My wife had just passed away when the glowing, floating comments started appearing right in front of my eyes. Someone wrote that the female lead faked her death just to test the supporting male character’s loyalty. Another predicted that the supporting guy would get lonely and cheat almost immediately, leaving the female lead free to end up with the main male lead. Some even said they couldn’t wait to see the supporting guy standing outside in the pouring rain, begging the female lead not to leave him, completely unaware that she was inside acting coy with the main guy, begging him to stop kissing her. The comments said this scene would be incredibly satisfying to read. I felt unbelievably wronged. I swore to myself right then and there that I would never betray my feelings for my wife. But on the day of her funeral, her estranged sister showed up. She walked right up to me, held a black umbrella over my head, and whispered in a low, velvet voice, “Noah, my sister is gone. But you still have me.” I stood frozen. Was this another test? 1 I went to a psychic down in the Village. The reader flipped a tarot card and told me, “You are destined to have two wives in this life. The woman standing beside you isn’t the love of your life.” “That is absolute garbage,” I snapped, losing my temper. A shadow fell over me. A slender, elegant hand reached out from behind and snatched the tarot card right off the table. I turned around and met Sloane’s eyes. “Honey, don’t listen to this.” She gave a faint, dismissive smile and carelessly toyed with the card. Her face betrayed no real emotion. I knew she didn’t care. Marrying me was just her settling. She had countless wealthy, gorgeous men throwing themselves at her feet. With her looks and status, leaving me would only mean trading up. But I was the one who had chased her the longest. Since she couldn’t marry the man she truly loved, she married the man who loved her the most. I just didn’t expect her to bring up the psychic’s reading in bed that night. All her usual coldness vanished. She came at me fiercely, completely selfish and almost brutal in her demands. I knew that arrogant, high-and-mighty look of hers too well. She didn’t like me all that much, but she demanded that I worship the ground she walked on. “Sloane,” I breathed, surrendering entirely. “I only love you.” I promised her over and over again. As long as she lived, I would love her. She paused, looking down at me. “And if I die?” I froze. “…I’d still love you.” She caught that split-second of hesitation in my voice. One perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched up. I instinctively tried to pull my hand back, but she pinned my wrists down hard against the mattress. “Noah,” she whispered. “Even if I die, you are only allowed to love me.” Half past midnight. Sloane threw on a black silk nightgown, leaning against the window sill with her long legs crossed as she took a phone call. “The news of your supposed death will hit the press tomorrow.” The voice on the other end of the line was giving her a mission briefing. “You’ll lay low at the remote villa in Sardinia for six months. Once we catch the corporate mole over here, you can come back.” Sloane gave a lazy, indifferent hum of agreement. “Are you really not going to tell your husband it’s a setup?” the voice asked. Sloane keeping me in the dark was partly for the undercover operation, but mostly, it was a gamble. When she was seven, her mother ran off with another man, taking her younger sister and leaving Sloane behind. Because of that, she absolutely despised betrayal. She wanted to bet on whether I would actually stay loyal to a ghost. Only then would she fully accept me. “Did the private investigators find anything?” she asked the person on the phone. “We tailed him for half a month,” the voice replied. “Noah doesn’t have anyone on the side. He goes straight from work to home and back. He’s as straight-laced as they come.” “Honestly, everyone knows he worships you,” the person added, a teasing note in their voice. “Are you seriously worried he’ll find someone else just because he thinks you’re dead?” “Let him find someone else.” She scoffed, completely unbothered. “He’s not the only man who wants to marry me.” Sloane hung up the phone. Her hand slipped into her pocket and brushed against the psychic’s tarot card she had confiscated earlier. She gripped it tightly in her palm, staring at the night sky for a few seconds. Running a frustrated hand through her hair, she glanced over her shoulder at me, fast asleep in bed. She tossed the card into the trash can. The next day was our anniversary. I waited for her at home all day, only to receive the news of her death. I sat there in a daze, barely registering the police officers telling me something about a catastrophic accident during a business trip. I returned to our empty house alone. I saw the black silk nightgown she had worn the night before still draped over the edge of the sofa. I picked it up, intending to throw it in the wash, until the realization hit me that there was no point anymore. A suffocating, agonizing heartbreak spread from the freezing nape of my neck all the way to my fingertips. I held her clothes to my chest and cried for a long, long time. It wasn’t until the day of the funeral that I saw the scrolling text floating in the air: [OMG here we go. The FMC faked her death to test the beta male orbiter!] [He’s gonna get lonely and cheat so fast, leaving the FMC completely free for the real Male Lead!] [This stupid side guy can’t resist temptation. He’s gonna think he struck gold, but when she comes back, he’s gonna regret it so much.] [The MMC is totally her type anyway. They’re gonna fall in love on that island. She acts tough but she won’t be able to resist him.] [The side guy chased her for years, but the MMC gets everything just by standing there!] [I can’t wait to see the side guy begging in the rain for her to take him back, not knowing she’s inside begging the MMC to stop kissing her. It’s gonna be so satisfying!] I stared at the floating words, feeling a mix of sheer absurdity and bitter resentment. So, I was just the discarded side character. No wonder I could never warm Sloane’s heart, no matter how much I bled for her. But what I absolutely could not accept was the accusation that I would cheat! According to these comments, I was going to find my next target right here at the funeral. Have some faith in me! I am a traditional guy with actual morals. There is no way I would mess around when my wife’s grave hasn’t even been filled yet! And the most infuriating part? Looking around this gloomy cemetery, there wasn’t a single woman here who was prettier than Sloane! We desperate orbiters only dedicate our lives to someone because we are heavily biased toward a pretty face. [Just thinking about the side guy waking up next to some ugly chick every morning is hilarious.] [No wonder he’s gonna be so bitter. But whatever, the gorgeous FMC belongs to the MMC now.] [Wait, who is that absolute bombshell walking up to him?] [Holy crap, look at those legs!] I slowly raised my head. Through the mist of the rain and the somber crowd in black, a strikingly bright and beautiful face caught my eye. The crowd parted. Through the hazy drizzle, she walked straight toward me, holding a black umbrella. She stopped right in front of me and called out in a low, soft voice, “Noah.” “My sister is dead. But you still have me.” A few steps behind her hung the black-and-white portrait of her sister, Sloane. 2 Melina. The pop star I had worshipped for ten years. Back in high school, I used to hide under the covers in my dorm room, secretly listening to her debut album to fall asleep. Even in my most desperate teenage fantasies, I didn’t dare picture her face. She was practically a goddess to me. And now, she was standing less than two feet away from me. “That’s Sloane’s sister,” someone whispered nearby. I already knew she was the younger sister who was taken away by their mother—the sister Sloane absolutely despised. Because of that hatred, I hadn’t seen her once during my entire marriage. And I was Melina’s brother-in-law. In a matter of seconds, my brain short-circuited. I had always joked that if my celebrity crush ever started dating someone, I would jump off a bridge. I despised the idea of any man calling himself her husband. But now, I was the taboo husband figure in her life? Dammit. I was panicking. Staring at my idol’s flawless face from this close, my vocal cords completely seized up. But I couldn’t just leave her hanging. I had to say hello. I had to— “Quack.” My tight throat managed to produce a sound exactly like a dying duck. It was humiliating. I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. But unfortunately, I was a physically robust side character. I didn’t faint. Ten minutes later, I found a dark, isolated corner in the venue’s stairwell to hide and hate myself. “Have you seen Noah? Melina’s looking for him.” Two of Sloane’s relatives walked past the stairwell door, their voices echoing. “Hey, did you hear Sloane didn’t leave a single cent to Noah in her will?” “Yeah. A woman’s money is where her heart is. That leech drained his youth on her and walked away with absolutely nothing.” “Don’t be so harsh. Noah is a good kid. Did you see his eyes? He cried them completely red.” Their footsteps faded away. The glowing text floating in front of me was still updating with scenes from the Mediterranean island: [Ahhh the MMC and FMC finally met!] [Why is the MMC staring at her like that?] [The FMC’s dog loves the MMC! Dogs are way better judges of character!] I took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob, and prepared to go home. The moment I pulled the door open, a strong force pulled me right back into the stairwell. The person let go of my jacket and looked up at me. “Found you.” In the narrow stairwell, the door blew half-open by the wind, letting in just a sliver of gray light. “Are you hiding from me?” Melina’s face was half-shadowed in the dark, her voice ringing crystal clear. “Do you hate me, Noah? Just like she did?” I took a half-step back and shook my head rapidly. “I don’t hate you.” God knew I could barely even breathe looking at her. She was actually taller than her sister. Even though she was half a head shorter than me, her presence was so overwhelmingly magnetic it made my chest tight. “Then do you like me?” she asked. Someone walked past outside, and the draft pushed the heavy fire door open a little wider. I instinctively shrank back into the shadows. She smiled, amused by my reaction, and reached out to hold the door steady, blocking me from view. Once the people outside were gone, the light spilled back in, illuminating her bright, dark eyes. “Do you still remember me?” she asked softly. “Noah, we were in the same class freshman year of high school.” Melina’s name had defined my entire adolescence. She transferred out in sophomore year, got discovered, and debuted as a singer. She became a massive sensation overnight, sweeping up awards left and right. The year I took my SATs and barely scraped into a decent state college, my college roommate lay on his bed on the first day of dorm move-in and mentioned his favorite singer was Melina. Years later, after we graduated, my roommate had long stopped keeping up with pop culture. But I was still listening to her music. Her concert tickets sold out in seconds every single tour. The one time I finally managed to secure a ticket, my corporate boss called me in for a mandatory overtime emergency. I sat at my cubicle that night, crying silently. I realized I wasn’t just sad about missing the show. I was devastated because, in that moment, it became violently clear that she and I lived in completely different universes. I would probably never see her in real life. “I remember,” I said, finally meeting her gaze. “It is pretty crazy. I never expected you to remember me, and I definitely never expected us to become family.” I tried my hardest to keep my voice from shaking. “Who would’ve thought the next time we saw each other would be eating catering at my wife’s funeral?” She listened to me refer to her sister as my wife, looking at my red, swollen eyes. She seemed to finally remember the occasion. “Oh.” She turned slightly, putting a little distance between us. Fine droplets of rain carried by the freezing wind blew through the doorway, hitting my exposed forearms. She had briefly touched my arm just moments ago. “My sister was really cruel.” She didn’t look at me. “How could she treat you like that?” Melina had been in the industry for years. She kept a low profile, had zero scandals, and maintained a flawless reputation. Even at high school reunions, old classmates would talk about her. “Back then, some gang kids from another school cornered me,” a guy once said. “Melina barely knew me, but she quietly called the cops and even stepped in to fight them off.” “She’s a genuinely good person.” I always believed Melina was fundamentally kind. That had to be why she was looking at me now, with that devastatingly beautiful face and an expression of pure, honest sincerity, asking: “What do you want?” “As her family, I’ll compensate you.” I felt so incredibly dirty. In that precise moment, I became painfully aware of my role as the weak-willed, corrupted side character. My brain was screaming: If she sleeps with me, does that count as hooking up with a fan? Will it ruin her career? I shouldn’t do this. Control yourself, Noah! I lowered my head and muttered, “No, it’s fine. I don’t need anything.” But her deep, alluring voice pushed further. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?” “I’m sure. You don’t owe me anything.” “Oh.” The shadows of the trees outside swayed violently, and the wind blew the heavy door wide open. Someone in the hallway was calling my name. I turned around, ready to leave. She watched my back, her voice floating leisurely through the cold air. “Noah.” “Then can I ask for some compensation of my own?” I stopped and turned back to look at her, confused. “Like what?” “Marry me.” She looked me dead in the eye. “Let me take care of you in her place.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437427”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 It had been exactly six years since my younger brother and his fiancée passed away. I was standing by the door, putting on my coat, ready to bring fresh flowers to their graves. That was when my mother called out from the hallway, stopping me dead in my tracks. “Tedd, don’t go,” she said, her voice completely flat. “They aren’t dead.” My entire body went rigid. I turned around, staring at her in absolute disbelief. Right at that moment, two silhouettes stepped out of my brother’s old bedroom. It was Finn and Rachel. Finn had a smug, mocking smirk plastered across his face. He nudged the woman beside him. “See? I told you my bro wouldn’t notice a damn thing. Pay up, I won this bet.” He leaned in closer to her, his tone dropping into something dirty and arrogant. “So… who’s going to be on top later? Huh, Rachel?” Rachel glanced at me. Her eyes were entirely empty of the warmth I remembered, replaced by a look of sheer disgust, as if she were staring at the village idiot. “I guess he really is just that stupid,” she scoffed. “We’ve been living right next door all these years, and he never had a clue.” A heavy, sickening realization crashed down on me. Mom had strictly forbidden me from ever going into Finn’s room, claiming she didn’t want me to be overwhelmed by grief. But that was a lie. The room hid a secret passageway connecting directly to the house next door. Rachel was right. I really was an idiot. Just last month, I had spent hours carefully planning how to clean their headstones for the anniversary. “Why would you do this?” I forced the words out, fighting the violent trembling in my hands. My eyes were burning red. The soft, gentle Rachel from my memories was gone. The woman standing before me was made of ice. “Because you never knew your place, Tedd.” What did it even mean to know my place? My mother frowned, looking at me like I was a stain on the rug. “We just wanted you to learn how to behave these past few years. We needed you to stop trying to steal everything that belongs to your brother.” “Tedd, they’re having a baby now. Just let it go. You’ll find someone else.” I wouldn’t. I bit my lip so hard I tasted copper. My chest physically ached, a hollow, crushing pain. “I have never stolen anything from Finn,” I choked out. When we were kids, Mom and Dad only ever remembered the things Finn liked. If I wanted even a sliver of their attention, I had to force myself to like the exact same toys, the same food. I never realized that simply saying “I want one too” was viewed as stealing. By the time we were teenagers, I was a full four inches taller than my brother. But Mom still bought all my clothes in Finn’s size. No matter how many times I reminded her, it never stuck. My jeans always rode up past my ankles. I was bullied relentlessly at school for years because of it. I should have accepted the truth a long time ago. Tedd, they just don’t love you. Maybe the sheer devastation on my face was too much, because Rachel’s icy facade cracked for a fraction of a second. She pulled a tissue from her purse and held it out. “Tedd, just move on.” I didn’t take it. Finn immediately stepped up, putting on a sickeningly fake display of guilt. “Bro, I’m so sorry. We never actually signed the marriage license anyway. If you want, I can give her back to you.” Smack. My mother’s hand connected with my cheek. My skin stung, hot and throbbing. I looked at her, completely stunned. Her hand was trembling slightly, but her voice was pure venom. “What the hell is your problem, Tedd! Rachel is pregnant! Are you trying to make this kid a walking scandal just like you?” The air left my lungs. I was conceived before my parents got married. In my mother’s eyes, I was the living proof of her shame. In my father’s eyes, I was just the trap that forced him to settle down. I knew all of this. It was why I maintained a perfect GPA, why I kept my head down, why I never caused trouble. I foolishly believed that if I were just perfect enough, they might finally love me. Standing in that hallway, the truth finally set in. Nothing I did would ever matter. Because their only wish was for me to not exist at all. And they were about to get exactly what they wanted. Rachel took a step toward me, a flash of pity in her eyes. “Tedd, we can still be friends. Finn and I will make sure you’re taken care of.” I stumbled backward, avoiding her hand like it was poison. “Don’t touch me.” My voice was a dry, broken rasp. Six years. For six entire years, the guilt had eaten me alive every single day. I visited the cemetery in the freezing rain, apologizing to empty dirt, consumed by the thought that if I hadn’t planned that surprise party for them, they wouldn’t have died in that crash. It was all a staged production. Even my own parents had played their parts perfectly, just to make sure Finn got his happily ever after. I looked at my mother, the pieces finally clicking together. “You kept me out of his room so I wouldn’t find the tunnel to the house next door. That was it, wasn’t it?” Her face paled, her eyes darting away, but she stubbornly lifted her chin. “So what if it is? We did it for your own good. We wanted you to cut your ties and just live your life.” “Live my life?” A hollow laugh scraped its way out of my throat. “You watched me go to that cemetery like an absolute clown every year. You watched me drown in guilt, while they were playing house right next door. And you call that doing it for my own good?” “Watch your mouth, Tedd!” My father finally emerged from his study, his brow furrowed in deep annoyance. “They were deeply in love. They faked their deaths so you wouldn’t make a scene. They’ve been hiding and suffering for years. What more do you want from them?” Deeply in love. Suffering. Those words felt like a knife twisting in my gut. