rimmed eyes. A small, almost imperceptible smile touched my lips. I wasn’t someone who couldn’t handle pain. In my past life, I hadn’t made a sound when all four of my limbs were being crushed. Mark, oh Mark, I thought. How do you like my acting? Just as the three of them were being shoved and pushed around, a powerful voice roared, “Stop!” I turned my head quickly. A man in a sharp suit was getting out of a black sedan nearby. A helicopter was descending, and rescue personnel were rappelling to the ground. “What is all this commotion?” The middle-aged man in the suit stood in front of Mark, facing the crowd, but his eyes were fixed on me. “Even if he has done something wrong, it should be handled by the law. Since when can you lynch someone just because another person shed a few tears?” I clenched my fists. It was Mark’s mentor, the powerful backer of his family—Arthur Tang. 4 “Sir, you don’t understand. This man tried to kill his own wife, and he…” “I will personally investigate this matter,” Arthur interrupted. “I promise you will all get a satisfactory answer.” He cut through the crowd. “I’m taking him in for questioning now. Please, trust me.” With that, he escorted Mark, Caleb, and Lily away from the volatile scene. Before getting in the car, Lily looked back at me from the safety of Mark’s arms. Her lips were curved in a triumphant, smug smile. I spent a few days in the hospital. As soon as I was discharged, I received an invitation from Arthur Tang. “Sarah, let’s let this whole thing go,” he said, pushing a stack of cash across the table. “I know you’re angry, and I’ve already disciplined Mark. You’ve been married for years. It’s not worth blowing up over something so small. I’ve looked into it. It was all a misunderstanding.” I looked at the twenty thousand dollars and sneered. Mark was one of his protégés, someone he was grooming for a position by his side. This rescue team stint was just a way to pad Mark’s resume, to give it some shine. But I wasn’t going to let that happen. “I will not let Mark get away with this,” I said, pushing the money back. “I know exactly what kind of man he is, Mr. Tang. I will never let a person like that succeed.” Arthur’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint in them. “Ms. Jones, don’t push your luck. You’re an orphan. Be careful you don’t end up with nothing. That job you have… you worked very hard to get it, didn’t you?” My brow furrowed. He smirked, stood up, paid the bill, and left. My heart sank. As I suspected, Mark would be cleared of all wrongdoing, and then he would be promoted, just like in my previous life. I took out my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t called in years. “Hello, Grandpa Lou? You once told me I could come to you if I ever needed help. Does that offer still stand?” 5 At Mark’s promotion celebration, it was Lily who stood by his side. I was just passing by when I saw the press event and the promotional posters. I stopped in my tracks. Reporters with cameras swarmed around Mark and Lily, who was holding Caleb’s hand. Lily, dressed in an elegant designer outfit, waved gracefully at the cameras. “We were just doing what anyone would have done,” she said modestly. I heard someone nearby sigh. “Now this is the kind of role model we should be celebrating! So much better than all that celebrity gossip.” “Exactly! Mr. Miller saved so many people in the disaster zone, and his wife, Mrs. Miller, worked tirelessly behind the scenes for three whole months!” “And to think someone tried to ruin their reputation! What kind of person does that? They must be either stupid or evil. Probably a foreign agent!” I froze. “Mrs. Miller worked behind the scenes for three months?” “Yeah! Don’t you watch the news?” “But… I never saw her there.” After I recovered from my injuries, I had returned to the disaster zone and served as the temporary head of the logistics department. I was constantly moving between the front lines and the rear, ensuring that rescuers and victims got the supplies they needed immediately. In those three months, I hadn’t seen Lily, or even Mark, at the front. “You don’t know? You obviously don’t care about the relief efforts. Mrs. Miller was the temporary head of the logistics department!” I was stunned. “But… I was the temporary head of logistics…” “Wait a minute… aren’t you the woman from the news? The one who tried to destroy their reputations?” someone pointed at me. My brow furrowed. I understood immediately. This was Arthur Tang’s doing. Slandering those who didn’t cooperate with him was his signature move. “It’s her!” another person shouted. “The news said she was the one who pretended to be Mrs. Miller and orchestrated the online harassment campaign against them!” “You! You have the nerve to show your face? We were wondering where you’d gone! How dare you slander a hero! You must have a death wish!”

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The city’s underworld knew Damian Thorne as a “mad dog”—a ruthless arms dealer infamous for holding bloodied daggers to throats during poker games. His one known weakness was a preference for women with hourglass figures. His upcoming wedding was to Nina, the beautiful illegitimate daughter of a wealthy family. When my fiancé Caleb heard, he disappeared for three days. I found him confiding in his right-hand man: “Get our men on the escort team for the wedding. No matter what, make sure Nina ends up in my car instead of Damian’s.” Caleb’s voice was strained. “You know his reputation—no woman leaves him unharmed.” His man murmured, “The route is set. But… what about Miss Reed? If Damian finds out you switched brides—” Caleb cut him off with a scornful laugh. “Is he crazy enough to touch my woman? After things settle, I’ll divorce Nina and give Evelyn a grand wedding to make it up to her.” I stood frozen outside, a cold realization washing over me. The boy I’d loved was gone, replaced by a stranger. I would follow his plan. I would play my part. But when the switch was made, I knew it would be Caleb, not me, who would be brought to his knees. As Caleb finished speaking, the soft sound of a woman’s sobs echoed from the private room. Only then did I realize Nina Vance was with them. She was curled up on a leather sofa, her eyes red-rimmed, looking like a startled little rabbit. “Caleb… I’m not worth you taking such a huge risk… Damian will kill you…” He gently wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb, his voice softer and more tender than I had ever heard it. “I’ve been in this game a long time, Nina. When have I ever been afraid?” A low chuckle escaped him as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his lap. “If you really feel that guilty… you can pay me back by giving me a few kids in the future.” The room erupted in a chorus of whoops and whistles. Nina’s face flushed a deep crimson as she buried her face in his chest. “But… what about Miss Reed… Evelyn…” “Evelyn?” Caleb scoffed. “She’s head over heels for me. Even if she finds out, a few sweet words and she’ll be fine.” His men chimed in, their voices loud and confident. “The boss is right! We all grew up with her. She’s seen knives pulled on her and didn’t even flinch, but when it comes to Caleb, she’s a total pushover!” “Tell her to go east, and she’d never dare go west. A little thing like this won’t even register.” “Exactly. Everyone knows she’s been dying to marry the boss for years.” “Man, Caleb, you’ve got it made. You get the sweet and gentle Nina first, with the elegant and noble Miss Reed waiting in the wings. So, which one do you love more?” Caleb didn’t answer. Instead, he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a small velvet box. Inside lay an emerald bracelet, a stunning piece of jewelry with a deep, translucent green that seemed to glow from within. It was the Thorne family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation to the eldest son’s bride. With everyone watching, he fastened it around Nina’s slender wrist. An unspoken vow, louder than any words he could have uttered. Nina gasped, trying to pull her hand away, but he held it firm. “You’re the one who’ll be standing at the altar with me. You should be the one to wear it.” Then, his fingers tracing the cool surface of the gems, he added in a low voice, “Just don’t let Evelyn see it for now. She’s obedient, but she’s sharp. She might get suspicious.” I stood in the hallway, watching the emerald gleam a ghostly green in the dim light, and a silent, bitter laugh escaped me. Caleb’s mother had placed that very bracelet in my hands on her deathbed. It was a century-old symbol of the Thorne family legacy. Because we weren’t officially married yet, I’d felt it wasn’t my place to wear it. I kept it locked in a safe, taking it out every day just to look at it. Three days ago, Caleb had come to my apartment late at night, telling me he needed the bracelet