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was an automated text from the cemetery management, confirming my final reservation. I reached into my pocket, pulled out the charred ring I had recovered from the crash site six years ago, and placed it quietly on the table. “I won’t cause any more trouble.” The very next morning, a package arrived for me from the cemetery center. It was a biometric monitoring wristband. The paperwork stated that within two hours of my heart stopping, the band would automatically ping my location, and a team would be dispatched to collect my body. It was perfect. My mind drifted back to that day six years ago. It was supposed to be my engagement party with Rachel. She told me to wait at the venue, promising a huge surprise. I waited, nervous and excited, until the sun went down. Instead of a surprise, I got a call from an unknown number. A car had gone off a cliff. Completely incinerated. The only thing they found in the wreckage was a ring engraved with my initials. I collapsed on the floor of the banquet hall. My entire universe shattered. My mother had screamed and cried, pointing a trembling finger at my chest. “This is your fault! If you hadn’t insisted on that stupid surprise party, they would still be alive!” The guests whispered and stared. The rain that night soaked into my bones, and I had been freezing ever since. But now they were telling me that every tear, every scream, was just a theatrical performance meant for an audience of one. No wonder the house always smelled like Finn’s favorite spicy food, even after he “died.” No wonder my mother never once visited his grave. Whatever. It didn’t matter anymore. I had emptied my entire savings account to pay the cemetery center. I just had to survive in this house long enough to finish my final painting, and then I would be gone. The thought of death didn’t scare me at all. Honestly, it felt like a massive relief. The next morning, I grabbed my coat to head out. Finn immediately blocked my path. “Bro, Rachel and I really want some of your homemade oatmeal. You always took such good care of everyone.” He wrapped an arm around Rachel’s waist, his eyes glinting with pure provocation. He was a completely different person from yesterday. Rachel leaned into his chest, looking at me expectantly. “Finn really wants it, Tedd. Just go make it. I’m pregnant, standing over a stove is too hard on me.” Mom nodded in agreement, acting like this was the most natural request in the world. “Go on. Make sure it’s soft, and don’t add sugar. You know Finn hates sweet things. It’s just a bowl of oatmeal, it won’t kill you.” I stood perfectly still. I didn’t move an inch. Finn put on a pitiful face, looking awkwardly at the floor. “Are you still mad at me, bro? I know it was messed up to take Rachel, but I really love her… If you don’t want to cook, it’s fine. I just won’t eat. Don’t force yourself.” He let out a heavy sigh, acting like he was the victim of some great injustice. Rachel’s face darkened instantly. She glared at me. “It’s literally just a bowl of food, Tedd. Do you really need to throw a tantrum over it? He’s your younger brother, can’t you just let him have this?” Dad slammed his newspaper onto the table. “If your mother tells you to cook, you cook! Stop dragging your feet! We are a family, stop being so petty!” A family. The word sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I slowly lifted my gaze, looking at the four faces in front of me. They were people I had known my whole life, yet they looked like complete strangers. It was like watching a movie I wasn’t cast in. I was just an extra on the set. “Fine. I’ll make it.” I turned and walked into the kitchen. This bowl of oatmeal would be my final payment for the cost of raising me. Ten minutes later, Finn was eating at the table when he suddenly gagged, sprinting to the bathroom and throwing up violently. I froze by the counter. The whole family rushed to his side. He leaned against the sink, looking weak and pale. “It’s fine. It has nothing to do with Tedd’s cooking. My stomach has just been acting up lately.” But the harder he tried to defend me, the more they blamed me. Rachel looked at me, her eyes brimming with intense disappointment. “You never used to be like this, Tedd.” “How did you become so sick and twisted? You’re actually trying to poison your own flesh and blood.” I looked down at the fresh burn blister on my hand from the stove. My chest hurt infinitely worse. My father was shaking with rage. “Lock him up! Throw him in the storage room! Let him rot in there until he learns his lesson. I can’t believe I raised such a monster!” Mom didn’t even try to stop him. She just looked away and sighed. “Just think about what you’ve done. Stop making everything so difficult.” Rachel hesitated for a brief second, but then she helped my dad shove me into the cramped, windowless storage room. The heavy door slammed shut. The deadbolt clicked. No one wanted to hear a single word I had to say. The room was pitch black, suffocating, and reeked of dust. A full day and night passed. No water. No food. The stress and dehydration triggered my chronic heart condition. A sharp, tearing pain ripped through my chest. I collapsed onto the concrete floor, curling into a tight ball as cold sweat soaked through my shirt. My vision blurred into static. Using every last ounce of willpower I possessed, I dragged myself to the door and started hitting the wood. Weakly. Slowly. “Open the door… please… it hurts…” “Rachel… Mom… I need my pills…” My voice was a pathetic whisper, but I kept slapping the wood until my knuckles swelled and split open, smearing blood on the doorframe. I couldn’t die yet. My painting hadn’t been delivered to the gallery. My life was an ugly, miserable mess, but I needed my art to hang in a clean, beautiful frame. I lost track of time before the lock finally clicked. Rachel stood in the doorway, her face tight. When she saw me curled up in a pool of my own sweat, panic flashed in her eyes. She dropped to her knees and touched my forehead, violently pulling her hand back. “You’re burning up! Why didn’t you say something?” “Pills… under my pillow…” I managed to breathe out. She jumped up, sprinting to my bedroom. She came back a minute later with the blister pack and a glass of warm water. She carefully pulled me up by the shoulders, her movements incredibly soft, like she was afraid of breaking me. “Take it. It’ll stop the pain.” I had barely swallowed the pill when Finn strolled into the room. He looked down at me, shaking his head with a sad, gentle expression. “Bro, why do you have to lie to us?” “I just checked your room. Those aren’t heart pills. They’re just daily vitamins.” “You’re faking an illness just to get attention… That’s so messed up.” Those words acted like a bucket of ice water, instantly killing whatever sympathy Rachel had felt. She shoved me away, letting my shoulder slam against the wall. “You are completely out of your mind, Tedd. Is there any low you won’t sink to?” My mother’s expression turned to pure disgust. “We just wanted you to reflect on your actions, and you pull a stunt like this. If I knew you’d turn out this way, I would have visited a clinic before you were born!” Dad shook his head in disgust. “Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.” I shook my head frantically, tears finally spilling over my lashes. My throat was raw. “I’m not… I swear I’m not faking it…” “Shut up!” Rachel yelled, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to hear another word of your bullshit.” “Tedd, you are the biggest disappointment of my life.” After that, none of them spoke a single word to me. A few days later, I finally shipped my canvas to the gallery. As soon as I got home, my phone buzzed. It was the cemetery center. [Mr. Wright, your biometric scanner indicates extremely unstable vitals over the past 48 hours. Please take care of yourself.] I typed back a quick ‘Okay’. It was ironic. The only people in this world checking in on me were the ones waiting to bag my corpse. Later that afternoon, I was out on the balcony taking down the laundry. Finn sauntered out, a wicked, jagged grin spreading across his face. “You have absolutely zero shame, don’t you, bro? Everyone in this house despises you, and you still refuse to pack your bags?” I ignored him, turning to walk back inside. But his hand shot out, grabbing my wrist in a vice grip. He leaned in, whispering right into my ear. “You want to know a secret? Rachel never got over you. Her hidden photo gallery on her phone? It’s entirely filled with pictures of you two.” I blinked, genuinely surprised. Before I could process it, his voice dropped lower. “I really, really hate you, Tedd. Do us all a favor and go to hell.” Without warning, Finn violently shoved me toward the railing. But he miscalculated his footing on the slick tiles. We both went down hard. My body tipped entirely off balance, flipping over the waist-high concrete wall. The freezing wind whipped across my face. Nothing but empty air below me. I managed to hook one arm around the metal railing, my legs dangling over a four-story drop. Finn was on his back on the balcony floor, perfectly safe, but he immediately started screaming in terror. “Help! He’s trying to throw me off!” The sliding glass doors flew open. All three of them burst out onto the balcony like a swarm. They ran straight to Finn. Not a single one of them even glanced at the edge where I was slipping away. They crowded around my brother, their voices trembling with panic. “Finn! Oh my god, are you hurt?” Rachel pulled him into a tight hug, pressing his face into her chest, looking absolutely terrified. Mom was practically in tears, checking his arms for scratches. Dad stood up, pointing a furious finger at my face. “You absolute piece of trash! What is it going to take for you to leave him alone!” Half my body was suspended over the abyss. My shoulder joint was popping. My fingers were going numb. I used the very last bit of air in my lungs and screamed. “Rachel!” She finally turned her head and looked at me. She saw me hanging there. She hesitated, lifting a hand as if to reach for me. But my mother slapped her arm down. “Leave him! He actually tried to murder his own brother. Let him hang there and learn his lesson!” Rachel bit her lip, lowered her hand, and looked away. Even though I knew exactly how this was going to play out, my eyes still burned. My chest felt like it was caving in. I looked at the four of them, huddled tightly together, a perfect, united family defending themselves against the villain. A sudden, overwhelming sense of peace washed over me. “Will you finally believe me if I die?” I asked the question quietly to the wind. Then, I opened my fingers.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437426”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

The day I found out I was pregnant, I was scrolling through my social media feed when I saw a post from my best friend. It was a picture of a pregnancy test, two bold pink lines on stark white, set against the backdrop of a hotel bedsheet. Her caption read: “Not only can he get the ‘job’ done, but he’s a sharpshooter too. What a man!” Then, she added a comment on her own post: “Mr. A’s skills are no joke, talk about efficiency! He knocked me up on the same day as his wife!” The trust fund kids in our circle were always making crude jokes; we all had a wild sense of humor. I figured she was just riffing on my own pregnancy, using my husband, Alex, as the butt of the joke to be funny. I even tossed her a ‘like.’ It wasn’t until the day my water broke that the joke curdled in my stomach. I was rushed to the hospital, only to find out that Jennifer had also been admitted to the maternity ward. We gave birth on the very same day. The moment I saw them, the two newborns, lying side-by-side in the nursery, my world froze. A chill shot up from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head. They were identical. The other baby’s face was a perfect, mirrored image of my son’s. But what truly shattered my heart was the patient chart hanging on the bassinet. In the space for the father’s signature, I saw the familiar, flamboyant script of my husband’s name: Alex. … I stood in that hallway for what felt like an eternity. My hand braced against the wall, my knuckles white. Blood from my IV line had seeped out, staining a small patch of my hospital gown crimson. Alex. I had looked at that signature for eight years. I could recognize it with my eyes closed. The same hand that had signed my medical chart had signed Jennifer’s. My room was 3012. Hers was 3015. Three doors down. The distance between a wife and a mistress. I dragged my body, still bleeding from childbirth, back to my room. Each step was a dizzying, weightless stumble. The second I collapsed onto the bed, my phone screen lit up. Another post from Jennifer. It was a selfie of her in her hospital bed, lipstick freshly applied, a smug little smile playing on her lips. The caption: “Delivered a healthy 7lb 2oz baby boy! VIP delivery suite + 24/7 private nurse + a flood of flowers and cash~ My benefactor knows how to spoil a girl~ Bet you’re all jealous~” The comment section was already on fire. Jessica replied: [Give it a rest, Jennifer. Now you’re making up a rich benefactor for your baby? Who’s the dad, for real?] Jennifer shot back instantly: [Wouldn’t you like to know~ Go on, guess~ Let’s just say he’s got a hundred times more money than your husband~] Lauren chimed in: [Jennifer, seriously, nine out of ten things that come out of your mouth are BS.] Jennifer: [Yep, yep, you’re all right. I made it all up~ Believe whatever you want~] I used to be one of them, laughing in the comments. “You’re full of it again.” “If you ever landed a sugar daddy, Jennifer, I’d be the last person to believe it.” Because that was Jennifer. Ever since I’d met her in college, she’d been a pathological liar. She’d eat cheap takeout and claim a private chef had come to her house. She’d buy fifty-cent earrings from some knock-off website and swear they were designer custom-made. If a new guy added her on an app, she’d brag that some tech billionaire was trying to get with her. Everyone knew Jennifer was a compulsive braggart. No one ever took her seriously. Including me. So when she made that post about getting knocked up, I just assumed she was clout-chasing, spinning another one of her tall tales. I laughed and gave it a like. The door creaked open. Alex walked in carrying a bowl of nourishing soup, his apron splattered with broth. He set the bowl down and leaned over to kiss my forehead. “You’re awake?” “The doctor said you lost a little too much blood. You need to rest, stay in bed. I’ve been simmering this for you for two hours. Drink it while it’s hot.” He pulled a chair to the bedside, his eyes red-rimmed as he took my hand. “I just went to see our son. Six pounds, eight ounces. The nurse said he has your eyes.” I just stared at him. For eight years, this was the face I woke up to. The man who’d have dinner ready when I got home from work, the one who always backed down first after an argument. I had always thought I was the luckiest woman in the world. Until six hours ago, when I’d pushed a child into this world with every ounce of my strength, only to discover another baby, a carbon copy of my son, in a delivery room just down the hall. “Alex, where were you just now?” His hand, holding the soup spoon, paused for a fraction of a second. “I went down to the pharmacy to pick up your postpartum medication. And I stopped by the nursery to see the baby on my way back.” On the way back. My lips pressed into a thin, hard line. He sat by my bed for a long time that night. Every hour, he would get up to help me turn over, check my temperature, and change the sanitary pad. At 3:17 AM, he thought I was asleep. His footsteps were light, but I counted them. Enough to take him three doors to the left. A door opened. And then it closed. 2 The next morning, Alex left to handle my discharge paperwork. I waited until his footsteps faded down the hall before I slipped out of bed. His jacket was draped over the back of a chair. In the inside pocket was a black phone. His personal phone was white. I always knew he had two. He told me the other one was for work emergencies, for important clients he couldn’t afford to miss. I believed him for eight years. My fingers trembled as I typed in the passcode. He used my birthday for everything. 0714. This phone was no different. The screen unlocked, and his messaging app popped up. The pinned chat at the top had a pink dinosaur as its profile picture. The contact name: My Jennifer. The last message was from 3:21 AM. [What took you so long? The baby just woke up, and I can’t handle him by myself.] His reply: [Be good, babe. I couldn’t get away from Annie. I’ll come earlier next time.] She sent back a cute, pouting emoji. Then: [So when are you going to tell her? You promised me.] He never replied to that one. I scrolled up. A month ago: Jennifer: [You sent me another bouquet of baby’s breath today. What if your wife saw it~] Alex: [I told her they were for a client.] Jennifer: [Hahaha you’re such a good liar.] Three months ago: Jennifer: [Hubby, I’m craving hot pot. Come pick me up after work.] Alex: [I’ll tell Annie I’m working late. I’ll be there at seven.] Six months ago: Alex: [Jennifer, I can’t leave Annie. I owe her too much. But the thought of you being my secret forever is killing me.] Jennifer: [Then divorce her.] Alex: [I can’t.] Jennifer: [Then don’t say crap like that. It’s pathetic. I don’t care about a title anyway. As long as I have you.] Below that was a voice message. My finger hovered over the play button before I finally pressed it. Alex’s voice, so tender it felt like a knife twisting in my chest, filled the silence. “Jennifer, Annie’s out of town on business today. I’m coming over. Wait for me, we can cook dinner together.” I set the phone down, my hands shaking so violently it took a full minute for them to still. Then, I opened Jennifer’s social media feed. I scrolled back, past yesterday’s post about her “benefactor.” Post by post. Two years ago: “Mr. A bought me a necklace~ Guess how much? At least ten grand~ Don’t believe me? Don’t care~” My comment was still there, right underneath: [You must have dreamt up that necklace, babe. Time to wake up.] A year and a half ago: “Mr. A said he’s buying me a condo so I can move out of my crappy rental~ Just putting this brag out into the universe~” Lauren’s comment: [Can’t you come up with something new? Didn’t you say ‘Mr. A’ was taking you to the Maldives last month? What happened with that?] Jennifer’s reply: [He had to leave early so his wife wouldn’t find out~ Hahahaha~] I remember seeing that and thinking it was hilarious. Classic Jennifer. The Queen of BS. Only a fool would believe her. A year ago, Valentine’s Day: “Thanks for the $7,700 Venmo, Mr. A~ Pretty sure the wifey didn’t get this kind of treatment~ Tsk tsk tsk~” I had replied with a single eye-roll emoji. That day, Alex had sent me $5,200. And I thought I was the special one. I kept scrolling. The designer bags, the expensive shoes, the photos from fancy restaurants—I had laughed at every single one. Because it was Jennifer. And you couldn’t believe a word Jennifer said. But now, holding Alex’s second phone, I looked at the transaction history. Twelve thousand dollars for that necklace. An eighty-thousand-dollar down payment on a condo, registered in Jennifer’s name. And a Valentine’s Day transfer for exactly seven thousand, seven hundred dollars, matching her post to the cent. She had never been bragging at all. Every post was her telling the truth, right out in the open. And I was one of the few fools who believed it was all a joke. I placed the phone back in his jacket pocket. Then I lay back down on the bed and closed my eyes. Tears soaked silently into the pillow. 3 A week later, I was discharged. Alex came to pick me up, an infant car seat already installed in the back. I held our son as I got in. He watched me in the rearview mirror, his smile gentle. “I’ll make you some ribs when we get home. You need to build your strength back up.” I didn’t say a word. When we got home, the living room was filled with balloons and bouquets of fresh flowers. Alex’s parents were standing at the door, beaming. “Oh, our little grandson is home! Annie, you’ve worked so hard, thank you, thank you.” His mother took the baby from me, cooing over him. His father clapped Alex on the shoulder. “You’re a father now. Take good care of your wife and son from now on.” It was a picture of perfect domestic bliss. I sat on the sofa, watching them pass the baby around, waiting until all their attention was focused on him. Then, I took the black phone out of my bag and placed it on the coffee table. I cleared the remote. I moved the water glass. I pushed aside the fruit bowl. Until only the phone remained, stark and alone in the center of the table. The room fell silent. The moment Alex saw the phone, his hand, holding a platter of ribs, froze in mid-air. “Annie—” “Your chat history with Jennifer goes back three years.” My voice was flat, devoid of emotion. “You call her ‘babe,’ she calls you ‘honey.’ You said you owe me too much to divorce me, but you couldn’t stand the thought of her being your secret lover.” “Your son was in room 3015 for four days. You went to see him at three in the morning, every single night, and then came back to me and pretended nothing had happened.” The platter slipped from his grasp, crashing to the floor. Ribs and sauce scattered across the polished wood. His mother clapped a hand over her mouth. His father’s expression darkened. Alex scrambled forward, trying to grab my hand. “Annie, I can explain. Jennifer, she—” “Explain what? Explain the twelve-thousand-dollar necklace? Or the down payment on her condo? Or maybe you can explain why her Valentine’s gift was two and a half thousand dollars more than mine?” His body went limp, and he crumpled to his knees on the floor. “Annie, my feelings for you are real, I never lied about that—” “And the baby in room 3015, the one who looks exactly like your son, that’s real too.” His mother panicked, shoving the baby into his father’s arms and rushing over to me. “Annie, honey, calm down. Let’s just talk this through—” “Mom, your son cheated on me with my best friend and had a child with her. Do you really think this is something we can ‘talk through’?” Her lips trembled. She spun around and glared at Alex. “You—how could you do this! How could you do this to Annie!” She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face. But her next words made my heart sink into a pit of ice. “So… what about Jennifer’s baby? That’s our family’s blood too, isn’t it?” I looked down and let out a small, bitter laugh. I knew she didn’t mean it maliciously. But those words hurt more than Alex’s affair. The doorbell rang. I went to open it. Jennifer was standing on the doorstep, wearing a floral sundress and holding a basket of imported fruit. She saw me and froze, then forced a smile. “Annie! I came to see you and the baby—” “Jennifer.” Her smile faltered. “Everything you posted… it was all real, wasn’t it?” “You were never bragging.” “You just knew nobody would believe the truth.” The fruit basket slipped from her hand, thudding softly against the doorframe. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. I turned and walked back into the living room. “Alex, I want a divorce.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437425”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

We were together for six years when Victoria betrayed me without hesitation. At first, I was ready to rage, but then strange “reader comments” flooded my mind. Voices claimed she’d been injected with a neurotoxin and warned that if I confronted her, I’d die homeless on the streets. They told me to stay silent for our daughter’s sake—or I’d lose them both forever. Fearing those prophecies, I buried my anger and stayed quiet. From then on, I watched Victoria and Ben together in our own home. I even cleaned their sheets like a servant. Then one day, I overheard Victoria and her friend laughing. Her friend said the mind-control drug worked perfectly—it made me believe I was in a novel, turning me into an obedient dog. Victoria blew out smoke, smirking. She said that because I’d embarrassed Ben at his party a year ago, she’d strip me of all dignity and make me feel a hundred times the humiliation. When her friend asked what if I snapped, Victoria just flicked her ash. “He’s too well-trained to leave now.” Their footsteps faded. Hiding in the shadows, my heart felt dead. They didn’t know this really was a novel’s world. I’d already completed 997 of Victoria’s demands. Just three more, and I could escape this nightmare for good. 1 In a daze, a sharp stone smashed hard into my forehead. Blood instantly gushed out. I hissed in pain and immediately covered the wound. Two centimeters lower, and that rock would have popped my eyeball right out of its socket. I looked toward where the stone came from. That tiny figure used to hug my neck every night and sweetly call me Daddy. But now, she tilted her chin up, copying Victoria’s exact posture, her eyes filled with chilling apathy. “Is your brain busted or are you just deaf? Uncle Ben is waiting for you to draw his bath. Hurry up!” Once upon a time, her eyes were full of pure adoration. She used to follow me around, saying I was her favorite person in the whole wide world. She was terrified of dogs, but whenever a stray barked at me, she would instantly throw her arms wide open and stand in front of me. “Don’t be scared, Daddy! I’ll protect you!” On the day Victoria cheated and shamelessly brought Ben into our marital home… Laura acted like an angry little beast, grabbing everything she could get her hands on and throwing it at Ben. “Get out! This is my Daddy’s house!” But as the drug and the system forced me into total submission, I became a bowing, scraping shell of a man. The way she looked at me shifted from confusion to blatant, unfiltered disgust. She despised me for being a spineless loser who would not even squeak when stepped on. So she banned me from attending her parent-teacher conferences, claiming I embarrassed her. Instead, she held Ben’s hand and showed him off to her classmates, saying he was elegant and much more suited to be her real Dad. A sharp, stinging pain radiated from my forehead. Warm blood mixed with something unexplainable slid down the corner of my eye, feeling exactly like a tear. I looked at her blankly. “We have maids for that. It is not my job.” Laura frowned deeply. “But Uncle Ben asked for you specifically, so you have to do it!” She raised her slingshot, pulling the rubber band back and aiming right at me. I obeyed Victoria’s orders because the system forced me to. That did not mean I had to take orders from a spoiled brat. I stood my ground. “Go get a maid.” I turned around, intending to go clean the blood off my face. But I never expected Laura to actually let go of that rubber band. The second stone sliced through the air and hit the back of my knee with pinpoint accuracy. Blinding pain shot up my leg. My knees buckled, and I crashed heavily onto the hard marble floor. I landed horribly. A sickening crack echoed through the hallway. I knew right then my wrist was broken. Laura clearly froze for a second. The slingshot slipped from her hand. She took a step forward, seemingly wanting to help me up. But a slender hand pressed firmly onto her shoulder. “Great job, Laura. That is exactly how you deal with a disobedient dog. You have to be ruthless.” Ben had walked downstairs at some point. He stood there, looking down at me, enjoying the pathetic sight of me sweating in agony. Hearing his praise, Laura instantly swallowed whatever pity she had. She looked up at Ben, her eyes practically begging for a treat. Just then, Victoria walked through the front door and took in the scene. Her face darkened instantly. The deep, bleeding hole on my forehead was obviously the work of a slingshot. Her eyes flashed red. She marched over and grabbed Laura’s wrist. “Who taught you to raise your hand against an elder? You are completely out of control. Where are your manners!” Laura flinched. Ben reacted with lightning speed, his eyes welling up with tears. “Victoria, don’t blame Laura. Nolan started it. He was running his mouth, cursing me to die a horrible death, saying awful things about our future baby… Laura just got so mad she couldn’t help it.” “Ask her if you don’t believe me.” A hint of panic flashed through Laura’s eyes. Treating Ben as her lifesaver, she nodded frantically. “Yeah.” She cast a guilty glance at me before raising her voice. “He cursed Uncle Ben first, and he cursed the new baby… That is why I shot him.” The next second, a hand grabbed my hair, jerking my head back violently. 2 Victoria’s eyes were as cold as ice. “Is that true, Nolan?” I glanced at Laura, who was hiding behind her mother. The girl kept her head down, staring intensely at her own toes, too scared to meet my gaze. I forced a smile. “What do you think?” Victoria let go of me abruptly, shoving me hard against the floor. “A leopard never changes its spots. You played nice for barely half a month, and now your vicious nature is showing again. I shouldn’t have gone easy on you!” “Now, crawl over to Ben. Bow your head and beg for his forgiveness! If anything happens to Ben because of your disgusting curses, I will make you pay!” The broken bone in my wrist pulsed with agonizing pain. I stared blankly at the floor, asking softly, “Is this your demand?” We had known each other for ten years, loved each other for six. I had never said no to a single thing she asked of me. In the past sixteen years, I had agreed to and fulfilled nine hundred and ninety-seven of her demands. Including today, that made nine hundred and ninety-eight. Victoria did not hesitate for a second. “Yes. That is my demand.” Before she could even rush me, I bent my knees. With every inch I crawled forward, the broken bone ground against my flesh, sending sharp, knife-like pain shooting through my nerves. To make things worse, I had to press my upper body close to the ground to show my absolute submission. My broken hand twisted into a horrifying angle. After just a few steps, I was drenched in cold sweat, my breathing shaky and shallow. But Ben, sitting comfortably on the sofa, spoke up with a victimized tone. “Victoria, I heard an apology like this has to be perfectly executed. If the posture is wrong, it means he isn’t sincere, and God will punish me for it. Nolan is shaking so much. Is he doing it on purpose to curse my lifespan?” Victoria’s face turned pitch black. “Get over here and hold him down! Don’t let him shake!” Several burly male servants rushed over. They were brutally rough, stepping directly onto my back, practically grinding my face into the floorboards. My broken hand took the brunt of it. Heavy leather shoes stepped right onto my wrist, the bones making a stomach-turning crunch. In the end, I didn’t even know how I survived that torturous punishment. All I remember is being swallowed by total darkness the moment it was over. When I opened my eyes again, the harsh smell of disinfectant filled my nose. Victoria was sitting by my hospital bed, tightly gripping my hand. Seeing my eyelids flutter, she pulled her hand back like she had been burned. “I tell you to crawl and you actually crawl. Is my word really that absolute to you?” “You didn’t even make a sound when your bone broke. If the doctor hadn’t noticed the severe dislocation, this hand would have been crippled for life!” There seemed to be a fleeting trace of emotion in her tone, but I didn’t have the energy to care. I only focused on one thing. “Did the punishment count as finished?” Emotions swirled intensely in Victoria’s eyes. “Yes. It counts.” I let out a long breath of stale air. “Good. Only two left.” Victoria frowned, clearly missing the meaning of my words. She took a deep breath and changed the subject. “I watched the security footage from the garden.” “Laura was the one who shot you first.” Immediately, she started making excuses for Ben. “Don’t hold it against Ben. He only lied to protect Laura from getting punished.” “At the end of the day, the problem is you. You raised Laura, and now she turns around and throws rocks at you. You are a complete failure of a father. Do you admit it?” Her words cut like knives. To wash Ben clean, she had zero problems dumping all the blame on me. But was she really that blind? Everything Laura did now was a carbon copy of her. Copying her cold shoulders, copying her creative ways to humiliate me, copying the way she treated me like a disposable stray dog. I closed my eyes, swallowing every bit of emotion. “I admit it.” That answer finally satisfied her. In a rare moment of kindness, just like before our relationship shattered, she tucked me in and told me to get some rest. When her hand reached out to brush my cheek, I turned my head away, dodging her touch. Victoria’s face instantly frosted over. She turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her. 3 By the afternoon, Ben strolled right into my hospital room like he owned the place. He wore that sickeningly smug smile on his face. “Victoria is so silly. You’re the one lying in the hospital bed, but she insisted that being near your dirty blood brought me bad luck. She specifically gave me an antique pendant to cleanse my aura.” He proudly pulled out the tarnished silver cross necklace hanging around his neck. Just one glance, and all the blood rushed to my head. My fingertips trembled. That was the amulet my late mother prayed for on the cold stone floor of our hometown church. It was the only keepsake I brought over from my original world. For sixteen straight years, I protected it like my own life. I barely even touched it, keeping it carefully locked in the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Even when Laura used to cry and beg to play with it, I never gave in. Victoria actually dug through my things while I was unconscious and casually gave it to Ben to cleanse his aura? “Give it back!” Blinding rage made my chest heave with a metallic taste. Forgetting my broken wrist, I lunged at him like a madman. But before I even grazed the edge of the necklace, a heavy kick sent me flying backward. “Ben, are you okay?!” “Uncle Ben!” Victoria and Laura had appeared at the door out of nowhere. The mother and daughter swarmed Ben, protecting him like he was made of glass. My back slammed hard against the wall. My vision went black, and it felt like my organs had been rearranged. Ben buried his face in Victoria’s shoulder, whining with fake tears. “Victoria, Laura, Nolan is acting like a psycho! I came to check on him, and he just lunged at me like a rabid dog, trying to strangle me! He even accused me of stealing his necklace!” Victoria’s eyes turned sharp. She stood like an iceberg in front of Ben. “It is just a piece of junk jewelry. Is it worth throwing a psycho fit over? You never even wear it. What is the big deal if Ben borrows it to ward off bad energy?” I screamed, my voice tearing. “That is mine! That is my mother’s relic!” “If you want to ward off his bad energy, go pay a bishop at a cathedral to bless him! Why did you touch my things!” Hearing the word “relic,” Victoria frowned slightly, seeming to waver. But Ben gripped the silver cross tightly, refusing to budge. “Victoria, I really like this one. It feels perfectly in tune with my soul.” Victoria instantly shifted her stance. “Since Ben likes it, just give it to him. You always used to listen to me. Be a good boy, don’t throw a tantrum over something so trivial.” She spoke in that dismissive tone she would use on a pet, entirely certain I would cave in. I gritted my teeth, shaking my head stubbornly. “He can take anything else from that house. But absolutely not this cross.” Laura angrily ran over, her small fists raining down on me. “You bad man! You’re just jealous of Uncle Ben. You want to make him sad on purpose, don’t you!” She hated me so much now. Her punches weren’t strong, but every hit on my chest hurt worse than the stone from yesterday. Victoria pulled Laura back, stared right into my eyes, and delivered the final verdict. “Nolan, this is my demand.” I froze instantly. Only my pupils trembled violently. Whenever Victoria said those words, my physical autonomy locked down completely. I literally could not say the word no. Listening to the sizzling static of the system in my brain. Hot tears finally spilled over. “Okay.” “As long as it’s your demand, I agree.” Seeing my total emotional collapse, Victoria unexpectedly froze. “Nolan…” Her throat bobbed. A highly complex flash of regret passed through her eyes. “Don’t be like this. When you get discharged, I’ll hire the best silversmith to make you an exact replica.” I didn’t waste another word on her. No matter how expensive the replica was, it wouldn’t have my mother’s warmth. For the first few days after leaving the hospital, I locked myself in the dark guest room to recover. I blocked out all the noise from the outside world. Until one morning, Victoria kicked my door open. Veins popped on her forehead as she lunged at me like an enraged lioness, choking me tightly. “Nolan, how can you be so venomous! You actually cursed that cross!” 4 Cursed? I gasped for air, struggling to speak. “What… what the hell are you talking about?” She let go, throwing me hard against the floor. “Save the innocent act! I hired a top psychic, and she said you used that necklace to put a vicious hex on Ben!” “No wonder Ben has been running a high fever and having nightmares every single night. You’re the one pulling the strings. I never knew you were this sinister!” My back hit the hardwood floor with a painful thud. Pale and breathless, I shook my head frantically. “That is impossible! My mother prayed for that sacred item in a church. How could it carry anything dark!” “Besides, you guys forced it off me. I haven’t even touched it!” “Exactly!” Victoria’s eyes looked like they could burn me alive. “That is why you built up so much resentment and silently cursed whoever wore it. You hated Ben for taking your necklace. But if you’re so mad, come at me! Torturing an innocent man is just pathetic!” She gave me one last look of profound disappointment and sorrow before waving her hand at the bodyguards waiting outside. A few bulky men stormed in, roughly stripping off my pajamas and forcing me into a ridiculous, mothball-scented clown suit. Victoria stood at the door, her voice devoid of any warmth. “Tonight is Ben’s birthday gala. He said that if you wear this suit and play the clown to entertain everyone, he will be merciful and let the cursing incident slide.” Looking at my reflection, smeared with exaggerated face paint and a stupid red nose. I finally connected all the dots. Victoria went through all this trouble just to get back at me for humiliating Ben at his birthday party a year ago. I made her precious lover lose face, so she was going to make me pay it back a thousand times over. I looked in the mirror, laughing until tears streamed down my face. “Is this your demand too?” Victoria paused slightly before answering coldly, “Yes.” I wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes. “Alright.” Victoria, this is the very last time. Dragging my heavy feet, I arrived punctually at Ben’s outrageously lavish garden birthday party. Most of the people in Victoria and Ben’s circle knew who I was. In the past, they used to call me their brother and compliment how perfect Victoria and I were for each other. Now, they clustered in small groups, holding back laughter while pointing their phone cameras right at my painted face, eagerly recording my humiliation. I spotted Laura in the crowd, wearing a custom princess dress. When her eyes met mine, they churned with blatant disgust and furious embarrassment. A little girl in a pink dress next to her asked curiously, “Laura, who is that clown? Do you know him?” Laura turned her head away sharply, her voice piercing. “I don’t know that freak!” The paint hid my expression. This was fine. Since Laura was thoroughly disgusted by me, I could leave without a single shred of attachment. “Nolan, I can’t believe you actually had the guts to show up.” Ben walked up to me holding a glass of champagne, a fake, dramatic look of surprise on his face. He shook my hand, digging his long nails deeply into the soft flesh of my wrist until it bled. He lowered his voice so only we could hear. “Nolan, a year ago when you publicly called me home-wrecking trash, did you ever think you’d be begging on the floor like a dog today?” He immediately pulled his hand back, turning to Victoria with his brightest smile. “Victoria, I want to see the clown dance.” I didn’t even wait for Victoria to give the order. Like a marionette with its soul ripped out, I stiffly walked onto the stage and began to flail around, performing a vulgar, comical clown dance. Some of the people who knew me looked awkward, while others whistled and cheered at the spectacle. I treated them all like thin air, mechanically running through the final script. Until a sticky slice of cream cake hit me square in the face, clogging my nose. “Enough! Have you thrown away your last shred of dignity!” Through the gap in the frosting, I looked at the person who threw the cake. A strong metallic taste rose in my throat. I slowly wiped the cream off my eyes, ready to continue the dance. The next second, my arm was yanked hard. Victoria dragged me forcefully down the stairs. “It is over, Nolan.” She stared at me, her eyes chaotic, like something was choking her. While planning this party, she fully believed that seeing me act like an utter fool would give her the ultimate high of avenging Ben. But when it actually happened, all she felt was suffocating irritation and an indescribable panic. Maybe this absurd punishment game really needed to end. I looked at her lifelessly, my voice hoarse. “Is your demand complete?” She froze, nodding instinctively. “Yes.” Bzzzt… In that exact moment, the long-lost mechanical voice of the system finally rang loud and clear in my head. “Ding. Congratulations to Host 508 on completing the redemption side-quest. Please terminate all vital signs within ten minutes to prepare for world extraction.” “Nolan…” Victoria seemed to want to say something else. But without wasting a single second, I turned around and took large strides toward the roof of the main mansion. Seeing my resolute back, Victoria’s heart skipped a heavy beat. She subconsciously reached out to grab my shirt. But Ben held her arm tight. “Victoria, it’s time to cut the cake!” Victoria stood there, her eyes locked on my fading silhouette. For the first time, she realized that at some point, I had withered down to just skin and bones. Even that ridiculous clown suit hung loosely on my frame. She made a silent vow right then and there. Once this party ended, she would cut ties with Ben for good. The massive, multi-tiered fondant cake was rolled out. Victoria grasped the knife handle, somewhat distracted. Right at the moment the sharp blade pierced the frosting… Bang! A sickeningly heavy thud echoed from the courtyard outside.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437424”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