for a pre-wedding ritual. I had opened the safe for him myself. I never imagined the “ritual” was to bestow his family’s honor upon another woman. I turned and fled, stumbling out of the club and into a torrential downpour. Fat, cold raindrops hammered against my skin, the shock of it throwing my mind back seven years, to another storm-swept night. My family, the Reeds, and the Thornes were allies, our fathers bound by blood oaths. When the Thornes fell on hard times, my father secretly supported them, keeping their family afloat. But that loyalty cost us everything. The night the Thorne’s rivals came for us, my mother hid me in the cellar. Through a crack in the door, I watched them torture and slaughter my parents. My father’s blood dripped onto my face, staining my world crimson. When the Thorne reinforcements finally arrived, Caleb was the first to find me. I was a feral animal, biting and kicking, my nails digging into the flesh of his arms, carving bloody furrows. He didn’t seem to feel the pain, his arms like iron bands around me, refusing to let go until I finally collapsed into darkness. Afterward, the Thorne family patriarch, Elias, out of gratitude for my father’s sacrifice, took me in and raised me as his own. From that day on, Caleb was my shadow. He pulled me, piece by piece, from the nightmare of my past. I depended on him for everything. I went to school with him, trained with him, and stood by his side through every bloody battle and back-alley war. I always believed we would be together forever. I never dreamed that the person standing beside him in the end would be someone else. Fine. If this was what he wanted, I would give it to him. When Caleb emerged from the club, the rain was still coming down in sheets. I had been waiting for him in the lobby. He spotted me instantly, dropping his arm from around Nina’s waist and darting behind me. He covered my eyes with his hands, a game we used to play when we were kids. “Guess who.” I pulled his hands away. “Not funny.” He chuckled, draping his arm casually around my shoulders, his thumb stroking my cheek. “Wow, getting brave, aren’t we? Weren’t you worried it was some creep trying to hit on you?” I didn’t answer, my gaze sweeping over the crowd of his men behind him, and over Nina. They all grinned and called out, “Hey, future Mrs. Thorne!” completely unconcerned that I might have witnessed the scene inside. They all knew. When it came to Caleb, I always gave in. Caleb shifted, blocking Nina from my view. “Were you waiting for me?” I nodded. “The rain’s too heavy. I was just taking shelter.” He took my hand, his warm palms rubbing mine to chase away the damp chill. “You know that limited edition Tiffany diamond bracelet you wanted? I made a special trip to the coast to get it for you. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” “Where is it?” I asked, my voice flat. His eyes flickered involuntarily towards Nina. “It, uh… it had to be custom-ordered. I had them change the design a bit. It probably won’t be ready until after the wedding.” I forced a tight smile and said nothing. While we were waiting for the car, Nina let out a sudden cry. The bracelet on her wrist had snagged on a decorative plant stand. She gave it a sharp tug. The delicate chain snapped, and the bracelet clattered to the marble floor, diamonds scattering like ice chips. It was the exact one I had dreamed of. The one he’d just lied about. A global limited edition of three. I’d mentioned it to him so many times. He’d never paid it any mind. And now, here it was, on another woman’s wrist. Nina frantically knelt to pick up the pieces, slicing her finger on a sharp shard of a shattered diamond. “Ah—” A bead of blood welled up. Instantly, Caleb let go of me and rushed to her side. “Why are you so careless!” He shrugged off his suit jacket, draping it over her shoulders before pulling off his tie and wrapping it tightly around her bleeding finger. That tie had been my birthday gift to him. He loved it, always had it professionally cleaned and pressed. Now, it was stained with her blood. He caught me staring, and a flicker of guilt crossed his face. “Evelyn, I’ve got to get Nina to a doctor. Wait here, I’ll be right back for you.” Before I could answer, he was already helping her into his car, half-carrying her. One of his men tried to smooth things over. “Nina helped the boss out once, you know how it is. Don’t worry about it… We can give you a ride home?” I shook my head and told them to go on without me. I just wanted to see. I wanted to see if Caleb would actually come back. The sky darkened, and the hours ticked by. He never returned. It was only when the Patriarch himself called, demanding to know where I was, that I finally went home. He burst into the villa early the next morning, looking relieved to find me at the breakfast table. “Evelyn, I’m so sorry. The car got a flat tire on the way back last night. We were in a dead zone, no cell signal… I couldn’t get back to you.” I didn’t hear a word he said. My eyes were fixed on the angry red mark on his neck, a mark that was impossible to mistake. As if to tear away the last shred of our pretense, I reached out to touch it. He flinched back, his hand instinctively flying up to tug the silk scarf he was wearing higher on his neck. “Looks weird, right? The Old Man is convinced my luck has been bad lately. He’s making me wear this thing for protection. Won’t let me take it off.” He had a tell when he lied—a subtle tightening of his lips. I lowered my gaze, my nails digging into my palms, the sharp pain a welcome distraction from the burn behind my eyes. “It doesn’t really suit you. Take it off, I’ll tie it again for you.” “No!” He almost jumped, his reaction far too strong. He quickly changed the subject. “Hey, didn’t you say the veil for the wedding was missing a main diamond? Let’s go pick one out today.” He strode quickly to the car, waiting for me. A bitter laugh escaped my lips as a single tear traced a path down my cheek. When I came downstairs, dressed to go out, the scarf was tied securely, hiding everything. The car had barely pulled up to the curb in front of the city’s most exclusive jeweler when we heard shouting from inside. I glanced up at the second-floor VIP lounge. Through the plate-glass window, I saw her again. Nina. Her face was streaked with tears as a group of wealthy socialites surrounded her, shoving her back and forth. Caleb’s hands clenched into fists, his jaw tight as he stared up at the scene. But he didn’t move. Instead, he looked at me. I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to go up there and save her. It wasn’t the first time. Nina had been a dancer since she was a child. She had the body for it, and she knew exactly how to play the victim, making her irresistible to the men in our circle. They called her the “Midnight Rose,” and more than a few debutantes had despised her for years. Once, she was pushed into a pool, and it was Caleb who dove in to rescue her. After that, whenever she found herself in trouble, Caleb was there. And for the situations he couldn’t step into himself, he sent me. When the news broke that the fearsome Damian Thorne intended to marry her, the jealousy of the other women boiled over. These women had done everything to catch Damian’s eye—plastic surgery, brutal workout regimens, anything to fit his supposed “type.” “Are you deaf? Take off the dress! I want to see for myself what kind of body can bewitch the great Damian Thorne.” “Please, ladies, don’t do this… there are people watching…” Nina pleaded, her voice trembling. “Stop acting so innocent! You think Damian hasn’t seen it? How else would he know what you’ve got?” “If he can look, why can’t we?” “Are you going to take it off, or are we going to do it for you?” Just as they backed her into a corner, Caleb gave me a slight push. “Evelyn, go!” I stumbled forward, nearly losing my balance. He didn’t even notice, his eyes still glued to Nina. A self-mocking smile touched my lips as I turned and headed for the stairs. The moment she saw me, Nina expertly ducked behind me, her voice shaking. “Miss Reed, help me…” I shot a cold look at the women in front of us. “You’re going to publicly humiliate her and force her to strip? Not worried about ending up on the front page tomorrow?” The ringleader, a girl named Chloe Sterling, just smirked. “Evelyn, we’re just curious. And you should be careful. She’s not as innocent as she looks.” “Yeah, Evelyn,” another one chimed in. “I saw Caleb taking her to a hotel just the other day. Aren’t you the least bit suspicious?” Nina shook her head violently. “No! Evelyn, don’t listen to them! It’s all lies!” As she spoke, she clutched my arm, her grip like a vise, subtly pulling me backward. I tried to shake her off, but she held on tight. “Lies? Or are you just too scared to admit it!” “I saw you both going in yesterday—” Before the girl could finish, in the split second I tried to wrench my arm free, Nina let out a piercing scream and threw herself backward, tumbling over the railing to the floor below. “NINA!” Caleb moved like a lightning bolt, diving to catch her. They both crashed to the ground in a heap. “Nina… are you okay? Are you hurt?!” She seemed stunned, then slowly looked up at me, fresh tears streaming down her face. “Miss Reed… why did you push me? Did you really believe them?” Caleb’s head snapped up, his eyes filled with a chilling coldness. “Evelyn! I sent you up there to help her, not to push her!” I saw the flash of triumph in Nina’s eyes and suddenly understood why she had been pulling me backward the entire time. “She jumped.” Nina immediately buried her face in Caleb’s chest, her voice a muffled, pitiful whisper. “No… it was my fault… I slipped.” She was trembling, the very picture of a terrified victim. Caleb clutched her tighter, his heart clearly breaking for her. “I saw the whole thing from down here! You pushed her! How dare you lie to my face?!” Looking at the disgust in his eyes, I felt a profound sense of exhaustion. It was a perfectly staged performance, and nothing I said would ever convince him otherwise. “If anything happens to her,” he snarled, “I will never forgive you.” Then, ignoring the stares of the other customers, he swept Nina up into his arms and stormed out of the store. Just before they left, Nina peeked over his shoulder and shot me a triumphant smirk. Chloe and her friends saw it too. Chloe gritted her teeth. “That bitch! I knew she did it on purpose.” “Evelyn, he’s about to marry you, and she still has the nerve to seduce him. Aren’t you going to—” She cut herself off, probably remembering the rumors about me being a spineless doormat when it came to Caleb. When I got back to the villa, Caleb was already there, pacing like a caged animal. He grabbed my wrist and started dragging me toward the door. “Nina’s in the hospital, she’s in shock because of you. You’re going to go and apologize.” I ripped my arm from his grasp, meeting his icy glare. “I told you, I didn’t push her. Why should I apologize?” “I only trust what I saw. Evelyn, don’t make me angry.” And then he did it. He pulled out the silver locket my father had left me. It was the last thing I had of him. I had given it to Caleb as a symbol of our engagement, the most precious thing I owned. My heart stopped, and an icy wind seemed to howl through my soul. “You’re… you’re using this to threaten me?” “I’m not threatening you. Just apologize, and everything goes back to normal.”

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I spent days glued to the ticketing app, pulling all-nighters, before I finally managed to snag two front-row, center-stage tickets to the Starlight Gala, headlined by my boyfriend’s idol. I was about to screenshot the confirmation to send to him when a message from him popped up first. “Kiki’s a die-hard fan and couldn’t get a ticket. I gave yours to her.” “Besides, watching the livestream at home is the same for you. The venue is just a loud, crowded mess.” I stared at my now-empty ticketing app. After a moment of silence, I sent a voice message to my own brother, who also happens to be his idol. “Ash, I need a favor at the gala tonight. The girl sitting in my seat… yeah, can you call her up on stage and ask her where she got her ticket?” 1 The second I sent it, a video call from my brother, Asher Chang, came through. “That bastard Leo messing with you again?” His voice cut through the background noise, sharp and commanding. I didn’t say anything. I just sent him the screenshots of Leo’s messages. He read them and let out a low curse. “Front-row tickets? I told you I had house seats reserved for you through Wang, but you said no!” “You had to go on about wanting the ‘shared experience of working for something together.’ Is this your shared experience?” “Nina, are you an idiot?” I sniffled, holding back the wave of emotion. “Ash, I just need you to do me this one favor.” He’s been in the entertainment industry for years. He understood my intention instantly. The fury on his face morphed into a smile so cold it could freeze water. “Right. Got it.” “I’ll have Wang leave your original house ticket at the VIP entrance. Just pick it up when you get here.” “Tonight, your big brother is going to get you some payback. You’re in for a good show.” As soon as Asher hung up, Leo called. His tone was matter-of-fact, laced with an undercurrent of blame. “Nina, why are you throwing a tantrum? Not answering my texts or calls.” “Kiki told me you seemed upset.” I ignored his opening salvo, my voice like ice. “Leo, what gives you the right to touch my tickets?” He seemed taken aback by my directness but quickly found his footing. “I was just trying to cheer her up. She’s been so stressed with her grad school applications, she’s lost weight, she’s on the verge of a breakdown.” “You’re her best friend. Can’t you be a little more considerate?” His logic was so twisted it was almost funny. “She’s stressed, so she needs my tickets? Am I her mother or her therapist?” He clearly wasn’t expecting this kind of pushback from me. He shifted tactics, smoothly sliding into his usual manipulation. “Besides, are you going to see me, or are you going to see Asher Chang? You’re not even his fan, so what does it matter where you sit?” “Kiki has waited years just to get a glimpse of him. Can’t you just help make her dream come true? Why are you being so selfish all of a sudden?” My heart turned to stone as he belittled the sleepless nights I’d spent, reducing my efforts to a meaningless “what does it matter where you sit.” All my effort, in his eyes, was worth nothing. My voice was quiet but clear. “I got the tickets so I could go with you to see your idol. Is that concept really so hard to understand, Leo?” My calmness seemed to enrage him. His voice rose, thick with disappointment and accusation. “Why are you making such a big deal out of this? It’s just a ticket!” “Kiki already said she’d take a ton of high-def pictures for you. She even promised to try and get you some signed merch. Isn’t that enough?” He seemed to think my issue was the material loss. His tone softened into a patronizing drawl. “Alright, alright, stop making a scene. I know you worked hard.” “I’ll treat you to a nice dinner to make up for it.” “You just be a good girl and watch the livestream at home. Kiki and I will send you updates.” His condescending generosity made my stomach turn. I couldn’t stand to hear another word from him. I hung up the phone. Then, I turned, opened my closet, and pulled out the haute couture gown Asher had sent over last week. Tucked inside the box was a pass. Embossed in gold foil were the words: ARTIST FAMILY – ALL ACCESS. Oh, I wasn’t just going to the gala. I was going to make an entrance. That evening, another message from Leo arrived. “What are you up to? The show’s about to start. Don’t forget to tune into the livestream, babe.” It was followed by a forty-second voice memo. “Kiki said the fan club is planning a surprise for Asher tonight. They need to pass a giant light-up banner around the outside of the stadium.” “There’s a huge crowd, and they’re short-handed. It’s just a few of them.” “Since you’re not doing anything anyway, could you go help them out? Keep an eye on things.” “You’d be doing it for Asher, too. Kiki would be really grateful.” I listened silently, my mind flashing back to our freshman year. Leo had entered a campus singing competition. To support him, I’d stayed up for nights on end, hand-making him banners and a light-up sign. The day of the show, I excitedly presented them to him. He’d looked at them with disgust. “What’s all this tacky stuff? It’s so childish. It’ll throw me off my game.” And then he’d tossed everything I’d worked so hard on into the nearest trash can. Now, to please Kiki, he was shamelessly trying to use me as free labor to carry some stupid fan banner. I fought back a wave of nausea and replied with a single word: “Okay.” He immediately sent a “pat on the head” sticker, his tone oozing with condescending approval. “I knew you were the most understanding. See? I take good care of you.” “Kiki will be so touched when she finds out. Just wait by the East Gate, someone from the club will contact you.” I closed the chat and saw Kiki had just updated her social media. A nine-photo grid of selfies, geotagged right outside the concert venue. Her caption read: “Finally about to see the light I’ve chased my entire youth. Thank you to my little sun for always supporting me~” In the photos, she wore a full face of glamorous makeup, posing cutely for the camera. And on her wrist was the silver chain-link bracelet I had personally woven for Leo. The one with the small charm engraved with my initials: NJ. Beneath the post, Leo’s comment was a stab to the heart. “You’re the brightest star tonight.” I sneered and shut my phone, unable to look at the filth any longer. I took the black velvet gown from my closet and changed. The person in the mirror looked back at me, her eyes cool and clear, stripped of their usual warmth and compliance. I didn’t go to the crowded East Gate. Our family’s black town car bypassed the sea of fans and pulled up smoothly to the venue’s VIP entrance. Asher’s manager, Wang, was already waiting, impeccably dressed in a suit. “There you are, my little princess. Asher’s been asking about you nonstop.” Wang greeted me with a professional smile, handing me a laminate pass. “Come on, let’s get you inside. Too many fans out here, it’s not safe.” I nodded, but just as I was about to follow him, a sharp, theatrically surprised voice called out from nearby. “Nina?” It was Kiki. She was clinging to Leo’s arm, about to go through the general admission line, when she spotted me. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the East Gate with the fan club?” Leo saw me too. He froze for a second, then his brow furrowed in annoyance. He dropped Kiki’s arm and strode towards me, his face showing no pleasure at the unexpected meeting, only irritation. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. “The fan club has been waiting for you at the East Gate. They said you weren’t answering your phone. Are you throwing another childish fit?” His voice was loud, drawing the attention of fans still waiting to enter. Kiki scurried over, expertly grabbing his sleeve to play her favorite role: the peacemaker. She looked at me with feigned concern, her voice dripping with honey. “Nina, are you lost?” “This is the staff entrance. We fans aren’t allowed through here.” “You should hurry to the East Gate, or you’ll miss the fan event. Everyone will be mad at you.” I watched their pathetic little performance, finding it utterly ridiculous. I ignored Kiki and looked straight at Leo. “I’m not going to the East Gate. I’m going in through here.” Leo scoffed as if I’d told the funniest joke in the world. He looked me up and down, his eyes filled with contempt. “You’re going in through here?” “Nina, do you have any idea what this is? This is the VIP and artist entrance! Who do you think you are? Asher Chang’s relative?” Kiki covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smirk, then quickly arranged her face into a look of concern, though the triumphant glint in her eyes was unmistakable. “Nina, stop messing around. I know you’re upset about the ticket, but you can’t act out like this just to get attention…” “The security guards will throw you out. It’ll be so embarrassing.” Just then, Wang, who had been standing beside me, poked his head back out. He looked impatient but kept his tone respectful. “Miss Chang, what’s the hold-up? Asher is getting antsy.” Wang’s gaze flickered over Leo and Kiki. He paused for a beat, a flicker of professional recognition, but his training kept him from asking questions. His words, however, made Leo and Kiki freeze on the spot. I dangled the pass Wang had just given me, a slow, meaningful smile spreading across my face. “Sorry, but it looks like my pass works just fine here.” Their faces went rigid, their eyes glued to the laminate in my hand, to the words ARTIST FAMILY printed in bold letters. “How is that possible?” Leo sputtered, lurching forward to snatch the pass and examine it. Wang blocked him with a firm arm, his expression turning sharp. “Mr. Shen, please compose yourself.” Kiki’s face cycled through shades of white and green, her eyes wide with disbelief and a twisting envy. Her mind raced, her lips trembling as she voiced the ugliest possibility she could conjure. “Nina, how did you get that?” “What… what is your relationship with this man?” I couldn’t be bothered to explain. I just offered a light, airy reply: “A relationship you two could never hope to achieve.” That single sentence seemed to ignite Leo’s fragile ego. His brain concocted a ridiculous explanation that, to him, made perfect sense. A tidal wave of fury washed over his face, mixed with disgust and the sting of betrayal. “Nina, I get it now!” he snarled, pointing a trembling finger at me. “You’re so desperate to be a groupie, so obsessed with getting close to Asher Chang, that you’d go and sleep with his staff?” “You make me sick!” Kiki immediately seized on this line of attack, her expression shifting to one of profound disappointment. “Nina, how could you have so little self-respect? You have to be a rational fan!” “How are you any different from those stalker fans who do anything to see their idol?” she continued, shooting a worried glance at Leo. “You’re Leo’s girlfriend! Have you thought about how this makes him look?” I watched their faces, twisted and ugly with jealousy, and finally, I laughed. “You two really don’t need to worry about me.” My smile vanished, my eyes turning cold. “You should be more concerned about yourselves.” I turned and whispered something in Wang’s ear. He nodded, instantly understanding, and made a quick phone call. Less than a minute later, a member of the venue’s security team hurried over. “Excuse me, you two,” he said politely. “Our system shows that due to a last-minute technical issue, your seats have been urgently reassigned. Please come with me.” Before they could even process what was happening, two towering security guards were escorting them away from the VIP entrance. On Wang’s phone, I watched the security feed with great interest. I saw them being led from their front-row seats, all the way up to the most remote corner of the stadium’s top tier. A spot fans nicknamed “Listen-Only Lane” because of the giant support pillar that blocked most of the stage. I paid the two clowns no more mind and followed Wang to the dressing room marked “ASHER CHANG – PRIVATE.” The man who was a superstar on stage stood up the moment I walked in. “There you are, you little brat. Finally decided to come see your big brother.” Asher pulled me into a huge hug. “You’ve lost weight again. Has that Shen kid not been taking care of you?” I told him everything that had just happened at the door. “They think you slept your way in? Their imaginations are pathetically limited.” He ruffled my hair, his voice soothing, but with a hard, dangerous edge. “Don’t worry. This is one Starlight Gala they will never forget.” The show began. The music swelled, and Asher burst onto the stage from a rising platform. The entire stadium erupted, the screams threatening to tear the roof off. Out of habit, I scrolled through my social media. Sure enough, Kiki had posted again, gushing about being at the show while also taking subtle digs at me for using “underhanded means” to get close to Asher. Just then, Wang’s phone began to vibrate nonstop. He showed it to me. The core fan groups for Asher were exploding. Kiki’s post had been immediately shared by her friend, one of the fan club admins. A narrative was quickly forming. People were breathlessly describing how some industry plant had not only slept her way backstage but had also abused her connections to maliciously move a true, die-hard fan from a prime front-row seat to the nosebleeds. The rumors escalated, growing more vicious with each retelling. Someone had even dug up my university information and started attacking me personally. “She uses her looks to seduce staff members, she has no shame!” “Stalkers like her should be kicked out of the fandom!” “My heart breaks for our angel Kiki. She had to suffer such a huge injustice and still pretend to be strong.” I stared at the vile comments on the screen, my expression growing colder by the second. When Asher came backstage after his first set, he saw my face immediately. He glanced at the phone in Wang’s hand, and a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. “Excellent.” He wasn’t angry. He was smiling. “They’ve built the stage themselves. It would be a shame not to give them a starring role.” He turned to Wang. “Tell the director to move up the fan interaction segment.” The host came back on stage, beaming. “We have a surprise for you all! It’s time for a special fan interaction!” Asher took the microphone, his eyes scanning the massive crowd. He smiled. “Tonight, I want to invite a very special fan to the stage,” he announced. “She’s holding a ticket that means the world to me.” A single, brilliant spotlight shot out, controlled by the director, and landed precisely on the front row. On the now-empty seats where Leo and Kiki were supposed to be. The light lingered there for three long seconds, building the suspense. Then, slowly, dramatically, the beam began to travel upwards, climbing past row after row of cheering fans, a solitary beacon sweeping across a sea of people. Finally, under the watchful eyes of thousands, it came to a stop in the highest, most remote corner of the stadium, and landed squarely on Kiki.