The unexpected twist on our graduation trip tore me and my fiancée apart for good. For six hours, I scoured the unfamiliar city like a madman, hunting for any trace of her. It wasn’t until I passed a cozy, warmly lit pub on a street corner that a voice drifting out froze me solid. “I never planned on bringing him anyway, I deliberately ditched him.” Willow’s drunken complaint pierced my ears. “Landon is just too clingy, it’s honestly annoying.” Her senior, Noah, chuckled in agreement. But she pressed on, “If only he could be as mature and steady as you.” I stumbled back to the beach, screaming her name with all my might until my throat was raw and bleeding. I couldn’t stop. Finally, I had no strength left even to confront her. I dragged my leaden legs back to the hotel, grabbed my passport, and hailed a cab straight to the airport. The city outside the window blurred into a smear. At the boarding gate, my phone finally lit up with her name. “Just charged it. You must have been worried sick, right? Send me your location, I’ll come find you right away.” Hearing her utter lack of apology, I hung up. My trembling fingers typed out four words: Wedding cancelled. 1 “Landon, what do you mean? You couldn’t keep up with me, you ran off, and now you’re taking it out on me?” Three seconds after I sent the message, Willow’s call came through. Faintly, I could hear our friends trying to calm her down on the other end. Noah, the senior, was clearly the closest. “You’re getting married, Willow. Talk to Landon nicely. Boys need to be coaxed.” A chorus of laughter erupted, and Willow’s voice grew colder. “We only booked the venue, the invitations haven’t even gone out. If Landon wants to cancel the wedding, fine by me!” She hung up. Willow’s fury, just like that, vanished. My phone wallpaper still showed her sunny smile. I paused, then decided to change it immediately. But when I opened my photo gallery, Willow was everywhere. I loved capturing every moment I spent with Willow. The way she’d scrunch up her nose at bitter Americano. The disgusted look as she picked out mushrooms I’d prepared. And the goofy hand dances I’d dragged her into. I selected them, one by one, deleting them. In the end, I simply cleared the entire album. For some reason, a huge chunk of my heart felt empty too. A fellow traveler tapped me on the shoulder, reminding me that my phone was buzzing relentlessly. It was Willow again. This time, her tone was softer. “Landon, I was out of line earlier. I was just too stressed.” “Don’t be mad at me. Where are you? I’ll come pick you up right away.” Seeing that I still said nothing, Willow grew a little anxious. “We planned to go snorkeling tomorrow, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted to do?” I opened my mouth, a reflex to say something. Willow loved snorkeling. As someone who couldn’t swim, I’d specifically hired a private instructor before this trip, practicing tirelessly. I didn’t want my clumsiness to wear out Willow’s patience. So I repeatedly overcame my fear, holding my breath and diving, my eyes bloodshot from the water after each lesson. Now, I felt it was all for nothing. “I…” I wanted to say let’s break up, I’m not getting married. But my throat felt like it had been scraped with gravel, dry and painful. The silence, lasting several seconds, completely infuriated Willow. “Landon, you’re really something.” “An hour of me not finding you at the hotel, and we’re done!” Whenever Willow and I argued, this tactic always worked. Because I loved her, seemingly more than she loved me. But this time, I wouldn’t budge. As the final call for boarding echoed, I walked towards the counter with my passport. The ground staff looked up at me, then handed the document back. It was then I realized, in my haste, I’d picked up Willow’s passport by mistake. And tomorrow’s flights back home were fully booked; the earliest I could rebook was the day after. An hour and a half later, exhausted, I rushed back to the hotel. My plan was to swap passports and find another place to stay. But just as I entered the lobby, I ran into Willow and Noah. Willow was clearly drunk, leaning on Noah’s shoulder. “Landon is really something too, how could he just leave without a word and abandon me?” “Here, have some water.” Noah held a glass to her lips. There was a noticeable lipstick print on the rim. Seeing me, he guiltily pushed Willow towards me. “Good you’re back, I’ll leave Willow to you.” I have allergies. As soon as I got close, the perfume scent clinging to Willow made me sneeze twice. Without thinking, I pushed her back to Noah. My voice was flat. “The senior got her drunk, so the senior can take care of her.” On the way back, I’d bought throat lozenges, and they helped a lot. I turned and walked upstairs, ignoring Noah’s darkened expression. There were six of us on this trip, three of them Willow’s college roommates. She wouldn’t be without a place to sleep tonight. After showering in my room, I realized Willow’s phone was on the bedside table, buzzing with notifications. Annoyed by the noise, I planned to mute it. But the stored facial recognition automatically unlocked the phone. The first thing I saw was Willow’s group chat. “Why does Willow put up with Landon, the rich kid? He’s useless except for being clingy.” “She was so wasted, Noah had to bring her back. I think they’re a perfect match.” “Wasn’t it because Noah was almost engaged that Willow even said yes to Landon?” My fingers stiffened, unable to press the power button. Because Noah had a girlfriend, even though Willow was overly attentive to him, I never dug too deep. At most, I’d pretend to be mad for a couple of days and wait for Willow to sweet-talk me. The more I thought, the more it hurt. Since I’d decided to break up, why did I still care about these things? Seeing the latest message pop up in the chat, I scoffed. “You didn’t know? Noah broke up with his girlfriend at the beginning of the month.” I paused, then suddenly understood why Willow had been so eager to organize this trip. Take me snorkeling? Film beautiful videos for me? All the reasons she’d spouted were just excuses. I turned to my suitcase, filled with all sorts of clothes. For me, this was supposed to be a journey of special significance. Because after returning home, I’d dive into wedding preparations, ready to become a husband, even a father. The day before we left, I stayed up all night planning. But fate always seemed to mock the earnest. Whether this relationship, or this trip, both had been utter failures. I looked out at the tranquil ocean beyond the French doors, feeling tears were utterly superfluous. Just as I was about to put down my phone and sleep, Willow’s phone received another message. From Noah. Just a few simple words: “Feeling better?” I stared at it for two seconds, then, on a whim, tapped the video call icon. The call connected instantly. Noah, on screen, was wearing a silk robe, his physique clearly visible. “You… why are you…?” Facing his undisguised embarrassment, I smiled. “Senior, really. If you want to hook up with someone else’s girlfriend, at least wait until I’ve dumped her. Then you’d be legitimate, wouldn’t you?” Noah’s face turned green, and he ended the call. … Perhaps it was sheer exhaustion, but I slept deeply. Until Willow burst in and dragged me out of bed. “Landon, Noah just broke up, why would you provoke him? If anything happens to him, I’m done with you!” This morning, with Noah missing, Willow had been a nervous wreck. Calling the police wasn’t enough; she even wanted to contact the embassy. I kept wondering if Willow had ever worried about me like that. But it seemed, never once. I always arrived ten minutes early for dates. I’d always report what I was doing, who I was seeing. If Willow missed me, even if I was vacationing with my parents, I’d take the fastest flight to be by her side. This was how I loved her. But in Willow’s eyes, it had become clinginess. Annoying. I didn’t know if I had used the wrong approach. Or perhaps, the fault wasn’t mine at all. This morning, Willow had publicly scolded me in front of her roommates, then later returned to ask for my help contacting the local business association. Out of respect for my parents, they would certainly lend a hand. But why should they? Noah and I had absolutely nothing to do with each other. And even Willow, not yet married, was no one to me. So I refused. “Noah is an adult. He’s responsible for his own safety.” Those were Willow’s words, spoken to Noah after she’d ditched me yesterday. Now, I returned them to her verbatim. But Willow grew furious. “Landon, I just realized today what a petty man you are! Do you think every woman in the world should revolve around you? You just didn’t like me inviting Noah on this trip, why didn’t you just say so?” Even her roommates chimed in from behind. “Willow was just worried you’d be uncomfortable as the only guy, so she invited Noah.” “Landon, Willow’s been good enough to you, what more do you want?” Before Noah left, he’d texted saying he didn’t want to spoil my fun. They all assumed I’d said something nasty to him. I had, but it was all true. Yet Noah had turned it around on me, and he’d succeeded. Since I couldn’t leave, I didn’t want to waste any more time. I was now at the beach, warming up for snorkeling. The instructor said there was a good chance of seeing whale sharks today, and I was absolutely thrilled. As we were about to set sail, I saw Willow and her friends approaching, clustered around Noah. “I told you you wouldn’t hold a grudge against Landon, it was all a misunderstanding.” Willow winked at me, signaling me to say something nice to Noah. I fought hard not to flip the table right there and then, and instead climbed onto the boat. There would be no peace today, I figured. It turned out Noah had just been in a bad mood and had gone to explore the local market alone. He’d even thoughtfully brought back gifts for everyone. Leaving no room for complaint. Once the boat set off, Willow, right in front of me, put on the handmade necklace Noah had given her. “Noah, your taste is really impeccable.” Willow cherished it like a treasure. And the one she’d taken off, she casually handed to me. I remembered, it was the birthday gift I’d given her last year. Willow had said she’d wear it forever, a promise to keep her close. Now, it seemed the meager sense of security she offered was just a temporary thing. I silently let my hand drop, allowing the necklace to be silently swept away by the waves. Letting go was my freedom, too. When we reached the snorkeling spot, Willow’s three roommates eagerly jumped into the water. She, like an expert, patiently helped Noah adjust his mask, fins, and other gear. By the time Willow remembered me and turned around to offer help, I was already fully geared up and had flipped into the water. No fear, only the passion to explore the ocean. Even in the few seconds a whale shark swam alongside me, I felt immense satisfaction. Life’s choices, perhaps some right, some wrong. But they always corresponded to different scenery. Having been here, having loved, was enough. After snorkeling, the atmosphere on the boat ride back was incredibly awkward. Noah, the university league’s 1000-meter butterfly champion, had been afraid to get in the water today. Willow had to sit with him on the boat all afternoon. When the instructor enthusiastically showed me the snorkeling videos and photos he’d taken of me, Willow looked a little regretful. “Landon, let’s come back again when we get married and go on our honeymoon.” Even now, Willow thought I was just speaking in anger yesterday. I was about to seize the opportunity to make things clear, when the sea suddenly grew windy. The change happened in an instant. When the boat capsized, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t scared. My hand instinctively reached for Willow, who was closest to me. But my fingertips brushed past her arm, grasping empty air. I watched Willow swim, without hesitation, desperately towards Noah. Stunned for a moment, a huge wave crashed over me, pushing me into the deep sea. I struggled with all my might, but it was futile. Both Willow and the shore drifted further and further away. Willow and I were neighbors, went to the same primary and middle school. Back then, my parents’ business was just starting, and they were very busy, so they’d have Willow and me walk to and from school together. Willow had always loved to tease me. On the first day of school, she deliberately left me behind. I was timid back then, dared not go anywhere. I just sat at the school gate, from sunset until late at night. “Landon!” It wasn’t my parents who came, but Willow. “Are you stupid? You don’t even know your way home!” After scolding me, Willow opened her backpack. It was stuffed with snacks, all her apologies. “Remember to stick with me from now on, got it?” Because of Willow’s words, I became her shadow. Dazed, I almost followed Willow into the girls’ restroom once. I was so embarrassed, I didn’t want to go to school. Willow, however, punched out the front teeth of the kid who was leading the teasing. As if telling everyone, being her sidekick was nothing to be ashamed of. In high school, my parents sent me to an international school. Willow went to a top-tier state high school. Every Friday, I’d wait for her early outside her school gate. Willow would always impatiently toss her backpack at me, no longer full of snacks, but instead, envelopes filled with love letters. Some for her, some for me. “Landon, don’t come looking for me at school anymore, your admirers are driving me crazy.” I habitually followed behind Willow, timidly apologizing. But secretly, I’d open the love letters people sent her. Reading the lines, sometimes subtle, sometimes bold, I’d get so jealous I couldn’t sleep. I don’t know why, but I just felt that I was the only one who could be Willow’s boyfriend. She was never a patient person. Yet she’d spend entire afternoons with me at the library. She’d wait two hours in line with me for trendy ice cream. On my 18th birthday, Willow, amidst everyone’s cheers, kissed my forehead. My face was so red I wanted to crawl into a hole. My friends said Willow would definitely confess to me after college started. To go to the same school as her, I worked incredibly hard. Even my parents, who insisted I study abroad, were convinced by me. But I never expected Willow to make an exception for another guy on the very first day of freshman orientation. Noah was a year ahead of us, responsible for greeting new students. On orientation day, my parents were busy, so Willow and I went together, eager to explore the campus where we’d study and live for the next four years. At the club recruitment fair, someone bumped into me. Willow, protecting me, got into an argument with Noah and almost came to blows. Noah stepped in to mediate, and Willow accidentally scratched his elbow. Willow panicked, insisting on taking Noah to the infirmary. In the crowded hallway, I couldn’t hold onto her arm. Willow’s phone was dead, I couldn’t reach her, but I thought she’d eventually come back for me, so I waited in place. In the end, Willow never appeared. That day, Noah showed Willow around the school and invited her to join the swim club. At the freshman welcome dance that evening, they were the most dazzling pair, while I arrived late. From that moment on, I decided not to wait passively anymore. I memorized Willow’s class schedule, always secretly sneaking into her classrooms. If the photography club had an event, I’d sign up as an external staff member. Everyone called me Willow’s inseparable shadow. But no one knew I was afraid, afraid Willow would be snatched away by someone else, like a Sword of Damocles hanging over my head. College life was different. Willow had many friends; she no longer included me in everything, even lied to me. I heard Willow was celebrating New Year’s Eve with her roommates by the river. Even though it was jam-packed, I braved the cold wind and rode a shared bike for two hours, just to see the fireworks with her at midnight. But when I shared my location, Willow was ten kilometers away at a shopping mall, celebrating Noah’s birthday. “Landon, actually, since you’re on the way, could you pick up a box of caramel egg tarts on Fortune Road? Noah wants some.” Even though both ends of the phone were noisy, I felt an eerie silence all around me, pushed and shoved by the New Year’s Eve crowd, like driftwood at sea, without a branch to cling to.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437423”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