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I’m Isabelle Thorne, the sole heiress to Thorne Industries. When I was ten, my grandfather handpicked four boys from an orphanage to groom as potential husbands. They were to be cultivated into brilliant men, with the hope that one of them would one day stand by my side, helping me helm the Thorne empire. The business world called them the “Four Prodigies of Crestwood.” But they all seemed to keep me, the heiress, at a careful distance. Even Aiden Vance, the one I had secretly adored for years, had given his heart to someone else. Now, from his sickbed, my grandfather asked me which one I would choose. I left my fate to the spin of a wheel, a random draw to decide my future husband. I never imagined it would land on the most rebellious of them all: Caleb Blackwood. At our engagement party, however, Aiden showed up, his eyes bloodshot, and begged me not to cast him aside. I just offered him a small, cool smile and dangled our freshly signed marriage certificate in front of his face. “You’re too late, Mr. Vance. My husband is taking me home now.” As I turned away, I heard the sound of shattering porcelain behind me, followed by Aiden’s choked, desperate whisper. 1. My grandfather’s gaze settled on the name at the top of the list, his brow furrowed in concern. “Isabelle, are you sure? We can choose someone else.” I knew what he was worried about. For years, anyone with eyes could see how I felt about Aiden Vance. Whenever he was in the room, my attention drifted to him like a compass needle to true north. The joke was, he never once looked back. I shook my head. “No, Grandpa.” “I believe this is fate.” He sighed, knowing better than to argue. He knew that once I’d made up my mind, a team of wild horses couldn’t drag me in another direction. When I stepped out of the study, the four men were lounging on the sofas in the living room, chatting casually. “So, Izzy, who did you pick?” Leo Martinez asked, his eyes dancing with a familiar, gossipy light. He was always the most animated of the group. Ryan Sterling slung an arm around Aiden’s shoulders, grinning. “Do you even have to ask? It’s gotta be our boy Aiden. The man’s got charm; he was bound to win the prize!” Aiden shoved his arm off with a look of disgust, his cold eyes landing on me. “Even if your grandfather forces me to marry you, I will never love you. My heart will always belong to Georgia.” A bitter laugh escaped me, but the familiar sting in my heart was impossible to ignore. Ever since we were children, whenever someone bullied me, he was always the first to step in, my self-appointed protector. Back then, I truly believed he was my knight, my fated prince. But everything changed the summer he turned seventeen. Seeing my silence, his tone softened, though it was laced with condescension. “We can be married in name only, but we can’t announce it to the public. And I’m going to keep seeing Georgia. You are not to do anything to hurt her.” The words were a slap to my pride. What did he take me for? Some desperate, scheming woman willing to do anything to marry him? I shot back a cold smile. “What makes you so sure I’d ever choose you?” Aiden scoffed, his eyes dripping with contempt. “Not choose me? Isabelle, who else could you possibly choose?” His arrogance was nauseating. What on earth gave this man the right to think I was his for the taking? Just because I’d been foolish enough to love him once? “You really don’t have to disgust me like this, Aiden,” I said, my voice flat. “Go marry whoever you want.” “What are you talking about?” he demanded, his brow furrowing. Just then, a delicate, white figure burst into the room. Georgia Summers fell to her knees before me, her face a mask of perfectly crafted tears. “Miss Thorne, please, I’m begging you, don’t take Aiden from me. He’s all I have…” Before I could even speak, Aiden was already rushing to her side, helping her up with a pained expression. He glared at me. “Isabelle, look what you’ve done! Do you have any idea how much Georgia has suffered because of you over the years? And now you force her to beg you out of your own selfishness!” 2. I watched the familiar scene unfold and could only find it laughable. Seven years ago, on an afternoon just like this, Georgia had “accidentally” knocked over my desk, then spun a tale of how I had bullied her. And Aiden, without even asking what happened, had torn into me. Now, here we were again. Same play, same actors. I lifted my hand and swung. The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the room. Aiden’s head snapped to the side, his eyes wide with disbelief. Before he could recover, I turned and delivered another slap, this one to Georgia’s tear-streaked face. “Since you two love painting me as the villain, I might as well play the part.” “Isabelle, how dare you hit Georgia!” Aiden roared, lunging at me. Leo and Ryan immediately jumped in, holding him back. Aiden struggled against their grip, his eyes turning red with fury. “You just wait, Isabelle. Even if you got down on your knees and begged me now, I would never marry you!” “Let’s go, Georgia!” He grabbed her hand and stormed out. Ryan stood there awkwardly. “Isabelle, Aiden’s just blowing off steam…” I managed a thin smile, ignored him, and walked back to my room. The moment the door clicked shut, I leaned against the wood, sliding down to the floor. The day Georgia arrived, it was like a switch flipped in Aiden. He started questioning my every word, finding fault in everything I did. The boy who once protected me had become the one who hurt me the most. A bitter smile touched my lips as I felt the lingering heat on my palm. In a strange way, it felt liberating. At least I had severed this tie myself, before he ever knew my real choice. He’d probably be thrilled when he found out the truth, wouldn’t he? After all, he was finally free of the girl who had “hounded” him for so long. 3. After a restless night, I was woken by a call from my best friend. “Have you seen the news?” she urged. I groggily opened my phone. The screen was flooded with headlines: Aiden Vance had officially announced Georgia Summers as his fiancée. A grand wedding was imminent. The internet was abuzz with congratulations, though a few industry insiders posted comments asking: But what about the Thorne heiress? Aiden himself had replied to one: Her? She can go to hell for all I care. I stared at the comment, my fingers trembling uncontrollably. Tears welled in my eyes, but I stubbornly refused to let them fall. All those years… even if he didn’t love me, did he really think I was that worthless? A knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts. “Miss Isabelle, your grandfather wants you downstairs immediately. He says it’s urgent.” I took a deep breath and splashed cold water on my burning face. The girl in the mirror looked presentable enough, aside from the slight redness around her eyes. As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard my grandfather’s furious roar from the living room. “Aiden Vance! You will explain this to me right now!” I paused on the landing, hidden from view. Aiden stood in the center of the room, a defiant look on his face, while Georgia cowered behind him, the very picture of pitiable innocence. “There’s nothing to explain,” Aiden sneered. “Georgia and I are in love. Why should I sacrifice myself for Isabelle?” My grandfather’s hand, gripping his cane, trembled with rage. “If I hadn’t taken you out of that orphanage, you’d be—” “So what?” Aiden cut him off. “Just because you did me a favor, I have to sacrifice my own happiness?” He wrapped an arm around Georgia’s shoulders. “I can sign the papers with Isabelle for the sake of the company, but the first wedding of my life, the real one, will be with Georgia!” His shameless declaration stunned everyone in the room. I saw Caleb Blackwood’s knuckles turn white. A second later, he surged forward and drove his fist into Aiden’s face. “Have you got no fucking shame?” Caleb roared. Aiden staggered back, wiping a smear of blood from his lip, his eyes dark with hatred. That’s when I descended the stairs, my voice calm and quiet. “Grandpa, it’s alright. Let him have his wedding.” Aiden froze, his head snapping toward me in surprise. But I met his gaze with a placid expression, as if looking at a complete stranger. A flicker of unease crossed his face. He clearly hadn’t expected me to let go so easily. I helped my trembling grandfather back to his room. The entire way, I could feel Aiden’s stunned gaze on my back, but I didn’t turn around. “Isabelle, I’ve failed you,” Grandpa said, his old, frail hand gripping mine as he sat on the edge of his bed. “I was blind to bring that ungrateful wolf into our home.” I shook my head, my voice soft. “Don’t be angry, Grandpa. It’s not worth it.” “No!” he suddenly exclaimed, his energy returning. “No one humiliates a Thorne like this! Don’t you worry. I’ll throw you an engagement party grander than anything he could ever dream of!” I nodded silently, a bitter taste filling my mouth. 4. A few days later, I was at the office when a frantic call came from the estate manager of the house I was preparing for my marriage. “Miss Thorne, it’s terrible! Mr. Vance is here with Miss Summers, and they’re tearing the house apart!” I raced over. The moment I pushed open the door, the scene inside felt like a knife twisting in my gut. The furniture I had personally selected was being brutally dismantled. The custom murals on the walls were being scraped off by workmen without a second thought. Georgia was nestled against Aiden’s side, watching the destruction with a triumphant smirk. “Aiden! What gives you the right to touch my house?” I demanded, storming toward him. He shot me a cold sneer. “This is mine and Georgia’s home now. If you try to stop this, don’t blame me for not showing up to your little engagement party.” “Aiden, maybe we should just leave…” Georgia murmured, feigning concern while her eyes gleamed with victory. “Don’t be silly, Georgia,” Aiden said, pulling her closer. “Only you deserve a place like this.” “Get out of my house! Now!” I screamed. Aiden just laughed and waved the workers on. Suddenly, a sharp crack echoed from above. The crystal chandelier, a piece worth a fortune, had come loose. It was plummeting directly toward me. Aiden reacted in a flash, yanking Georgia out of the way. I was standing right under it. I saw his eyes flicker to me, just for a second, but he didn’t move. Not an inch. The immense weight crashed onto my back, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. A searing pain shot through me, and my legs gave out. I could feel warm liquid streaming down my back. “Help… me…” I gasped, reaching a trembling hand toward him. But then Georgia let out a shriek. “My leg! The glass cut my leg, Aiden, it hurts so much!” Aiden looked from me, bleeding on the floor, to Georgia and her superficial scratch. He hesitated for only a second. Without another thought, he scooped Georgia into his arms, turning his back on me. “Just hang on, Isabelle, I’ll call an ambulance for you. I have to get Georgia to the hospital, she’s in pain.” With those words, he rushed out the door. Lying in the wreckage, watching his retreating back, I started to laugh. A raw, broken sound. So this was my worth in his eyes. My life wasn’t even as important as a tiny cut on Georgia’s leg. Blood soaked through my dress as my vision began to blur. Through the haze, I heard the sound of frantic footsteps. “Isabelle!” A familiar voice, laced with a panic I’d never heard before. Caleb. He dropped to his knees beside me, carefully avoiding the glass shards as he gently scooped me into his arms. His hands were trembling, but his grip was so light, so terrified of causing me more pain. “Stay with me. We’re almost at the hospital.” I leaned against his warm chest, the faint scent of tobacco and something uniquely him surrounding me. This man, always so wild and defiant, was now holding me as if I were made of spun glass. He moved with a speed that was almost desperate, yet his steps were steady, cradling me against the jarring motion. I could feel his heart hammering against his ribs, a frantic, thunderous rhythm. “Doctor! Somebody help her!” he yelled, his voice cracking with a raw, desperate edge. 5. The light above the operating room door stayed on for what felt like an eternity. Through a fog of anesthesia, I could hear shouting from the hallway. “Who the hell do you think you are, showing up now?” It was Caleb, his voice a raw, furious roar. “I… I just came to see how Isabelle is,” Aiden stammered, his voice thin and hollow. “Get out,” Caleb snarled, his voice as cold as ice. “You don’t even have the right to say her name.” I heard a dull thud, followed by the sounds of Leo and Ryan trying to break up another fight. The surgery was a success, though it left a series of scars across my back. Caleb refused to leave my side, delegating all his work to his assistant. Every time the nurse came to change my dressings, he would watch her every move, his jaw tight with tension. “Does it hurt?” he would always ask, his voice barely a whisper. I would shake my head, a dull ache forming in my chest as I looked at the worry etched between his brows. The man who presented a devil-may-care attitude to the world was so endearingly clumsy when it came to caring for me. Leo and Ryan were frequent visitors, always armed with soups and supplements. As for Aiden, after that day outside the operating room, he never appeared again. Instead, news of him and Georgia frequenting lavish restaurants and clubs constantly surfaced, as if he were deliberately flaunting his new life in my face. The day of the engagement party arrived all too quickly. Caleb had personally chosen a champagne-colored gown for me. Its open-back design perfectly concealed my scars. The party was in full swing for over an hour before Aiden made his grand entrance. He had Georgia, draped in a scandalous red dress, on his arm as he strode in, his eyes sweeping the room with a look of pure provocation. Whispers rippled through the hall. I could feel the gazes of the guests on me—some filled with pity, others with unconcealed glee. Georgia clung to Aiden’s arm, flashing me a triumphant, venomous smile. My grandfather sat at the head table, his expression grim. His disappointment in his once-favored prodigy was palpable. “Isabelle, you should get on with the announcement,” Aiden said loudly, his tone laced with impatience. “I promised Georgia I’d take her to see the meteor shower tonight, and we’re running out of time.” Georgia tugged on his sleeve, feigning modesty. “Aiden, don’t be like that…” She turned to me, her eyes shimmering with fake apology. “Miss Thorne, I really just wanted to come and offer my congratulations…” I watched the nauseating performance of this despicable pair as the murmurs in the crowd grew louder. “Didn’t they say Miss Thorne was engaged to Mr. Vance?” “This is a public humiliation for the Thorne family…” “After everything the Thornes did for him, Aiden Vance has no gratitude at all…” Leo and Ryan stood nearby, their expressions showing their clear disgust with Aiden’s behavior. I saw Caleb’s fist clench at his side, looking like he was seconds away from launching himself at Aiden. I took a deep, calming breath and plastered an elegant smile on my face. “My dear guests,” I began, my voice ringing out clearly across the silent hall. “Thank you all for taking the time to join me tonight for my engagement party. Today, I would like to introduce you all to my future husband…” At my words, Aiden preened, adjusting his suit jacket with a smug smirk playing on his lips. “Caleb Blackwood,” I finished, my eyes locked on Aiden’s face. I watched the triumphant smile freeze and shatter. “From this day forward, Caleb will be my partner, and the new son-in-law of Thorne Industries.”

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1 I did three years in prison for my wife, Ava Deveaux. When I got out, my “launch party” bonus for her new company was a single dollar bill. For a second, I thought it was a mistake. But then I saw my colleague, Leo Vance, open his envelope. He got a single bill, too. Relief washed over me, and I spent the rest of the day happily helping Ava with the grand opening. That night, though, I was scrolling through social media when I saw Leo’s latest post. It was a picture of a check. The caption read: “Cheers to the official launch! The boss is incredibly generous. A ten-million-dollar bonus to start things off right!” The comments section was a flood of envy and congratulations, wishing him and the “boss” all the best. When I confronted Ava, she didn’t even try to explain. She just pushed me away. “You just got out of prison, Ethan. It wouldn’t look good for us to be public right now. Let’s keep our marriage a secret for a while. At the office, you’ll just call me Ms. Deveaux.” A moment later, her phone pinged. She’d just liked Leo’s post. I wiped a tear from my eye and made a call to her biggest rival. “I’m in,” I said into the phone. “From now on, I work for you.” … “You were willing to do three years of hard time for Ava Deveaux’s career,” the voice on the other end said. “Why the sudden change of heart? Why come to me?” “I seem to remember she promised you a department manager position when you got out. Are you sure you want to throw that away?” I rubbed the cheap, crinkled one-dollar bill between my fingers, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. “Yeah. I’m sure.” Just as the words left my mouth, Ava appeared in front of me, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What don’t you want anymore?” I calmly ended the call and told her the truth. “The department manager position.” A flicker of something—relief?—crossed her complex expression. “Good. I was planning on giving it to Leo anyway. You can start as a junior assistant.” Her words made me frown. I had endured three years behind bars for her company. She had sworn to me, promised me that the manager role would be mine the day I walked free. Now, I was being demoted to an errand boy. And as she shattered that three-year-old promise, there wasn’t a trace of guilt in her eyes. A hot sting flooded my eyes, and a sharp pain bloomed in my chest. Seeing my silence, Ava pulled a document from her briefcase and tossed it onto the coffee table. “This is a secret marriage agreement,” she said, her tone breezy and dismissive. “It’s for the good of the company.” The words SECRET MARRIAGE AGREEMENT burned into my vision. The day before I went to prison, she had rushed me to City Hall to get our marriage license. The only thing that got me through those three years was the dream of the life we would build when I was free. Now, it seemed I was an embarrassment. A secret to be hidden away. I let out a silent, self-mocking laugh and reached for the pen on the table. Ava’s head snapped around. She frowned, watching my hand move toward the signature line. The man who had once wanted to shout their marriage from the rooftops was now signing it away without a second thought. She instinctively pressed her hand down on mine, her next words catching me off guard. “You’re not even going to think about it?” Without looking up, I signed my name. She stared at the signed agreement, a strange, unreadable silence falling over her. After a moment, she cleared her throat, her voice softening. “Don’t worry, Ethan. Once the company is stable, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” I gave a noncommittal grunt. Just then, the company group chat lit up. An announcement: Leo Vance had been appointed the company’s first Department Manager. Congratulations poured in. [Leo, you’ve been by Ms. Deveaux’s side this whole time. We all saw how hard you worked. You earned this!] [I’m calling it now. Department Manager today, Mr. Deveaux tomorrow! We’ll have to be extra nice to you from now on.] Leo responded with a smug emoji, a silent confirmation. Then, another message popped up, this one clearly aimed at me. [I think Ethan is the lucky one here. Gets out of jail and our boss gives him a job as an assistant. She’s so generous!] He knew the truth. This was pure mockery. I forced my eyes away from the screen, only to see Ava staring at her own phone. The smile on her face was a kind of gentle, radiant warmth I had never seen directed at me. It made me wonder. Was this secret marriage for the company, or was it for Leo? To honor our new “agreement,” Ava moved from our master bedroom into the guest room. She laid out other rules, too: We were not to be seen arriving in the same car. We were not to speak at the office, where I was only to address her as “Ms. Deveaux.” And, most importantly, her relationship with Leo was “just an act for the public,” and I was not to “make a scene.” After laying down the law, she disappeared for three days. It wasn’t until I called in sick with a fever that she finally bothered to phone me. “You’ve only been back at work for a few days and you’re already taking time off? Aren’t you being a little dramatic?” she said, her voice sharp. “You’ll have to get yourself to a doctor. I’m out of town on business. I can’t take you.” It was exactly what I expected. I mumbled a weak “okay.” But before I could hang up, a familiar male voice called out from her end of the line. “Ava, darling, can you come help me with my tie?” She ended the call abruptly, but not before I heard the rustle of her moving quickly toward him. I checked Leo’s social media. He had a new profile picture. It was a matching half of a couple’s photo. Ava’s was the other half. I remembered all the times I had begged her to use a couple’s avatar with me. She always had an excuse: it was tacky, childish, unprofessional. For some reason, my silence seemed to drive her crazy. My phone blew up with a storm of texts and missed calls from her. I sent a single reply: [I’m on my personal time. Please respect that, Ms. Deveaux.] After getting an IV drip at an urgent care clinic, I went back to the office. As usual, my coworkers treated me with a cool distance, piling their grunt work onto my desk. In their eyes, I was just some ex-con lucky enough to be taken in by the boss. I was expected to earn my keep. I took a deep breath and began clearing out my desk drawer. All the little couple’s trinkets, photos, and matching mugs went into a black trash bag. If I’d known they would never see the light of day, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing them. I was on my way to the dumpster when Ava returned. Before I could react, she grabbed my arm, her grip furious, and dragged me into the stairwell. Her eyes landed on the trash bag in my hand, and her face darkened. “You have time to take out the trash, but you don’t have time to answer my calls?” The strong scent of a man’s expensive cologne clung to her, and I instinctively took a step back. “I replied to your text,” I said calmly. My placid response seemed to ignite her rage. “Why would you call me ‘Ms. Deveaux’ in a text?” What was the difference between a text and in person? She was the one who made the rule. Why was she angry that I was following it? Seeing I had no intention of explaining, she let out a cold laugh. “You know I can’t stand petty, insecure men, Ethan. Don’t become someone I despise.” With that, she snatched the bag from my hand and slammed it onto the concrete floor. The crash echoed in the empty stairwell as she stormed away. Staring at the shattered picture frame and the matching mugs we’d once