It was time for the company’s end-of-year review. The boss announced that revenue was down. To boost morale, he decided to take my entire annual commission and distribute it to everyone as a holiday bonus. My coworkers were absolutely thrilled. One guy chimed in that since I drove a BMW and didn’t have student loans, I should look out for those of them who had families to feed. Another preached that a company only thrives when its employees are happy, telling me to be a team player and show some sacrifice. I just smiled, nodded, and immediately stepped out to call my clients, telling them to freeze all their pending payments. Fast forward to the week before the holidays. The company had zero cash flow. They couldn’t even make payroll. Panic set in. And one by one, they all came crawling to me, begging for help. 1 “The economy is tough right now. To make sure everyone has a great Christmas, Riley has generously agreed to donate her entire commission for the year. It will be distributed as your holiday bonuses!” The moment our boss Victor finished his sentence, the conference room erupted into thunderous applause. As the subject of this supposed generosity, I sat there completely stunned. Using my commission as the company bonus pool? This was the first time I was hearing about it. Swallowing the bitter taste of anger in my throat, I spoke up. “Our sales volume increased by fifteen percent compared to last year. Logically, the company is highly profitable. We shouldn’t be in a position where we can’t afford standard holiday bonuses, right?” Victor’s fake smile instantly vanished. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to keep all of you employed? I match your 401k, I pay for premium health insurance. Have I ever mistreated you?” “What do you know about operating a business? Just because you say we’re profitable doesn’t make it true! Why don’t you sit in this chair and run the company!” Victor was getting more agitated by the second, slamming his hand flat against the mahogany table. Terrified of getting caught in the crossfire, my coworkers kept their heads down, exchanging nervous glances. The room fell dead silent until Victor’s assistant finally broke the ice. “Come on, Victor, don’t get mad! Riley definitely didn’t mean it like that. She’s a veteran here. She would never just sit back and watch us struggle through the holidays.” Serena, our Sales Director, had always hated my guts. There was no way she was going to let an opportunity to screw me over slip by. “Riley, whenever you needed help, Victor and I never hesitated! You’ve always been the most mature one here. The company is facing a rough patch and needs your sacrifice. Don’t be ungrateful!” With that, she shot a pointed look at Valerie sitting next to her. Valerie’s eyes darted around before she took the cue. “Look, most of us spend our paychecks covering mortgages, car loans, or kids’ tuition. You’re different. Your parents bought your condo in cash. Even without this commission, you’re going to have a fantastic holiday.” “But don’t worry, your generosity won’t go unnoticed!” She plastered on a sickeningly sweet smile and addressed the room. “Everyone, when you visit your hometowns this break, make sure to bring back some local treats for our girl Riley!” “Oh, absolutely! My whole family will be so grateful to you, Riley. I’ll bring you some of my mom’s famous homemade maple syrup!” “Riley, I promise to work twice as hard next year! I’m going to toast to your health on New Year’s Eve!” “I’m not great with words, but I’ll put it out there. From now on, whatever you need, just say the word and I’ve got your back!” One by one, they chimed in, piling the fake praise higher and higher. Seeing his employees act so obediently, Victor finally cracked a smug smile. “I always knew I wasn’t wrong about Riley. When the employees thrive, the company thrives! Come on everyone, let’s give it up for Riley’s selfless contribution!” The applause grew louder, but my heart turned entirely to ice. As the top sales rep in the company, I was scraping by on a pathetic base salary of three thousand a month. If my family wasn’t financially comfortable, and if my parents didn’t occasionally help me out, I wouldn’t even have enough cash to cover the fancy dinners required to entertain my clients. It wasn’t like I had never complained about this. I had told Victor that the base pay was insulting, expense reimbursements took months to clear, and relying on my own pocket to build client relationships was hurting our business growth. His response back then? An awkward chuckle and a personal Venmo transfer of five grand, framed as a “personal loan” to tide me over. He had heavily implied that I needed to understand the company’s struggles and tough it out. He even promised that when my year-end commission was calculated, he would throw in interest for the hassle. Like a fool, I believed him. I gritted my teeth and worked like a dog. I had been counting down the days until the end of the year. The moment December hit, I sat down with our new accountant to run the numbers. When I saw my accumulated commission was sitting at a cool hundred grand, I was ecstatic. I had it all planned out. I was going to pay my parents back and use the rest to take them on a luxury vacation to the Bahamas. And now? Without a single word of consultation, he took my hundred thousand dollars and handed it out as charity to buy loyalty. It hit me then. Victor never intended to pay me a dime. If he was going to play dirty, I was going to play ruthless. I held up a hand, stopping a younger colleague named Noah who looked like he was about to speak up in my defense. I let out a cold, sharp laugh. “Alright. Since everyone feels so strongly about it, let’s consider it done.” 2 Victor clearly hadn’t expected me to cave so easily. A flicker of suspicion crossed his eyes, but he didn’t push his luck. With a stiff chuckle, he patted my shoulder and dismissed the meeting. My coworkers filed out, side-stepping me. As they brushed past, the mocking glints in their eyes practically screamed that I was the biggest sucker on the planet. I sat alone in the quiet room, waiting until the last person was gone before returning to my desk. “Alright everyone, our holiday bonuses are secured! To celebrate the good news, afternoon coffee is on me!” Serena clapped her hands, her voice loud enough for the whole floor to hear. Noah, who was on my team, immediately jumped in. “That new place downstairs has a seasonal roast. I’ve been dying to try it.” He glanced over at me. “Riley, what do you want?” Before I could politely decline, Valerie’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Oh please. Riley drives a Beamer. She wouldn’t be caught dead drinking drip coffee from downstairs. She only does artisanal lattes. Just order for ourselves.” Noah looked deeply uncomfortable. I saved him the trouble. “I’ve been dealing with insomnia anyway. I’ll pass.” Grabbing my phone, I walked straight to the rooftop terrace. The biting winter wind cut through my rage, bringing a sharp clarity to my mind. I found a contact and hit dial. “Harper. Put a hold on this year’s final payments. There’s no rush.” After a burst of bright, infectious laughter, Harper started teasing me. “Are you playing hard to get, Riley? Relax. I already approved the paperwork this morning. The funds will drop in two days. I promise you won’t be stuck living off a three-grand base salary anymore!” “I’m not joking, Harper. Seriously, hold the payment.” Sensing the shift in my tone, Harper’s voice instantly dropped the playful edge. “What happened? Who messed with you?” “Let me guess. Victor lost his damn mind and disrespected his top earner?” “…Don’t tell me he backed out of paying your commission.” I let out a heavy sigh. On the other end of the line, Harper sounded like she had just struck gold. “I told you! I told you to come work for me! If you jump ship and join my team, I’ll beat whatever commission rate they gave you by a full percent!” “Don’t answer right now. Just think about it. My door is always open.” She hung up quickly, almost as if she was afraid I would reject her on the spot. Truth was, I had no intention of rejecting her. If anything, I was incredibly grateful for how she had looked out for me over the years. I wasn’t some corporate heiress. I didn’t have a CEO father or family connections to pave my way. I wasn’t even that great at schmoozing executives over expensive cocktails. But I knew how to be genuine, and people remembered that. When one client’s mother was diagnosed with diabetes, I consulted a specialist and personally typed up a custom dietary plan. When another client was too busy to notice her daughter was being relentlessly bullied at school, I was the one who drove down there and raised hell in the principal’s office. Every single account I won, I bled for. I earned my title as top seller from the ground up. After hanging up with Harper, I dialed a few more of my key accounts. Thankfully, these were people who actually considered me a friend. They were more than happy to help me serve up a cold dish of revenge. Satisfied, I slipped my phone into my pocket and headed toward the stairwell, fully intending to march down to HR and quit. But as I rounded the corner, Victor’s voice echoed from the hallway. “A hundred grand is not chump change. Once it hits my accounts, it’s my money. Riley isn’t asking for her commission. She’s reaching into my wallet and robbing me.” “I’m withholding it on purpose. What’s she going to do? She’ll swallow her pride and keep working like a dog to make me rich.” My stomach dropped. I quickly stepped back, hiding behind a row of filing cabinets. I heard Serena’s voice next. “People online say firing your top earner is like cutting a major artery. You aren’t worried she’ll quit and take the clients with her?” Victor scoffed loudly. “Top earner? She’s a gullible idiot!” “She only pulls those numbers because she has the Apex brand backing her. Any account she can close, I guarantee you can close too!” I heard the dull clink of ceramic as Victor playfully bumped his coffee mug against Serena’s. Serena giggled. “Well, I know my place, unlike her. I’d gladly take a lower commission rate. Thanks for the opportunity, boss!” They erupted into laughter. “She brought this on herself. If she wants someone to blame, she can blame her own high numbers!” My fingernails dug so hard into my palms they almost broke the skin. The blood roared in my ears. Originally, I was just going to hand in my resignation and take the commission issue to the Department of Labor. But now? The game had changed. I was going to make Victor fire me. And I was going to bleed him dry for every single cent of severance and commission I was owed. 3 The end of the year was a nightmare of deadlines. Normally, the sales department was deserted by mid-afternoon as reps went out to meet clients. Today, everyone was glued to their monitors, furiously typing away. If I wasn’t actively plotting my own termination, I would be drowning in work right now, chasing down delayed invoices while drafting strategic plans for the first quarter. Pulling twelve-hour shifts was the standard. But today? I was in absolute paradise. I played three rounds of a mobile game on the clock, streamed an episode of a new reality show, and when I got bored, I wandered down to the lobby to gossip with the receptionist. Before I knew it, it was quitting time. My coworkers were still typing frantically, completely oblivious to the clock. With exactly five minutes to spare, I shut down my laptop, packed my designer tote, and stood right in front of the fingerprint scanner. The second the clock struck five, I punched out and practically skipped out of the building. I had barely made it to the intersection down the street when my phone lit up with Serena’s name. “Riley! Everyone is grinding out these deadlines and you just clock out without submitting your proposal?! Get your ass back here right now! The Crestwood Corp pitch is in a few days. I need that deck on my desk tonight!” “The deadline isn’t for another three days. Chill out. I’ll have the deck ready by the pitch.” “Your pitch needs company approval first! I’m telling you for the last time, turn around and come back to the office. Disobey me, and I’ll pull you off this flagship account!” I let out a dry laugh. “I don’t even get commission anymore. Taking me off the account just sounds like a paid vacation.” “Fine. You’re going to regret this!” Serena slammed the phone down. I powered my phone completely off. After a nice, quiet dinner at home, I took my parents out for an evening walk in the park. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had done this. Since I started working, my life was a relentless cycle of quotas and metrics. The fear of being dead last and publicly humiliated at the weekly meetings kept me constantly on the road, swallowing insults and forcing smiles for clients. And every year, the quotas got higher. The corporate greed was quite literally a bottomless pit. The next morning, I swiped into the office at exactly nine. Not a minute early. Walking past Serena’s glass office, the harsh stench of stale cigarette smoke hit my nose. I asked Noah about it. He whispered that Serena hadn’t gone home at all. She stayed up all night desperately trying to build the Crestwood proposal herself, but Victor kept rejecting her drafts. By lunch, she looked like a zombie. She didn’t even stop to eat before dragging Victor out of the office with her. A few days later, the morning of the Crestwood pitch finally arrived. Serena’s exhausted aura was completely gone, replaced by an air of arrogant victory. Before heading out, she gathered the sales floor for a quick huddle. “Every ounce of success you have is because of this company. Don’t ever delude yourselves into thinking that just because you have decent numbers, the company has to bow down to you. Get too full of yourself, and you’ll find yourself out on the street!” I knew the threat was aimed directly at me, but I was so desperate to get fired that I couldn’t stop the massive grin spreading across my face. Serena looked like she wanted to strangle me. Thankfully, Victor knocked on the glass, telling her the Uber was waiting, and she managed to swallow her rage. Noah leaned over and whispered that Serena and Victor had spent the previous evening taking Arthur Brooks, a VP at Crestwood, out for a very expensive dinner. Rumor had it the proposal was greenlit in private, and today’s pitch was just a corporate formality. He looked at me with genuine anxiety. “Riley, aren’t you worried at all? If Serena lands Crestwood, she’s going to use that leverage to get rid of you.” Arthur Brooks? I smirked, but kept my mouth shut. Over at Crestwood’s headquarters, Serena was scheduled as the final presenter. She pulled up her deck, strutting across the front of the boardroom, words spilling out of her mouth a mile a minute. Just as she was hitting her stride, the lead executive cut her off. “Is this your actual proposal? The quality is completely unrecognizable from your previous work. You haven’t even grasped our core demographic or strategic direction for Q1. I don’t have time to entertain this garbage.” Serena froze like a deer in headlights. Her confident smile shattered. A thin layer of cold sweat broke out across her forehead. “We… we built this exactly to Arthur’s specifications…” The executive didn’t even let her finish. He waved his hand dismissively and pushed his chair back to leave. Victor scrambled forward, panic in his eyes. “Please! The rep who normally writes our decks had a medical emergency! Give us one more chance. I’ll have her send the real file over right now!” The executive paused, checked his watch, and slowly sat back down. Two minutes later, my phone rang. It was Victor. “Riley, get your ass over here right now!” When I didn’t immediately respond, his voice shifted into desperate pleading. “If you save this account for us, I swear on my life I will pay out your full commission!” “Deal! With a promise like that, boss, consider it done.” I hung up, grabbed my coat, and took a cab straight to the venue. Having worked with these executives for years, we were on great terms. When I walked into the boardroom, the icy atmosphere instantly thawed. “Hey, Riley!” “Thank god you’re here, Riley. We were starting to get worried.” I gave them a warm smile and immediately plugged my flash drive into the console. Victor, entirely convinced I had swallowed his bait about the commission, didn’t even bother checking the file before tossing the remote to Serena. Serena stood back up, cleared her throat, and launched into a renewed opening statement. She got exactly two words out before the screen flashed. Suddenly, a massive, glitchy cartoon donkey appeared on the eighty-inch monitor, blasting a deafening, bass-boosted remix of “Old MacDonald” at max volume. The entire boardroom fell dead silent. Serena jumped backward, letting out a shriek. She frantically mashed the buttons on the clicker to close the presentation. But the clicker was totally unresponsive. The screen froze, leaving the neon donkey spinning upside down while the terrible music blared on a loop. A few people in the room started snickering. The lead executive slammed his hands on the table, absolutely furious. “Is this how Apex treats a multi-million dollar account?! Are you people making a joke out of us?!” At that exact moment, every single eye in the room turned to look at me.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437422”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Today was my little darling’s fifth birthday. My husband, who usually buried himself in work, had, for once, agreed to take our first family photo. I was so excited I woke up early, scrambling to book the city’s most exclusive photography studio. But as the appointment time drew near, there was no sign of my husband or son. I waited at the studio until closing time, and then my husband’s message finally arrived. He casually mentioned that his company had organized an end-of-year trip, and he’d already left with our son. Right after, my son sent a voice message, his tiny voice saying the trip was super fun and he’d take pictures with me when he got back. I smiled at the screen, sent a “Sounds good!” back. Then, with a flick of my finger, I messaged the chairman of my husband’s company: “Your company organized a trip? Why wasn’t I, your biggest shareholder, informed?” … 1. A voice call came through immediately, laced with bewilderment: “What trip? Are you still half-asleep? End of the year is crunch time for sales, everyone’s running themselves ragged. There’s no way I’d arrange a trip. Everyone in the company is working overtime, except for your husband, who took annual leave.” My best friend, Quinn, her voice crackled through the receiver. I tightened my grip on the phone. “I understand.” “Wait, no, what’s going on?” Quinn heard the shift in my tone and pressed anxiously. I pressed my lips together, looking at myself in the mirror – impeccably dressed in a haute couture gown, hair perfectly styled, yet utterly alone. I felt like a joke. “Come pick me up.” I gave her the address. “Alright, five minutes.” I hung up, still frozen at the vanity. The studio staff had already begun packing up their equipment, ready to close. I could feel the shift in the air; the staff, who had initially eyed my extravagant private booking with envy, now looked at me with blatant pity. Amidst their hushed whispers, I vaguely caught phrases like “stood up,” “poor thing,” and “what’s money good for anyway?” Just then, the studio manager approached, carrying a thick photo album. “Ma’am, please don’t be too upset. Perhaps your husband had an urgent, unexpected matter.” The manager gently pushed the album towards me. “Although today didn’t work out, you can take a look at our sample prints. This is our collection of family portraits; you can choose a style for next time, and when you bring your husband and son, we can start shooting right away.” I felt dispirited, but out of politeness, I casually opened the first page. The moment I did, my entire body froze. Staring back at me, proudly displayed on the title page as a studio showpiece, was a huge family portrait. The background was warm and luxurious. A man in a crisp suit smiled gently; a woman in an elegant gown stood beside him. In the middle, a little boy in a miniature suit, eyes curved into crescent moons, held a bouquet of daisies. That was my five-year-old son. That was my husband, the man I shared a bed with. And that woman… The manager, seeing my stunned expression, thought I was amazed by the photo’s quality. She immediately launched into a gushing explanation, a hint of pride in her voice: “Ma’am, you have excellent taste, choosing this one right away. This family is our studio’s model family, and they’re long-time clients.” “The gentleman in the photo is the general manager of a listed company, earning millions a year. He’s handsome and charismatic. The lady next to him is also impressive, famously doting on her husband and child.” “This family of three, they’ve been coming to us for family portraits every year since the child was a month old. Look at this little boy, he’s incredibly photogenic, loves having his picture taken, and is always so happy every time he comes. The entire staff loves to play with him.” “Oh, by the way, they booked the Grand Hall at the Grand Estate Hotel for a birthday party today. Our studio photographer was even invited to follow and document it.” Every word from the manager felt like a knife, slicing into my heart, one by one. Years ago, for my husband Liam’s dream, I had willingly stepped back. Fearing he’d be bullied, I secretly got him into Quinn’s company, continuously investing anonymously to make him an undeniable top performer, earning him the General Manager position. Immediately, my mind flashed back to every time I’d tried to take photos of my son. He would always frown, either hiding behind his father or outright covering his face with his hands, yelling: “Go away, Mom! I hate photos!” Back then, Liam always protected him, scoffing at me: “If the kid doesn’t like it, just drop it. Don’t force him; your photography skills aren’t that great anyway.” But now, looking at my son smiling in that photo, I suddenly felt a chill run through me, a bitter coldness deep in my heart. He didn’t hate photos; he just hated taking photos with me. My gaze slowly shifted to the woman in the picture. At first glance, she looked familiar. Now, on closer inspection, wasn’t this Seraphina Song, the impoverished college student I had sponsored for four full years? I had seen her diligence and hard work, not only paying for her entire university education, but when she graduated and struggled to find work, it was I who used my connections to get her a job at a well-regarded state-owned enterprise known for its excellent benefits. I never imagined that the bright student I had sponsored would end up not only in the company I arranged for her, but also in my home. The manager was still chattering away: “Ma’am? Ma’am, what do you think of this style? If you like it, next time…” Just then, the roar of a sports car came from the doorway. Followed by hurried footsteps: “Chloe!” Quinn burst in, a whirlwind of energy. She spotted me instantly, unable to resist a playful tease: “Whoa! This look, you’re stunning! Anyone would think you’re walking the red carpet.” She surveyed the empty studio, puzzled. “Why are you alone? Where are Liam and Leo? Didn’t you say you were taking family photos? Are you done?” I closed the album. This was utterly humiliating. “What’s wrong, Chloe? You look awful.” Quinn dropped her playful demeanor, looking at me with concern. I looked at her and gave a short, bitter laugh: “To the Grand Estate Hotel. I hear my son’s having a birthday party today.” 