bought, my heart fractured right along with them. Our years together were ending in the same broken heap. I cleaned up the mess, then called a lawyer and had him draft divorce papers. When I had the document in hand, I printed a copy and walked to her office. I was steeling myself to knock when the door swung open. I met her cold, impatient gaze and held the papers out to her. “Sign this when you have a moment.” Ava didn’t even glance at the first page. She flipped straight to the back, scrawled her signature, and handed it back as if it were a meaningless memo. “You’re coming with me to a client dinner tonight,” she ordered. “Be useful. You’ll be blocking drinks for us.” I was confused. Ava could drink anyone under the table. Why would she need me to run interference? Before I could ask, Leo popped up from behind her, a smug grin on his face. “You’re so thoughtful, boss! You remembered I have a cold and can’t drink.” He casually sat next to her, slinging an arm around her shoulder. He glanced at me, then complained with a theatrical pout, “Ava worries too much. It’s just a little cold, but she wouldn’t let me work or drink. I had to beg her to bring me to this dinner.” Ava responded by playfully tapping his nose. “Just make sure you take your medicine later, and don’t complain about it.” They looked exactly like a couple in the throes of a new romance. Her tenderness toward him was something I had never experienced. Clutching the signed divorce papers, a strange sense of peace settled over me. At the restaurant, after Ava exchanged pleasantries with our potential client, she began the introductions. “This is Leo Vance, our department manager.” When she got to me, the client’s brow furrowed. “I remember this man. He went to prison for financial fraud, didn’t he? You’re a very loyal person, Ms. Deveaux.” Ava tensed, shot me a look, and then forced a smile, offering no correction. Throughout the dinner, she and Leo were practically glued together. She kept shooting me pointed looks, signaling for me to intercept any drinks headed his way. At one point, another guest, noticing their intimacy, teased, “You two make a lovely couple, Ms. Deveaux. Are you married?” The question hung in the air. Ava’s eyes darted to me, a flicker of uncertainty in them. Then, almost in perfect unison, we both said: “No.” Even though we’d given the same answer, her head whipped around to stare at me, her eyes wide with shock. When the client excused himself to the restroom, my phone buzzed with a text from her: [It’s all an act, Ethan. Don’t take it personally.] She might have been acting, but I was telling the truth. After all, she had already signed the papers. I read the text and placed my phone face down on the table. Across from me, Ava started to rise, but I turned and headed for the restroom myself. Coming out of a stall, I ran right into Leo. He stood with his arms crossed, the very picture of a victor. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a man, Ethan,” he sneered. “Your own wife is so ashamed of you she won’t even admit you exist. If I were you, I’d be too embarrassed to show my face.” I ignored him, washing my hands. “That’s really not your concern, Leo.” I dried my hands and moved to leave, but he stepped in front of me, looking me up and down with disdain. “Shouldn’t the boss’s husband be wearing something other than rags?” He feigned a look of realization. “Oh, right. I forgot. Ava must have spent all her money on my custom designer wardrobe. My bad.” The expensive labels he wore were a constant reminder of the difference between ten million dollars and one. In that moment, all the bitterness and humiliation I had bottled up exploded. I turned and fled. Back in the private room, I grabbed my coat, ready to leave. “Don’t go yet,” Ava said, rushing to stop me, her voice suddenly gentle. “I’ll drive you home later.” I was about to refuse when Leo burst back into the room, a look of panic on his face, instantly drawing everyone’s attention. Ava let go of me and hurried to his side. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Leo frantically patted down his pockets and rummaged through his bag before crying out in alarm. “My watch! My custom timepiece is gone!” The room descended into a flurry of activity as everyone began searching. “It was a birthday gift from Ava!” Leo lamented loudly. “It’s worth over three hundred thousand dollars! I can’t believe I lost it!” I didn’t know what game he was playing, but I just wanted out. As I reached the door, he blocked my path. “Let me just check your bag, Ethan,” he said, a smug look in his eye. “Just to clear you of any suspicion, of course.” I knew I hadn’t taken it. “I’m tired, Leo. You can look for it yourself.” I tried to push past him, but he grabbed my bag. In the struggle, its contents spilled across the floor. And there, among my scattered belongings, was a watch. I stared at it in shock, then looked up to meet Leo’s triumphant, mocking gaze. “Why are you framing me?” I demanded. I looked around. Everyone was staring at me with contempt. Especially Ava. Her brow was furrowed in a deep V, her eyes filled with disgust. “I didn’t take it,” I said, my voice desperate as I looked at her. But my words were meaningless against the glittering “proof” on the floor. Leo picked up the watch, his voice filled with theatrical hurt. “This watch means so much to me, Ethan. How could you steal it? I thought prison would have changed you, but I see you’re still the same criminal, willing to do anything for money. I don’t think I can feel safe working with you anymore…” His little performance turned the atmosphere in the room toxic. The client was the first to speak, his voice sharp with disapproval. “Ms. Deveaux, I think we’ll have to reconsider this partnership.” With that, he and his team stormed out. I started to go after them to explain, but a sharp sting exploded across my cheek. Ava had slapped me. I looked at her, stunned, but there was no regret in her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re this greedy,” she spat. “I brought you here to help, not to steal!” Her words sealed my fate. Didn’t she know me? After all these years, didn’t she know my character? Had she completely forgotten why I went to prison in the first place? Looking at the fury in her eyes, I knew she would never believe me. I gave a bitter, broken laugh and held out my phone to her. “Then call the police.” She glanced at the phone, then back at me, her brow furrowed. She didn’t move. In that long, silent stare-down, I felt like I was finally seeing the real her. After a moment, she scoffed. “Unbelievable.” She turned her back on me, gently taking the watch and fastening it back onto Leo’s wrist, murmuring soft, comforting words to him as she led him away. I was left alone in the room with the wreckage. I gathered my scattered belongings and went straight to the airport. In the deserted terminal in the middle of the night, I was about to type up my resignation when a notification from Ava beat me to it. It was a termination notice. Her message was laced with fury: [Don’t bother coming into the office again. Stay home and think about what you’ve done.] The absurdity of it made me laugh. Without a second thought, I took a picture of the divorce agreement, signed by both of us, and sent it to her. I attached a message: [Ava, I wish you and Leo a lifetime of happiness together.] [But first, you’re going to finalize this divorce with me. Otherwise, I’ll sue you for bigamy.] The second the message sent, my phone started ringing. It was Ava. A frantic, desperate flood of calls.

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