2. Quinn paused for a moment, then floored the accelerator, driving us straight to the Grand Estate Hotel. The Grand Estate Hotel was not only the most luxurious hotel in the city but also an establishment owned by Quinn herself. Standing at the entrance of the banquet hall, a massive welcome poster greeted my eyes. On the poster was that family portrait: Liam had Seraphina in his arms, our son perched on Seraphina’s shoulders, and the title read: [Our Beloved Son Leo’s Sixth Birthday Bash]. Sixth birthday? I froze. Wasn’t Leo five? Quinn’s face turned stormy. As the big boss of this hotel, she was about to explode, but I held her back. I pushed open the banquet hall doors, and the clamor inside instantly ceased. Hundreds of eyes turned in unison towards the entrance. Most of them were employees of Liam’s company; I didn’t show up often, but I had delivered food to the company a few times, so some recognized me. “Oh, isn’t that the freeloading wife of Manager Smith?” Someone in the crowd scoffed, and then whispers swelled like a tide. “What bad luck, what’s she doing here on such a joyous day?” “I heard she’s worse than the nanny at home, just washing and cooking all day, completely dependent on Manager Smith. Truly a disgrace to women.” “Look at her, dressed to the nines. I bet that gown was bought with Mr. Smith’s credit card.” Liam was standing center stage, cutting the cake, a long knife in his hand. Seraphina’s hand rested intimately on his. They looked utterly coupled. Seeing me enter, Liam showed no trace of guilt, instead frowning. “Chloe Johnson, what are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to stay home? Don’t come here to embarrass me!” He didn’t even bother to step down from the stage, reprimanding me from above. I walked towards the stage, step by step. “Embarrass you?” I pointed at the large number on the poster, my voice hoarse. “Liam, is Leo five this year, or six?” Liam’s eyes flickered, then he became even more self-righteous. “What’s the difference between five and six?” At that moment, Seraphina walked out, smiling. She wore a perfectly tailored haute couture gown, exuding the air of a successful professional. Holding a glass of champagne, she looked at me with an expression that was seemingly polite but truly mocking. “Since you’re here, find a corner and grab something to eat. Today is Leo’s birthday party, hosted by Liam and me, and it’s also a gathering to celebrate my promotion. Don’t spoil everyone’s fun.” “Go away!” Suddenly, a small figure darted out and pushed me hard. It was my son, the one I had doted on for five years. He wore a prince-like suit but glared at me as if I were his enemy. “I won’t let you bully Mommy Seraphina! Mommy Seraphina said you’re a useless good-for-nothing, you only drag Daddy down!” In that moment, my heart shattered into a million pieces. I stared in disbelief at the son I had hand-fed, the one I had stayed up all night watching when he had a fever. “Leo, I’m your mom…” “No, you’re not!” Leo hugged Seraphina’s leg, proudly lifting his chin. “Mommy Seraphina is my mom! She earns lots of money and can buy me lots of things. Mommy Seraphina said I have excellent blood, just like her, not a good-for-nothing like you!” The entire hall erupted in gasps, then quickly dissolved into roaring laughter. “Looks like someone’s a step-mom!” “Hahahaha, raising someone else’s kid for five years, what an incredible cuckold.” “No wonder Mr. Smith doesn’t like her. That kind of waste deserves to be a pawn.” Those employees who usually respectfully called me “ma’am” were now, eager to flatter Seraphina and Liam, speaking with increasingly cruel words. Six years ago, I sponsored Seraphina through her senior year of college. Liam and I met around that time; he tearfully recounted how he’d been unlucky in love and wanted to settle down with a stable person. It turned out that from beginning to end, this was a scheme to find a free meal ticket for Seraphina’s child. “Liam.” I took a deep breath, suppressing the hatred about to erupt in my chest. “So, for these five years, you’ve been acting?” Quinn finally lost it. She rushed forward, pointing at the executives. “You blind idiots! Open your damn eyes and see who I am! And Chloe Johnson, standing right in front of you, is your company’s biggest—” “Security!” Liam impatiently cut Quinn off, casting a cold glance at us. “Get these two disruptive lunatics out of here. Especially the one next to Chloe Johnson, dressed like a lowlife thug. She must be some poor relative of this good-for-nothing, right?” Eager to impress, the employees didn’t even wait for security. Several tall managers rolled up their sleeves and surrounded us, sinister smiles plastered on their faces. 3. “Who dares touch me!” Quinn roared, enraged. She usually presided at the group headquarters, rarely inspecting this branch office. Plus, dressed casually today, these people truly didn’t recognize the legendary Chairman. “Is that woman crazy? ‘Who dares touch her’?” A department manager sneered. To curry favor with Seraphina, she was the first to rush forward and shove Quinn. “Who are you anyway? Don’t you know Mr. Smith is the General Manager here? Getting rid of you is as easy as squashing an ant!” Seraphina stood on the stage, holding her son, arm around Liam, watching us being encircled as if it were a play, a smirk playing on her lips. “Everyone, whoever cleans out these two pieces of trash today, so they no longer dirty mine and Liam’s eyes, will have their year-end bonus doubled next year.” Generous rewards always spurred bravery. The pushing and shoving crowd instantly turned violent. Someone kicked Quinn hard in the knee, sending her stumbling to the ground. I rushed to help her, but a heavy punch to my back made my vision go black. “Chloe Johnson, do you really think you’re someone important?” I spat out a mouthful of blood, looking up at Liam. “Can you really afford the consequences of marital infidelity and marriage fraud?” Liam walked off the stage and stopped in front of me, looking down at me on the floor with eyes full of disgust and contempt. “Since we’re speaking so plainly, I won’t hide it from you anymore.” He pulled a marriage certificate from his bag and threw it directly in my face. It bore the names Liam Smith and Seraphina Song, and the registration date was a year earlier than mine. I shot my head up, my pupils contracting violently. “No need to look, the marriage certificate we got back then was fake.” Liam sneered. “Back then, Seraphina had just graduated, her family was poor, and she didn’t have a stable job. She couldn’t give the child a good life. We had to find an honest person to take care of things, right?” “You’re an orphan with no parents, the easiest to control. I originally planned to dump you after you raised the kid. I just didn’t expect you to be so ungrateful, causing trouble at a time like this.” “Fake.” I mumbled, feeling as though my insides were twisting in agony. So, these five years of days and nights, these five years of devoted effort, even the legal recognition, were all a deception! “This marriage doesn’t even need a divorce, because it never existed.” Seraphina walked over, stepping on the back of my hand and grinding her heel down hard. “Senior, thank you for your sponsorship back then, and thank you for helping me raise my husband and child for these past five years. Now that I’m successful, it’s time for a good-for-nothing like you to make your exit.” I endured the excruciating pain, trying to get up, but she kicked me in the chest again. Quinn, trying to shield me, was savagely struck on the head with a wine bottle, blood instantly gushing down her face. Quinn was almost incoherent, still desperately trying to protect me. “You… you’ll regret this…” “Regret?” The manager who had struck her spat on her. The surrounding people laughed. “Hit them! Hit them until they’re dead! Mr. Smith will take responsibility for anything that happens!” Quinn and I huddled on the ground, taking countless kicks. My vision was already blurring, and the smell of blood filled my nostrils. Liam watched it all coldly, then turned and covered his son’s eyes. “Leo, don’t look, it’s dirty.” Just as that manager raised a solid wooden chair, preparing to smash it onto my head. “Bang!” The banquet hall doors were violently forced open from the outside. Immediately after, a team of bodyguards rushed in. Before anyone could react, a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a refined aura stumbled in. When he saw Quinn, battered and bloody in the pool of her own blood, his entire body froze. “Chairman?!” He then looked up and saw me, also bruised and bloody, his face turning ashen. “Miss… Johnson…”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437421”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My wedding was in full swing when my bridesmaid and best friend, Autumn, seemed to have a problem with her eyes. She stepped on my gown, mumbled an apology, then tugged the torn dress and pulled us both down. The hall fell silent. Leaning close, Autumn spoke as if offering kind advice: “Selene, Harrison is busy with his company’s IPO. Love will only hinder his ambition. I hope you and Harrison won’t share a bed or even meet for the next ten years.” My makeup artist rushed to help me up. I looked calmly at Autumn. “What right do you have to say that?” She replied, “I’m Harrison’s business partner,” and pulled a document from her bag. “Sign this. After ten years, you can bear his children.” I turned to Harrison, who was coming off the stage. “Do you agree with this?” Just then, Autumn took a call and left. Harrison jogged after her, brushing past me. “Autumn joined the latest round of investment. Given her business sense, I believe she’s doing this for my good.” A moment later he added, “We’ll consummate our marriage in ten years.” 1. Divorce Announcement Hilarious. I scoffed. At this moment, a mix of humiliation and rage churned within me, but I fiercely suppressed it. Watching Harrison about to step out of the banquet hall doors, I grabbed the microphone from the emcee, facing everyone. “No need to consummate the marriage.” “Because I’m divorcing you!” Harrison’s hand, reaching for the door, paused. He turned, asking dismissively, “Are you sure?” “No regrets?” From his tone, it wasn’t hard to guess. He didn’t love me at all; he probably thought I was just being childish. So, all this time, only I took this relationship seriously, right? “Don’t worry. I won’t cling to you anymore.” “Now scram.” “I hope you stick to your word.” Harrison nodded, his reply utterly calm, then quickly chased after my best friend, his business partner. I was left speechless. I could only conclude that all my passion over the years had been utterly wasted. To win Harrison over initially, I secretly used the allowance my parents gave me as his startup capital. I shamelessly begged all my relatives to buy his unbranded, unverified products. To protect his pride, I never mentioned it to him. Perhaps in Harrison’s eyes, and in the eyes of his entire family, a young man from a humble background with no connections could build an empire by the age of thirty entirely through his own efforts. But they had no idea. With just one word from me, this promising, celebrated young entrepreneur could be utterly ruined. Without a shred of doubt! I walked to my dad’s table and threw my arms around his neck. “Dad, I’ve realized. I don’t want someone who doesn’t love me.” “I want to be your good girl.” My dad patted my arm, which was draped around his neck. “My dear, I’m so happy you’ve finally shown some sense.” Harrison’s father walked over from his table and handed me a card. “Here’s thirty thousand dollars. Consider it buying out your seven years of relationship with Harrison. Don’t you dare cling to our Harrison ever again.” I was amused. My dad wanted to stand up in anger, but I held him down firmly. “You think thirty thousand dollars can buy out all my effort and dedication, from his startup to now, over seven years?” Harrison’s father’s face darkened. “Thirty thousand dollars is enough to live very well in a small town. Young lady, don’t be too materialistic at your age.” Harrison’s mother also walked over, disdainfully eyeing my dad and me. “You, a gold-digger who loafs around all day, does nothing, and relies entirely on men, thirty thousand dollars probably isn’t enough for you, huh?” “What if we don’t give it to you?” “Ultimately, whether or not you have this thirty thousand dollars, I won’t allow you to cling to our Harrison anymore.” “Otherwise, I’ll report you to the police and have you arrested every time I see you, and your dad too!” I took the bank card, fiddling with it for a moment. “Since you’ve said all that, if I don’t take this money, I’ll feel like I’m losing out.” “Thanks, nice lady.” Harrison’s mother rolled her eyes so hard they almost disappeared into her head. But I continued unhurriedly. “However, thirty thousand dollars isn’t quite enough. My ambitions are huge. I want all of your family’s assets. Will you give them to me?” “Oh, don’t roll your eyes just yet. This time, you don’t need to give them to me; when the time is right, I’ll come and take them myself.” Harrison’s father burst into loud laughter. The relatives on the groom’s side all joined in, chuckling. Some were even more exaggerated, mimicking my tone and mannerisms, mocking me sarcastically. “Oh dear, anyone with a dream is amazing. Little lady, I support you.” “When you take over the Smith family assets, why don’t you start a live stream? I’ll send you donations.” Harrison’s father finished laughing, then scoffed arrogantly. “You’ve taken the money now, so save your big talk for outside. Today is our Smith family dinner; uninvited guests should kindly excuse themselves.” “Then just wait. Don’t come begging me to come back then.” I linked arms with my dad, and my relatives and I gradually left the banquet hall, reopening several tables at a more upscale hotel to celebrate my newfound single status. Luckily, Harrison and I hadn’t registered our marriage; we’d only held the wedding banquet. Otherwise, I’d have to go through a divorce now, what a hassle. 2. The Smith Family Crisis The day after the wedding was canceled, Harrison’s company descended into chaos. Harrison’s father’s office door, as one of the owners, was almost kicked down. It was packed with department managers and distributors. Smith Corp’s production lines, supply chain, sales channels, and customer base all experienced major fluctuations. Sales, especially overseas, were hit hard. The shipping company, with whom they had long-standing agreements, sent a message first thing in the morning. They demanded a price hike. Otherwise, they would refuse to carry Smith Corp’s cargo. Harrison’s father, too anxious to eat breakfast, personally rushed to the shipping company to negotiate the freight fees with the manager. He was fuming, but still had to plaster on a smile. “The freight fees were agreed upon before, why are you pulling this stunt just before loading? If you do this, the cost of the goods will go up, how are we supposed to sell them?” The moment Harrison’s father finished speaking, the shipping company manager replied, “That’s your problem, what does it have to do with me? Our shipping company is huge, we employ thousands of staff, we need to eat too, you know.” “With the current international situation so tough, increasing freight fees is just a matter of survival.” “Besides, if you think it’s too expensive, you can always find another company.” “Another…” Harrison’s father choked. Finding another shipping company just before loading? Where would he even find one? Harrison’s father wasn’t stupid. They had always worked with this company, and it had always been stable. This sudden move could only mean someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. Sure enough, as he was leaving, a carrier he had a good relationship with subtly warned him. “The Smith family must have offended someone big.” “This morning, our boss got a call, and then the price for your ship went up.” Harrison’s father fell into deep thought. Who did he offend? He was accustomed to smiling at everyone he met for business, how could he have offended anyone? The carrier saw he still hadn’t figured it out. He could only sigh and remind him. “Lien!” Harrison’s father was incredulous. “Selene Lien?” The carrier said nothing, turning to leave. Harrison’s father’s mind reeled. He suddenly remembered Selene’s words at the wedding yesterday. “I want all of your family’s assets. Will you give them to me?” When he first heard it, he hadn’t paid it any mind. He thought it was just big talk from a young girl, abandoned by his son, trying to save face. He never imagined she actually had the power. He felt completely disoriented. To get the goods shipped out and salvage some losses, he turned back, gritted his teeth, and signed the increased freight agreement with the shipping company. Then he jumped in his car, floored the accelerator, and drove straight to his son’s newly bought villa, pulling him out of bed. At that moment, Harrison and Autumn, after a night of passionate intimacy, were sweetly asleep. The sudden yank of the blanket startled Autumn, who screamed as she rolled off the bed, using it to shield her body. Harrison quickly blocked Autumn, looking at his father with utter bewilderment. “Dad, why didn’t you knock?” “Do you know what privacy is?!” Harrison’s father didn’t even glance at his son, only staring at Autumn’s head, which was peeking out from behind him. “You, you’re still protecting her!” “Why didn’t you protect Selene like that?!” Autumn, hearing this, looked plaintively at Harrison’s bare back. “Harrison.” Harrison snatched the blanket from his father, covering both himself and Autumn. “Dad, what are you talking about? You know I don’t love Selene, why are you saying this?” Harrison’s father anxiously slapped his thigh. “Son, we’ve lost a golden phoenix.” “Dad, what on earth are you talking about?” Harrison’s father recounted the series of events that morning, and the difficulties Smith Corp might face in the future. Autumn, listening, felt her pupils contract in shock. After a long moment, she murmured, “That’s impossible. I’ve known Selene for six years. Every time I saw her, she dressed so cheaply. In college, she even worked three part-time jobs.” “With that kind of background, how could she possibly…” Harrison nodded in agreement. He gently calmed his father’s exploding temper, then said he would call Selene to get to the bottom of it. At this moment, I was still sound asleep. The phone rang. Seeing Harrison’s name on the caller ID, I instantly perked up, quickly grabbed my phone, and sat up in bed. “Selene Lien, you really are something!” I leisurely admired my newly done manicure. “If you want to talk about the trouble Smith Corp is having, I can tell you this: I’m just engaging in healthy competition with you. It’s your lack of strength, your inferiority, who’s to blame?” “As for that shipping company…” “My apologies, that happens to be my family’s business.” “Yours?” “Mm-hmm.” “Selene, have you been reading too many romance novels? Do you really think you’re some rich heiress now? You can actually make up such nonsense?” “If you don’t believe me, fine, I’m hanging up.” Harrison choked, but reacted quickly. “No, wait, wait!” “Where are you? Let’s talk face to face.” 3. The Truth Revealed I sent him my location. Half an hour later, Harrison met me at the restaurant in the little villa. This villa in the suburbs was a coming-of-age gift my parents gave me when I was eighteen. I didn’t usually live there; I stayed at my parents’ house. I didn’t want him to meet me at my main residence, fearing he’d cling to me in the future. As for why I let him meet me here? Because I wanted to see his expression when he realized I was living better than he was. I sat at the dining table, elegantly sipping milk. Harrison was led in by the butler. He looked around the richly decorated room, then at me, who had once lived in a basement with him and packed cardboard boxes for a living, his eyes wide with shock. He would never in a million years have thought I’d be living in the most valuable hillside villa in this city. This property was worth over two hundred million dollars. The property management fees alone amounted to over three hundred thousand dollars. Plus, there were the nannies, butler, gardener, chef, and so on. The key was that even with money, it wasn’t guaranteed you could buy a place here. Because this area was home to renowned entrepreneurs, celebrities, directors, politicians, and the like, every prospective buyer underwent a strict vetting process. Although the Smith family had developed quite well in this city over the years and gained some fame, they were still insignificant compared to these figures. In simple terms, it was like the difference between a commoner family and an established aristocratic one. The Smith family was the commoner. Hearing footsteps approaching, I unhurriedly turned my head. “How do you want to talk?” Harrison’s focus was still on the connection between this villa and me. “Are you working as a housekeeper here?” “Or a taste-tester?” He stared at the breakfast in my hand, probably assuming a housekeeper wasn’t allowed to eat the owner’s food. But he absolutely refused to believe I was the owner of this villa. I found it quite amusing. “Want me to show you my property deed? Or my bank balance, which is longer than your ID number?” I pulled out my phone, opened my mobile banking balance, and held it up for him to see. Harrison laughed until tears came to his eyes. “Selene, you doctored a few pictures, rented a villa, and got a fake deed, and now you’re shamelessly claiming you’re rich?” “Hahahaha, you’re quite an actress. It’s a shame the film studios aren’t hiring you; it’s a waste of your talent.” I turned off my phone and continued eating breakfast. Let him think whatever he wanted. “So, you’re doing all this photo-editing and whatever else to prove you really have the financial power to bring down our Smith family, is that it?” “Selene, you’re truly a drama queen.” “Honestly, you should go to Hollywood. That’s where you belong.” I hadn’t intended to say much more to him, but if he was going to talk like that, congratulations, he had successfully provoked my competitive spirit. I calmly picked up my phone and called the shipping company. “Have the manager come over.” “I’ll text you the address.” Harrison watched me operate my phone, then, whether from hunger or exhaustion, he pulled out a chair and began eating the elegantly plated breakfast on the table. “Excuse me, sir, that’s not your breakfast!” The high-class nanny, who was playing the violin for entertainment, suddenly interjected. “It’s alright, let him eat. It’d be a waste otherwise.” I still had that much generosity. While waiting, Harrison’s father, mother, and Autumn also arrived. Harrison’s father had been quite confident letting Harrison come alone. But he suddenly remembered how yesterday, all those distributors, suppliers, and even the shipping company had warned him about offending a powerful figure.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437420”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

On my thirty-fifth birthday, a girl crashed into my living room. She rocked bright pink hair and heavy smoky eyeliner. It was me at twenty. Bold, arrogant, and radiating a wild energy that absolutely refused to be tamed. My heart skipped a beat. Terrified she would scare my supposedly straight-laced husband, I immediately ordered this rebellious kid to get the hell out. But his eyes were completely glued to her. Like a man possessed, he became instantly infatuated with my younger self right then and there. It was a bitter irony. I had spent the last seven years playing the perfect housewife for him. I quit smoking, stopped drinking, and erased every single one of my bad habits just to be a good partner and mother. The former serial dater had completely retired her playbook. I genuinely thought I had found a man I could trust for the rest of my life. And the result? After that birthday party, he stopped coming home at night. He spent every waking hour hitting up dive bars and clubs with the twenty-year-old me. When I couldn’t take it anymore and told him to keep his distance, he actually laughed in my face. “Are you seriously jealous of yourself?” He even tried to justify his behavior. “Even if something happens between us, you’re the one I truly love in my heart. What is there to worry about?” Wow. Men really were all the same. He would probably never realize one simple truth. The twenty-year-old me wouldn’t be caught dead settling for a guy like him. … 1 The clock in the living room ticked away. The hands pointed straight to one in the morning. I sat on the sofa, locked in a silent standoff with my husband who had just come home. Simon broke the silence first. “Isn’t the twenty-year-old Stella also you?” “I’m going to her gigs to support her because I love you.” “Stella, I really don’t get it. Why are you eating yourself alive with jealousy over your own past? Is it really necessary?” Simon adjusted his rimless glasses, looking every bit the refined, respectable university professor he always claimed to be. Except for the half-smeared red lipstick print sitting right on his shirt collar. Supporting her… from that close? My mind wandered. Just a month ago, he was busy commissioning a custom oil portrait as a surprise for my thirty-fifth birthday. A month later, he had completely tossed me aside, calling me unreasonable and paranoid. And all of this happened because the twenty-year-old me fell out of the sky. She had bright pink hair, bold red lips, and heavy smoky eyes. She was the absolute polar opposite of the gentle, submissive wife I had become. She oozed rock and roll. The moment she opened her mouth, she mocked me for looking like a pathetic housewife. I watched her cause absolute chaos at my birthday dinner. I was terrified. A former maneater hanging up her boots to find a decent guy to marry was no easy feat. I wasn’t going to let this brat ruin my marriage, so I immediately told her to get out. But Simon was surprisingly protective of her. “That’s enough, Stella. Be mature.” “Even if you aren’t that person anymore, you should gracefully embrace your past.” He sounded so incredibly righteous. I actually thought I had married the right man. I was just about to sit him down and confess the wild, complicated truth of my past, but he was already completely mesmerized by her. It turned out he was utterly captivated by that vibrant, unfiltered version of me. For the past month, I watched it all happen right in front of my eyes. My Mr. Perfect husband, who had never once been late for dinner, suddenly mastered the art of staying out all night, drinking, and clubbing. Typical man. I originally planned to make him the only man I would love for the next few decades. I swallowed my wild side, happily cooked his meals, and prepared to start a family with him. But he didn’t want that. He wanted to be just one of the dozen guys I flirted with back in my twenties. Fine. I would grant his wish. There was a strand of bright pink hair tangled around one of Simon’s buttons. I reached out, plucked it off, and dropped it right into his palm. “Why would I be jealous?” “From this second on, I’m done managing you. Do whatever you want.” He looked confused, assuming I was just throwing a petty tantrum. His expression grew colder. “At the end of the day, you’re the one I want. You should be grateful for that.” I knew exactly what he was implying. Since she was technically me, I was supposed to count my blessings that he wasn’t out cheating with a complete stranger. I wasn’t going to play that game. Simon walked upstairs. The bathroom door slammed shut. I sat back on the sofa, crossing my legs, and pulled out my phone. A few rings later, my old lawyer friend, who had harbored a massive crush on me for years, picked up immediately. “Well, well, Stella. I’ve been waiting for this call.” “You want a divorce, right? Send me the asset spreadsheet. I’ll draft the papers tonight.” I gave a faint smile and just said two words. “Thank you.” By eight o’clock the next morning, the divorce agreement was sitting perfectly in my inbox. 2 While I was reviewing the fine print of the divorce papers, Simon was standing right next to me, picking out clothes and styling his hair. A deep V-neck shirt, a silver skull necklace, and his hair curled to look like some seasoned bad boy. The whole reason I wanted to marry him in the first place was because he was a respectable academic. He had this untouchable, saintly aura, completely different from the sleazy players I used to date. Who knew that when men finally let their true colors show, they were all exactly the same. He thought he was radiating pure testosterone, but in reality… “Stella, you should really take some notes from young Stella. Stop dressing so depressingly all the time.” Young Stella was what he called the twenty-year-old me. She wore heavy makeup every single day. If her back wasn’t exposed, her shoulders were, and her jeans were always ripped to shreds. After getting married, I was terrified of embarrassing Simon in front of his colleagues. I didn’t keep a single piece of my old wardrobe, swapping it all out for modest, knee-length skirts. Now that his brain was completely fried by lust, he actually wanted me to put those ripped clothes back on. Psycho. I rolled my eyes and picked up my phone. Without him noticing, I snapped a picture of him posing in the mirror and texted it to Bennett, my lawyer. “Find a way to squeeze him for more alimony. He is completely at fault.” Bennett replied with a thumbs up, telling me to gather more evidence. No problem. At nine o’clock that night, I walked into the dive bar young Stella practically lived at. It was the exact same spot I loved hanging out at a decade ago. Sure enough, Simon was there too. The man I once thought had an ethereal, classy presence now just looked pathetic. His facial features were still handsome and refined, but his entire vibe was completely off. He sat in a VIP booth, his eyes glued to young Stella the entire time. Too bad she wasn’t even giving him the time of day. After all, a fossil in his thirties had absolutely zero competitive edge against the hot college guys swarming the place. The bass from the speakers made my heart pound against my ribs. I really was getting too old for this. “Hey! Listen to me!” “What?!” Even under the heavy makeup, those identical facial features still carried a trace of youth. Young Stella held a beer bottle, screaming directly into my ear. “Why did you ever settle for him?!” “Look how old he is, trying to rock a deep V-neck like a frat boy! It’s hilarious!” As she said that, young Stella finally tossed Simon a glance. She raised her beer bottle, giving him a toast from across the room. I watched his lips twitch as he tried to hide a massive, glowing smile. What a pathetic loser. So embarrassing. I cursed him in my head. “Yeah, why the hell did I settle for him?!” I couldn’t figure it out anymore either. I grabbed young Stella’s hand and downed half her beer in one go. Seeing my reaction, she leaned in close, her voice dripping with disgust. “If he hadn’t promised to fund my new band, I wouldn’t even look in his direction.” Made perfect sense. Simon wasn’t even close to my type when I was twenty. The only reason she was entertaining him this long had to be the band. Even as a maneater, I had standards. Back in my prime, I had plenty of guys chasing me, but nobody was allowed to get in the way of my music. Even after I married Simon, whose traditional family hated the idea of a wife being in the public eye, I secretly kept writing songs. I never told him just to avoid the headache. The hidden camera pinned to my chest blinked a tiny red light. Young Stella caught on immediately and gave me a wicked smile. “Not bad.” “You got married, but at least your brain didn’t completely rot.” Just then, Simon got up and walked over to us. His Adam’s apple bobbed. In front of me, he was always the composed, gentle husband. But talking to young Stella, he acted like a nervous teenage boy. “Looking good! The bad boy aesthetic suits you, old man!” The younger me beat him to the punch. She was a master at playing the crowd. Tell them exactly what they want to hear. She patted Simon’s shoulder twice before heading backstage to prep. She was the resident singer for the late-night set. Simon clearly ate up every second of her attention. He stood frozen in place, taking a long moment to snap back to reality, seemingly savoring the lingering scent of her heavy perfume. I wasn’t jealous. I was just pure, violently disgusted. Married for seven years, and he still had the nerve to act like a lovestruck puppy. I let out a cold scoff, making absolutely no effort to hide the disgust on my face. Simon finally realized I had been standing there the whole time. His brow furrowed instantly. “What are you doing here?” 3 “If you’re still upset about the Stella… I mean, the young Stella situation, I don’t think we have anything to talk about.” He slipped right back into his righteous, academic persona. It was as if we were debating a philosophical thesis. I used to adore that serious, intellectual side of him. Now, every single thing he did just made my skin crawl. Even arguing with him felt like a massive waste of oxygen. But we had been married for seven years. I gave him one final piece of friendly advice. “Don’t fall too deep.” “This girl is way out of your league. A pretentious academic like you will get eaten alive.” I crossed my arms, watching the wild, untamed girl owning the stage. It was true, when the younger me sang, it was impossible to look away. Simon just scoffed coldly. “Give it a rest.” “I know what this is. You’re just jealous of her.” I turned my head, genuinely confused. What met my gaze was a pair of ice-cold eyes. “You’re jealous that she’s vibrant and alive! You’re jealous that she has more charm in her pinky finger than you do!” He looked me up and down. A casual blouse, mom jeans, canvas sneakers, and my hair tied back in a messy bun. “Unlike you. You’re dull, boring, and completely lifeless!” “Instead of being jealous, you should really take some notes from her!” With that, he refused to look at me again. He even took a few steps away from me. As if standing next to a housewife was beneath him. In that split second, the manners and class of the man I once loved completely evaporated into thin air. My heart turned to absolute ice. Even the last shred of pity I had for him died on the spot. “Fine,” I replied calmly. “Then go to her. I won’t stop you.” I waved my hand, pointing straight at the stage. He froze, hesitating for a moment. “Are you really… not going to hold this against me?” “Did you genuinely accept her, or are you just trying to trick me?” Deep down, he knew exactly how deranged this whole thing was. He desperately needed me to validate his twisted logic so he wouldn’t feel guilty, so he wouldn’t violate his own high moral standards. I didn’t say another word. I just gestured for him to go. It was as if a chain had been broken. Simon practically sprinted toward the stage, catching young Stella as she finished her set and pulling her into a tight hug. “That was incredible, Stella!” “I’ll fund everything. Let me help you build your dream band, okay?!” He looked as sincere as the day we got married. “You are so amazing, Stella!” “Marrying you was the greatest honor of my life!” Without missing a beat, I aimed my lens right at his face and hit the shutter. Click. Click. A few hours later, every single one of those photos was sitting in Bennett’s inbox. He sent back a voice memo trying to comfort me. I didn’t even have the patience to listen to the whole thing. I just chose the wrong man and ended up in a failed marriage. Make a mistake, fix it, and move on. It wasn’t the end of the world. The only thing I cared about now was making sure the final settlement tipped heavily in my favor. 4 After that night, Simon started contacting young Stella relentlessly. Scouting venues, meeting investors, he was always there. Writing tracks, rehearsing, picking out stage outfits, he was there for all of it. He made absolutely no effort to hide his obsession. We were literally the exact same person, but whenever he talked about the twenty-year-old Stella, his eyes dripped with sickening sweetness. On the rare occasions he actually came home, he only looked at me with flat indifference and annoyance. And me? I watched him sink deeper and deeper into the quicksand, and I didn’t utter a single word of warning. He genuinely believed I had bought into his “you’re both the same person” delusion. He stopped making excuses entirely, slipping into her life as if it was his absolute right. Meanwhile, I used all my free time to dive deep into our marital assets. The deeper I dug, the more shocked I was. Simon’s academic research was highly successful. The royalties from the books he published over the last few years had easily crossed the million-dollar mark. He had more than enough cash to bankroll a rock band. A few days before the band’s premiere showcase, he completely stopped pretending. He handed me a VIP pass and ordered the thirty-five-year-old me to be there. I only realized his true intentions after I arrived. He was actually shameless enough to plan a massive, public romantic confession to the twenty-year-old Stella right after the curtain closed. Simon was dressed in a tailored suit, looking as if this concert was his second wedding. “Stella, I really hope I have your blessing today.” “I have to admit, right now, my heart only has room for the twenty-year-old Stella. There is no space left for anyone else.” “But don’t worry, I won’t divorce you. After all, you and her are the same person. You’re both my wife.” He stood at the very front of the VIP section, his eyes locked on the girl rehearsing on stage. He didn’t even look at me when he spoke. I let out a soft laugh. “Is that so.” “Well, I highly suggest you check your email first.” Sitting right in his inbox was the finalized divorce agreement. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too? Over my dead body. But he clearly couldn’t care less. “We’ll talk about it after the show.” “I am not letting anything ruin this night.” Was it the show he was worried about, or his grand confession? I nodded, deciding to keep my mouth shut. Because right at that exact moment, if my memory served me right, the twenty-year-old me was busy making intense eye contact with the bassist. That was just the reality of being a player. If you wanted to claim her officially, you had to get in line. As for Simon… I stood calmly beside him, waiting for the show to start. The amps blasted, the stage lights flared, and the crowd surged forward. The final chord rang out into the stadium. Every single person in the room screamed for the musical prodigy on stage. Suddenly, a strange feeling blossomed in my chest. A wave of inexplicable satisfaction and immense pride washed over me. In that specific moment, I finally felt the absolute truth that we were the exact same person. The twenty-year-old me was Stella. The thirty-five-year-old me was Stella. The sheer impact of that massive achievement would echo through my life forever. Seeing the show end in total triumph, Simon jumped up in pure ecstasy. He pushed his way through the screaming crowd, shouting Stella’s name at the top of his lungs. But the very next second, everything stopped. The ecstatic girl on stage grabbed the handsome bassist by the collar and kissed him passionately in front of everyone. I crossed my arms, a massive smile spreading across my face as I watched them make out. One second. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Every drop of color drained from Simon’s face. He was shaking from head to toe, staring at the stage in absolute disbelief. Then, he slowly turned his head to look at me. I gave him a cold, mocking smirk, waving the digital divorce papers on my phone screen right in his face. “What are you looking at?” “She doesn’t want you, and neither do I.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “437419”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I spent three months grinding away at a ten-billion-dollar acquisition deal, and finally succeeded. At the celebration banquet, Ethan Pierce took all my credit and handed it to his first love, Lily Hayes. He said, “Lily just came back from overseas. She needs an impressive resume. You’ve always been understanding—it’s most appropriate to put this project under her name.” I looked at his matter-of-fact expression and said nothing. Five years. For five years, I’d worked myself to the bone for him during the day and warmed his bed at night, only to end up not even worthy of having my name attached to my work. At the charity gala, Lily Hayes accused me of stealing a brooch. In front of all the city’s elite, Ethan Pierce stripped me of my clothes and searched me. My belongings scattered across the floor, proving my innocence. He didn’t even apologize. He just frowned and said, “Alright, the misunderstanding’s cleared up. Don’t ruin the atmosphere of the gala.” I bent down. What I picked up wasn’t the contents of my bag, but the Pierce Corporation employee badge lying on the floor. Then, in front of everyone, I threw it into the champagne tower. “Ethan, from today on, even if you get down on your knees and beg me, I’m never coming back.”

Sophia Bennett POV The celebration banquet for the Empire Group acquisition was held at the city’s most luxurious hotel. Crystal chandeliers sparkled brilliantly overhead, while elegantly dressed guests mingled with champagne glasses in hand. I wore a well-tailored black business suit, holding a glass of champagne, standing quietly in a corner of the banquet hall. As Chief Investment Analyst at Pierce Corporation, this three-hundred-billion-dollar acquisition had taken me and my team three entire months of grinding work, countless cups of espresso, and even a trip to the emergency room for gastric bleeding before we finally closed the deal. I glanced down at the simple band on my ring finger—something Ethan Pierce had casually bought for me last month. I thought that tonight, at this celebration banquet, he would finally publicly acknowledge our five-year underground relationship. As the grand doors swung open, the banquet hall fell instantly silent. Ethan Pierce entered in a custom-tailored black suit, his posture impeccable, his features sharp and cold. However, on his arm hung a woman in a pure white haute couture gown, her smile gentle and delicate. Lily Hayes. Ethan Pierce’s first love—the woman he’d pined for, who had spent years overseas. My breathing hitched sharply, my knuckles turning white as I gripped my champagne flute. Ethan Pierce walked onto the stage with Lily Hayes, took the microphone, and his deep, pleasant voice echoed throughout the hall: “Thank you all for attending. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce Pierce Corporation’s new Vice President of Investment, Miss Lily Hayes. The successful landing of the Empire acquisition was entirely thanks to Miss Hayes and her overseas connections.” Thunderous applause filled the room. I stood in the shadows, feeling as though all the blood in my body had reversed course, leaving even my fingertips numb with cold. Entirely thanks to Lily Hayes? In these three months, Lily Hayes hadn’t looked at a single punctuation mark of the acquisition documents. And all my sleepless nights, my effort, my dedication—just like that, in Ethan Pierce’s offhand remark, became nothing more than a stepping stone to make his beauty smile. Halfway through the banquet, I cornered Ethan Pierce on the deserted terrace. “Why?” My voice was soft, but it trembled with suppressed emotion. Ethan Pierce lit a cigarette, the blue-white smoke blurring his hard features. He looked at me, his eyes calm to the point of cruelty: “Lily just returned to the country. To establish herself at Pierce Corporation, she needs an impressive resume. You’ve always been understanding. Putting this project under her name is the most appropriate solution.” “Understanding?” I bit down hard on my lower lip, tasting blood. “Ethan, I’ve worked myself to death for you for five years, been your underground lover for five years, and now… you’re taking the results I achieved with my life and using them to curry favor with her?” Ethan Pierce frowned slightly, seemingly displeased by my questioning. “Sophia Bennett, don’t be unreasonable.” He flicked his cigarette ash, his tone rational and cold. “Whatever compensation you want—bonuses, stock options, or that penthouse downtown—I can give it to you. But Lily is different. She’s sensitive and can’t handle being wronged. You’ve already gained enough from your position. Don’t be greedy.” Greedy. That word was like a rusty, dull knife sawing through my heart. Eight years of secret admiration, five years as his girlfriend—I thought even if I were a stone, I could eventually warm him up. But it turned out that in his eyes, I was just a tool to be sacrificed at will, a subordinate who could be bought off with money. “I understand.” I didn’t cry. I just pulled at the corner of my mouth as the light in my heart slowly extinguished. “I’m sorry. Mr. Pierce is right. I overstepped.” I turned and left the terrace, my spine straight, without a trace of lingering attachment.

Sophia Bennett POV Late at night, I returned to the penthouse apartment I shared with Ethan Pierce. The location was prime, the property worth a fortune, yet it was as cold and empty as a showroom. Over these five years, I’d tried so hard to fill it with life—buying flowers, adding soft rugs, changing to warm-toned curtains. But looking at it now, it all seemed ridiculously futile. I pulled out a suitcase and began packing my things. Actually, I didn’t own much—just a few changes of business attire and some professional books. At two in the morning, the sound of the password lock opening came from the entrance. Ethan Pierce walked in carrying the faint scent of alcohol and Lily Hayes’s floral perfume. He loosened his tie and saw the suitcase in the living room, his brow furrowing. “What are you throwing a tantrum about now?” He approached, habitually reaching out to hold me. “I already explained what happened tonight. Tomorrow, finance will transfer fifty million into your account. Sophia, don’t make me think you’re being unreasonable.” I sidestepped his touch. “I’m not throwing a tantrum.” I looked at him calmly. “Mr. Pierce, since Miss Hayes is back, it’s inappropriate for me to continue living here.” Ethan Pierce’s hand froze in midair. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his arms, lowering his head to kiss me. “Let go!” My stomach churned violently. I pushed him away with force. Ethan Pierce stumbled back a step, his expression darkening completely. “Sophia Bennett, my patience has limits.” He looked at me coldly. “The position of Mrs. Pierce can only belong to Lily, but I never said I was kicking you out. As long as you behave yourself, you’ll still be Pierce Corporation’s Chief Analyst, and you can still stay by my side.” I looked at this devastatingly handsome man before me and suddenly felt he was utterly unfamiliar. How could he speak such shameless words so matter-of-factly? He wanted Lily Hayes as his legitimate wife and me as his hidden mistress. “Ethan, you’re disgusting.” Leaving those words behind, I grabbed my suitcase and walked out of the apartment without looking back. The next morning, at Pierce Corporation’s Investment Department. I had just stepped out of the elevator when I saw that my formerly spacious and bright private office had been fitted with a new nameplate: “Vice President – Lily Hayes.” Lily Hayes was directing staff to move my files out. When she saw me, she gave me an apologetic smile: “Sophia, Ethan said I needed a quiet environment to familiarize myself with the business, so he’s letting me use this office first. I hope you don’t mind squeezing into the open office area for now. You understand, right?” Colleagues around us were stealing glances. I looked at my personal belongings being carelessly piled into a cubicle and said lightly: “I don’t mind. As long as Vice President Hayes is happy.” I walked to that cramped cubicle, sat down, opened my computer, logged into the company’s HR system, and clicked on the “Resignation Application” page. On the third day after Lily Hayes’s airborne appointment as Vice President, Pierce Corporation held an important board meeting. The core topic was a risk assessment for an overseas new energy project. This project involved five billion dollars in funding—one misstep could severely damage Pierce Corporation.

Sophia Bennett POV The atmosphere in the conference room was tense. Lily Hayes stood in front of the projection screen, holding the assessment report my team had stayed up all night preparing, but her presentation was stumbling and incoherent. “Regarding this project’s internal rate of return, we estimate it to be… uh, we estimate eight percent. And the cash flow break-even period would require… require fifteen years.” The moment those words left her mouth, the room erupted. Several senior directors’ faces turned ashen. One director slammed his hand on the table: “Fifteen years to break even? Eight percent return? Miss Hayes, do you even know what the current cost of capital is? You’re actually recommending this garbage project to the board as a priority investment?!” Lily Hayes’s eyes reddened from being yelled at, and she looked pleadingly toward Ethan Pierce, who sat at the head of the table. Ethan Pierce frowned deeply, about to speak up to save her, when I suddenly stood up. Without looking at Ethan Pierce, I walked straight to Lily Hayes, took the laser pointer from her hand, and switched to a different PPT slide. “Directors, Miss Hayes just read the wrong data set.” I said, “Eight percent is the stress test result under an extremely pessimistic model. In reality, based on our calculations of local policy subsidies and carbon credit trading, the baseline IRR is above twenty-two percent, with a cash flow break-even period of four years and seven months. The detailed sensitivity analysis is on page thirty-two of the report.” In just three minutes, with extremely precise data and rigorous logic, I defused what could have been a catastrophic trust crisis. The directors’ expressions softened, and they looked at me with admiration. Lily Hayes, standing beside me, had turned pale. After the meeting ended, I was summoned to the CEO’s office. The moment I pushed open the door, a file folder came flying at me. I didn’t dodge. The sharp plastic edge grazed my temple, instantly drawing blood. “Sophia Bennett, you really showed off in that conference room today, didn’t you? Are you proud of yourself?” Ethan Pierce sat in his chair, his eyes frighteningly dark. Lily Hayes sat on the sofa, crying softly. Feeling the stinging pain on my forehead, my heart remained utterly calm: “I was only trying to save the company’s project.” “Save it?” Ethan Pierce laughed coldly, suddenly standing and walking up to me, looking down at me from above. “You knew perfectly well that Lily wasn’t familiar with those numbers. Why didn’t you go over them with her before the meeting? You deliberately embarrassed her in front of the board, deliberately used your expertise to highlight her incompetence. Sophia Bennett, when did your heart become so vicious?” I looked at him steadily and laughed. I’d stayed up for three nights straight preparing that report. Lily Hayes hadn’t even bothered to glance at it before taking it to claim credit. When she made mistakes, I stepped in to fix them and saved Pierce Corporation’s reputation. But in the end, I became the vicious one. “Yes, I’m vicious.” I closed my eyes. “Mr. Pierce is absolutely right. Every mistake is my fault. I apologize to Miss Hayes.” I turned toward Lily Hayes on the sofa and gave her a slight bow, my voice dead: “I’m sorry, Miss Hayes. It’s my fault for not covering up your incompetence well enough and letting you be wronged.” “Sophia Bennett! Get out of my sight!” Ethan Pierce’s furious voice rang out behind me. I straightened my spine and walked out of the office. My heart had completely died.

Sophia Bennett POV Friday was my twenty-eighth birthday. For the past four years, no matter how busy Ethan Pierce was, he would cancel all his engagements on this day and have dinner with me at a discreet restaurant. This was our unspoken secret, the only warmth I could draw from this hidden relationship. Last month, Ethan Pierce had kissed my earlobe and promised he would give me a huge surprise for this year’s birthday. At seven o’clock that evening, I arrived punctually at the restaurant and sat by the window. Outside, autumn rain began to fall, and the temperature dropped sharply. I wore a thin dress, looking at the exquisite cake on the table, quietly waiting. Eight o’clock. Nine o’clock. Ten o’clock. The restaurant’s clientele changed wave after wave. The servers’ glances toward me gradually shifted from admiration to pity. Eleven-thirty. I picked up my phone and dialed Ethan Pierce’s number. The phone rang for a long time before someone answered, but it wasn’t Ethan Pierce’s deep voice—it was Lily Hayes’s sweet, delicate tone. “Hello? Sophia? Ethan can’t come to the phone right now.” My fingers tightened around my phone: “Where is he?” “We’re at the vet hospital.” Lily Hayes’s voice carried a hint of sweet complaint. “My Ragdoll cat suddenly got diarrhea. I was terrified, so Ethan immediately drove me here. He was running around holding the cat and got all sweaty—he left his phone in the car. Sophia, it’s so late. Is there some urgent work matter?” A cat with diarrhea. I looked at the cold rain outside the window and suddenly found it all absurd. My birthday that I’d looked forward to with such anticipation, my five years of youth—in Ethan Pierce’s eyes, they couldn’t even compare to Lily Hayes’s cat having diarrhea. “Nothing urgent.” I said, “Sorry to bother you.” I hung up, picked up my fork, and shoved a large piece of cake into my mouth. Too sweet. Sweet to the point of bitterness, so bitter my tears fell without warning. I didn’t wipe them away. I just kept eating that cake, one bite after another. After paying the bill, I walked out of the restaurant and into the cold, rainy night. Back at my temporary rental apartment, I opened my laptop and logged into Pierce Corporation’s HR system. I looked at the resignation application I’d already drafted, my cursor hovering over the “Submit” button. My phone screen lit up with a message from Ethan Pierce: 【Lily’s cat got sick. I won’t come over tonight. I’ll make up for your gift tomorrow.】 I looked at that message without replying. I opened my photo album and, without a moment’s hesitation, permanently deleted all five thousand-plus photos and videos of Ethan Pierce. Then I moved my cursor and pressed “Submit.” The system displayed: 【Your resignation application has been submitted. Thirty-day handover countdown begins.】 Eight years of foolish infatuation, five years of absurd devotion—in this moment, it all finally came to an end. After submitting my resignation application, it required approval from both the department head and the CEO according to protocol. But Ethan Pierce had recently devoted all his attention to Lily Hayes and hadn’t logged into the office system at all. The HR director sighed and simply approved it by default. The thirty-day countdown began quietly. Lily Hayes decided to host an extremely lavish charity gala in Pierce Corporation’s name. “Sophia, Ethan says you’re the most detail-oriented. I’m putting you in charge of coordinating this gala.” Lily Hayes tossed a thick planning document onto my cramped desk, her tone carrying a condescending sense of charity. “I want white roses flown in from overseas. The lighting at the gala must be warm-toned. Also, you need to personally review all the media releases—they must highlight my image as Pierce Corporation’s future mistress.” I looked at the planning document without even lifting my eyelids. “Alright.” I responded flatly. Over the next two weeks, I executed all of Lily Hayes’s unreasonable demands. I slept only three hours a night, coordinating venues, confirming procedures, verifying guest lists. I never initiated contact with Ethan Pierce again, nor did I show even a trace of grievance over Lily Hayes’s deliberate difficulties. Occasionally, when Ethan Pierce ran into me in the company hallways, he would see my gaunt face and cold eyes. The day before the gala, I compiled all my work handover documents, encrypted them, and sent them to my deputy in the investment department. I looked at the countdown calendar on my computer screen. Tomorrow would be my last day at Pierce Corporation.

Sophia Bennett POV The charity gala was held at the city’s largest estate. As night fell, luxury cars gathered. Lily Hayes wore the custom-made gown Ethan Pierce had spent a fortune on for her, her arm linked with his as she moved among the guests like a star surrounded by admirers. I wore an inconspicuous black business suit with a walkie-talkie earpiece, standing in the shadows at the edge of the banquet hall, coldly watching it all. As the gala reached its climax and the most important charity auction was about to begin, a scream suddenly came from backstage. Lily Hayes, holding up her dress, ran out of the lounge with a pale face and red-rimmed eyes, throwing herself into Ethan Pierce’s arms: “Ethan! It’s gone! The ‘Heart of the Ocean’ sapphire brooch that was supposed to be the finale auction piece is missing!” The entire venue erupted in shock. That brooch was worth nearly a hundred million dollars—Ethan Pierce had specifically acquired it to bolster Lily Hayes’s standing. “What happened?” Ethan Pierce held her, his brow furrowed. Lily Hayes trembled all over, then suddenly turned and pointed directly at me standing in the corner: “It’s her! Only Lily and Sophia knew the safe’s password! When I was changing clothes earlier, only she went into the lounge!” All eyes instantly turned to me like spotlights. Skeptical, contemptuous, eager gazes. I removed my earpiece and walked calmly into the center of the crowd. I looked at Lily Hayes’s face: “I entered the lounge to deliver tonight’s speaking notes to you. I put them down and left. I never touched the safe.” “Who else could it be but you?!” Lily Hayes cried, tears streaming down her face. “Sophia, I know you’ve always resented me, thinking I took your position, but you can’t jeopardize the company’s reputation like this!” The surrounding guests began whispering among themselves. I ignored the gossip and simply looked quietly at Ethan Pierce. Eight years. I’d known him for eight years, managed over ten billion dollars for him, and never made a single error. Yet Ethan Pierce looked at me with eyes that held no trust—only coldness and impatience. “Sophia, open your bag and let security search it.” Ethan Pierce said coldly. “If you didn’t take it, a search will prove your innocence. Don’t make things difficult for Lily.” “Search my bag?” I softly repeated those words, feeling the last trace of warmth in my chest being drained away. In this circle, being publicly searched was tantamount to having my dignity stripped away and trampled on the ground. To calm Lily Hayes’s tears, Ethan Pierce chose without hesitation to sacrifice my dignity. “Ethan, are you really going to search my bag?” I looked at him. Ethan Pierce hesitated for a moment, but seeing Lily Hayes in his arms, he frowned: “It’s just a formality. Sophia, think of the bigger picture.” Think of the bigger picture. I laughed. I didn’t wait for security to approach. I opened the zipper of my cheap black canvas bag myself and dumped everything inside onto the polished marble floor. Lipstick, a notebook, several pens, a box of stomach medicine, and a few access cards. Scattered everywhere. No sapphire brooch. Just then, a security guard ran out of the lounge, sweating profusely, holding up the brilliant brooch: “Found it! Miss Hayes, the brooch fell into the velvet gap behind the safe. It wasn’t stolen!” The banquet hall fell into deathly silence. Lily Hayes froze for a moment, then covered her mouth with a regretful and innocent expression: “Oh my, so it fell into the gap. Sophia, I’m so sorry. I was too anxious just now and spoke without thinking. Please don’t be angry with me.” Ethan Pierce also breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the mess on the floor, frowned, and said to me: “Alright, since it was a misunderstanding, that’s resolved. Sophia, pick up your things. Don’t let this affect the gala’s atmosphere.” Casual and dismissive, as though the trampling of my dignity moments ago had been nothing more than an insignificant joke. I looked down at those things on the floor. I didn’t pick them up. I slowly bent down, unclipped the Pierce Corporation employee badge from around my neck, and gently tossed it onto that pile of belongings. “I’m not picking them up.” I straightened, my gaze calmly sweeping past Lily Hayes before finally landing on Ethan Pierce’s shocked face. “Ethan, I quit.” With that, I turned and, under everyone’s stunned gazes, walked step by step out of the brilliantly lit banquet hall without looking back.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “392797”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster