After my rebirth, I was completely done with the hustle. I stopped taking any new spirit-channeling commissions. I just wanted to sit back and watch the show. The lesson from my past life was etched into my very soul. I used to be a medium working a small booth at the Ravenwood Night Market. My job was simple. I burned the belongings of the deceased to help them cross over and fulfill their final wishes. That was until Bella came along. She was an internet influencer who claimed she only needed to touch an object to hear a ghost’s final words, and she offered her services completely free of charge. Her clout-chasing destroyed my business overnight. Grieving families turned on me, accusing me of being a fraud who charged exorbitant fees and ruined precious keepsakes. The public outrage grew so violent that a crazed mob cornered me on the old clocktower balcony, pushing me over the edge to a plummeting death. Now, the tables have turned. Bella is the one panicking. She clearly forgot one fundamental rule of the occult. A medium does not just attract the living. We attract the restless dead. 1 “Madam Serena, please! My wife passed away so suddenly. She didn’t leave a single word behind. You have to help me see if she had any final wishes.” The man standing before my table looked frantic. He grabbed my hands, his grip painfully tight. That sharp ache jolted me back to reality. I realized I had truly been reborn. The phantom agony of shattered concrete and broken bones from my past life flared in my mind. I immediately snatched my hands back. “I am sorry, I…” Before I could finish my sentence, Bella’s sickly-sweet voice cut me off. “Madam Serena is going to burn your wife’s belongings, and she charges three grand for it!” The man’s face flushed with embarrassment. He mumbled that his family was struggling financially and begged for a discount. “No exceptions,” I replied. My tone was entirely detached. Bella immediately seized the opportunity to play the hero. “Madam Serena, helping the dead find peace is supposed to be a good deed. Charging such an outrageous fee and destroying someone’s last physical memories is just cruel.” She turned to the crowd with a camera pointed right at her face. “Why don’t you make an exception and do this one for free? I would love to see if our readings match up.” My breath hitched. Those were the exact words she used in my previous life. That very stunt sparked the witch hunt against me, leading the internet to brand me a greedy scammer who destroyed family heirlooms. It was the catalyst that ended with me plunging off that tower. After my death, Bella put on a masterclass in fake tears. She told her audience that my spirit had visited her to confess my sins, claiming my final wish was to donate all my assets to her. She absorbed my life savings, gained millions of followers from the tragedy, and lived a life of absolute luxury. Before that fatal day, we had clashed a few times. She was always able to recite the deceased’s final wishes perfectly, word for word. I used to think my skills were simply inferior. But then I noticed a pattern. She never accepted a gig independently. She only ever swooped in after I took a client. There was no way her perfect track record was a coincidence. I let out a soft laugh and threw my hands up in defeat. “A girl has to eat. But since you are so noble and generous, I will pass this client to you.” I smoothly began packing up my crystal pendulum, my sage, and my chalk. I was out of there. Bella’s camera-ready smile completely froze. In my past life, she provoked me into competing with her. Today, I was tapping out. Let’s see how she handles a ghost without my coattails to ride. “Serena, wait right there!” She rushed over and blocked my path. “I know your methods are a bit old-school, but we should do this for the sake of the departed. Let’s work together to make sure nothing is missed.” I let out an exaggerated yawn. “Sorry, the shop is closed for the day. You are the talented one here. Have fun figuring it out yourself.” Her expression darkened instantly. I looked over at the grieving husband. “You better hurry up and take her offer. She might change her mind and start charging you.” The man frantically grabbed Bella’s arm, treating her like his last hope. I just smirked, threw my bag over my shoulder, and headed home for a nap. Later that evening, I opened her live stream on my phone. Bella was on screen. She gently touched a silver bracelet, closed her eyes tightly, and after a few minutes of dramatic silence, she shook her head sadly. “The spirit is saying that the only thing she cannot let go of is you and the kids. She wants you to live a good life and stop mourning her.” The man broke down into loud, heaving sobs. The comment section was a waterfall of praise. “Bella is literally an angel!” “Way better than that cold-blooded scammer Serena. Three grand for a few words? She should be locked up.” “Protect Bella at all costs!” A massive donor dropped several premium gifts on the stream. I chuckled to myself. No wonder she offered free services. Those virtual tips easily surpassed my flat three-grand fee. However, something about Bella’s reading felt completely off. I had read that man’s aura at the market. The lines around his eyes and the hollow energy in his life-path clearly indicated he was sterile. He did not have any children. Was it possible my psychic intuition was wrong? On the screen, Bella smiled brightly at her viewers. “Guys, if anyone out there needs closure, please come find me. My spirit channeling is always free of charge.” Her viewer count spiked over sixty thousand. She was trending at the number one spot. Fame is a double-edged sword in the occult world. When you broadcast a beacon into the dark, it is not just living humans who notice. That is exactly why I capped my work at two clients a day. Once you invite something from the shadows into your space, getting it to leave is a whole different nightmare. 2 I sent a text to Arthur, an old friend who studied demonology with me, asking him to run a background check on Bella. Everything about that girl screamed fraud. Her online bio stated she had a community college degree in business management. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she possessed the Sight? In our world, you are either born into a bloodline of mediums or you spend decades studying under a master. If she came from a bloodline, her aura would show it. If she studied the craft, she would have instantly noticed the sterile energy surrounding that grieving husband. She was a walking contradiction. I rolled over on my couch, closed the streaming app, and put on a horror movie. My phone buzzed. It was Gideon, the manager of the Ravenwood market. “Serena, why did you pack up early? Are you renewing your stall lease for next month?” I thought about it for a second. “No, I am done. The business is drying up, and I am tired of dealing with internet trolls trying to ruin my reputation. I am retiring.” The line went dead silent for a few seconds. “Fair enough. Take a break, kid.” After hanging up, I scrolled through my newsfeed. Articles and gossip blogs were already pushing Bella as the new saint of the spiritual community. Every post about me was pure vitriol. They hated me because my prices were high, and they despised the fact that I strictly limited my readings to two a day. Even when rich clients offered double for emergency sessions, I never bent the rules. They called me heartless. Meanwhile, little Miss Bella was handing out free therapy. In her latest clip, she looked directly into the lens. “I am here to serve the community. A true whisperer of the dead would never use their gift to exploit people.” I typed out a quick comment from my burner account. “The living walk the sunlit path. The dead walk the shadow roads. Do not blur the lines.” Bella’s fans immediately attacked. “Are you threatening her?” Bella pinned my comment and replied live. “Spirits are just like us. They have needs. I am simply a bridge to help them communicate. Do not worry about me stealing your customers, Serena.” She obviously figured out it was me. The chat room exploded with hate. “Look at Serena dying of jealousy!” “Focus on your own miserable life before you try to preach about shadow roads. You look like a corpse sitting at that flea market booth anyway. Bella is actually pretty and full of life.” I just smiled at the screen. When you spend your life wading through necrotic energy, a bit of the gloom tends to stick to you. That was the real reason I charged three grand. Half of that money was for my living expenses. The other half was used to buy the rarest incense, salt, and offerings required to bribe the entities below and pacify the souls I summoned. Some people die with violent, festering grudges. Calming that kind of rage is not a parlor trick. I had to listen to their agonizing whispers, absorb their sorrow, and perform exhausting rituals just to ensure they did not follow me home to rip my throat out. These keyboard warriors thought channeling was just passing along a cute voicemail from beyond the grave. If it were that easy, I would be doing ten readings a day. I closed the app. My phone immediately rang. It was Bella. “What exactly was that comment supposed to mean? Are you really that desperate for attention?” I let out a dry, mocking laugh. “You think I want your kind of attention?” “What else could it be?” “Let me give you a free piece of advice. Playing with the Veil always comes with a price tag. Keep acting like a tourist in hell, and something is going to drag you under.” “Stop trying to scare me,” she scoffed, slamming the phone down. She leaked the recording of our call on her page. The internet mob came for my throat again, pushing her follower count even higher. 3 People were crowning Bella the greatest psychic of her generation. Her fans begged her to do live paranormal investigations in abandoned asylums, and she foolishly agreed to all of it. Her fame skyrocketed. I stayed hidden in my apartment, only leaving to buy groceries and practice my grounding meditations. A week later, I checked in on her streams. Her business was booming. Unlike me, she never turned a single soul away. I did not know what kind of parlor tricks she was pulling, but one thing was undeniably real. Through the screen, I could see a sickly, grayish-black tint spreading across her collarbones and under her eyes. She was infected. Something necrotic had attached itself to her. Yet, she seemed completely oblivious, intoxicated by the fame. It was morbidly fascinating. Bella posted an open challenge on her page. “I invite any traditional mediums, occultists, or demonologists to join me on stream for a friendly showcase of skills.” Nobody from the legitimate underground community took the bait. Genuine practitioners respect the terrifying weight of the unseen world. We don’t do parlor tricks for likes. After a week of being ignored by the professionals, a crisis forced her to seek me out. The Ravenwood Night Market was in chaos. Gideon called me in a panic. “Serena, it is a disaster down here. Two of our veteran vendors dropped dead right in their booths. Their families are tearing the place apart.” “Do not you have your internet angel for that?” “She agreed to come, but only if you are here too. Honestly, I need you here for crowd control. Please.” I paused, sipping my coffee. “People die, Gideon. Call the mortuary. Do not try to play me. Tell me the real problem or I am staying on my couch.” “Dammit, fine. One was the antique dealer, the other sold jade. Both guys were sitting on massive stashes of cash. The antique dealer has a bank vault, and nobody can find the key or the codes. There are millions of dollars on the line.” “The families are demanding a séance right now to find the wealth. If they do not get answers, they are going to burn the market down to the ground.” I finally understood. In the past, the spirits just wanted to say goodbye to their kids or tell their spouses they loved them. Vague emotional closure. Furthermore, Bella had always swooped in after I did the heavy lifting of burning the anchors and connecting to the Veil. She never had to guess. Now, there were millions of dollars at stake, specific lockbox codes, and missing keys. She was flying blind, and she was terrified. I smiled against the rim of my mug. “Tell her to wait. I will be right there.” When I arrived at the market, I immediately raised an eyebrow at Bella’s appearance. It had only been a week, but she looked like a walking skeleton. Heavy layers of foundation could not hide the bruised, purple bags under her eyes. She lunged at me the second I walked in. “Serena, you have to be careful when you burn their items. We only get one shot at this.” She aggressively shoved a cold jade pendant into my palm. I glanced at it, then shoved it right back against her chest. “What do you want me to do with this? I came to buy some roasted nuts and watch the drama unfold.” “You are the one claiming you can read a ghost’s final thoughts just by touching their stuff. So do it. Spit out the safe codes.” “Hurry up, my favorite show is on in an hour.” Bella’s carefully crafted innocent expression fractured. “Serena, we are supposed to do this together!” I nodded slowly. “Sure. There are two dead guys. We can take one each. Pick your poison.” I stared dead into her hollow eyes. All the color drained from her face, but the cameras were rolling. She forced her chin up. “Fine. I will go first. I will take the jade dealer.” She gripped the jade pendant tightly, took a deep, shaky breath, and squeezed her eyes shut. After an agonizing silence, she finally spoke. “The departed wishes for his son to study hard and get into a good university. That is his dying wish.” The words barely left her mouth before a grieving family member lunged forward and slapped Bella across the face with a loud, vicious crack. “You lying bitch!”

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I held onto my wife’s shoulders, begging her to save my mother first. But she just stared at me in silence, her eyes filled with an unbearable pain. “I understand how you feel,” she finally said, “but the dead come first.” It was then I remembered that the wooden chest, trapped under the fallen beam, contained my mother’s most cherished mementos. A sudden fire had engulfed our home, trapping my mother and that old wooden chest in the room. The breaking beam crashed down, pinning them both. Ben’s voice, tear-streaked, repeated the cruel truth beside me. 1. “Are you insane? Is a thing more important than a human life?” I shrieked hysterically. “When did I say I wouldn’t save your mom? Just a little later.” Claire’s tone was matter-of-fact. The rage in my chest threatened to explode my mind. Ben’s eyes welled with tears. “It’s okay, Claire. He’s right. An object can’t compare to a living person.” But his words only made Claire more distraught. Thick smoke billowed, stinging my eyes. I could even smell human hair and skin charring. We couldn’t wait any longer. Forgetting everything else, I dropped to my knees before Claire. Claire owned the mansion, and the bodyguards present only answered to her. Claire didn’t look at me, her voice firm with an unshakeable resolve. “Enough. Get the chest out first.” The bodyguards exchanged uneasy glances. Though they didn’t understand, they could only comply. “My mom has asthma; we can’t waste time!” I yelled. She knew my mother had severe asthma. She knew! That thick smoke could snatch my mother’s life at any moment. And with one side of the beam already lifted, the other side would bear even more weight. My mother was old; how could she possibly endure that? Ben, however, looked at me with a knowing expression. “Asthma?” Hearing the word “asthma,” Claire’s face also took on a strange look. Her attitude immediately hardened even more. “Get the chest out first. No arguments.” “It contains Ben’s mother’s mementos, his last link to her. Can you bear to take that away from him?” Seeing my strong reaction, Claire directly ordered the guards to pin me to the ground. The sound of splintering wood mixed with my mother’s agonizing cries, like a dull knife sawing at my heart. “No—” My face was pressed into the dirt. Up ahead, my mother coughed violently in the thick smoke, her face turning purple. She was in unbearable pain, frantically clawing at her throat, desperate for air. I struggled with all my might but Claire slapped me hard. “Stop messing around!” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Claire, you’ll kill my mom!” I tried to rush out like a madman. The bodyguards holding me down also lost their patience. “You goddamn stop giving us a hard time!” The bodyguards were burly and incredibly strong. No matter what I did, I couldn’t break free. I could only watch helplessly as the full weight of the beam pressed down on my mother. Her face grew paler and paler. “Claire!” Tears blurred my vision, and I practically bit out those three words. “Try to understand, Zach. If the chest burns, it’s truly gone. Your mom can wait a bit longer; she’ll be fine.” Her face held a chilling, almost cruel calmness. “Save her, please save her!” My voice was hoarse from screaming. Claire’s lips were tightly pressed together; she wouldn’t budge. Ben pleaded with me, “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t, but I really can’t lose my mom’s keepsakes.” From the distance came the dull thud of the wooden chest hitting the ground. There was no more movement from my mother’s direction. Under the black smoke, I couldn’t even see what was happening inside. “Mom’s things are safe. What a relief.” Ben rushed to the chest, his voice filled with a sense of escape. Claire finally let the bodyguards release me. I stumbled and crawled into the thick smoke. Only then could I finally see my mother’s condition – half her body was crushed under the beam, blood stained her mouth, her face was deathly pale, and her breath was barely a whisper. “Mom, hold on! I’m coming to save you now!” I tried to move the beam. But the weight was too much for one person to budge. “Quick, save my mom! Come help!” I yelled at the group behind me. But the bodyguards just stood there, heads bowed, not daring to look at me. Claire stood behind them, her voice impatient. “Is it really necessary to be so dramatic?” I snapped my head up and glared at her, the hatred in my eyes threatening to consume me. Claire didn’t notice my expression; her entire focus was on Ben. 2. It took about twenty minutes before my mom was finally pulled out. By then, she was barely conscious. “The Parks family’s private medical team is nearby, right? Get them over here.” Seeing Claire about to leave, I rushed over and grabbed her arm. She was just about to pull out her phone, then looked at Ben. “Ben, are you hurt?” Ben hesitated, then shook his head. “I… I’m fine. Save Auntie first.” That’s what he said, but he deliberately showed me the scratches on his arm. Claire looked a little worried but still made the call. She calmly gave some instructions to the person on the other end, then hung up and said to me, “Don’t worry, the doctors will be here soon.” Then, Claire and Ben left. She said Ben’s arm was injured and needed to see a doctor. But a full fifteen minutes passed. No sign of an ambulance. I kept calling Claire. It finally connected after a long while. Claire’s voice was full of irritation: “Can you stop bothering me?” “Where are the doctors? Why aren’t they here yet?” I yelled. “Oh, I told them to examine Ben first.” She said it so casually. “Claire…” My voice was trembling. But before I could finish, she hung up. When I tried to call again, it kept showing “call in progress.” She had blocked me. At this point, my mother’s breathing was very shallow. Her eyes were half-open, her lips moving, but no sound came out. “Mom—” My tears flowed uncontrollably. Mom’s palms were covered in calluses. These were the marks of her hard work. Now, these calluses felt like sharp scissors, cutting me with unbearable pain. It was a good thing I hadn’t fully trusted Claire. I had already contacted the nearby public hospital. But the next second, the hospital called me. “No, we can’t get through. That main road is blocked.” “It’s the Parks family’s motorcade. Are they yours? Tell them to move.” My head spun. The Parks family… Claire’s butler appeared beside me just then. He looked at me, a sneer playing on his lips. “Sir, if you hadn’t aspired beyond your station, how would you have ended up like this?” “You knew Miss Claire’s heart belonged to Mr. Ben, yet you insisted on marrying her. This is your comeuppance.” “No need to struggle. It is the Parks family motorcade.” “Miss Claire was so worried something might happen to Mr. Ben, she called many doctors over. Now that road is completely jammed.” The butler had always looked down on me. He thought my humble background made me unworthy of Claire. But at the time, Claire was the one who pursued me. I loved her, so I was willing to risk being ridiculed as a gold-digger to be with her. After we married, I never spent a penny of her money. My salary wasn’t low for an ordinary person, earning fifty thousand a year. The butler was good at reading people. He knew Claire cared for Ben, so he always tried to please Ben and despised me even more. The entire Parks family, from top to bottom, treated me with contempt. My mother’s hand suddenly twitched, then went completely still. “Mom!” I hugged her with trembling hands, my body shaking uncontrollably. My mother grew cold in my arms. In the distance, the faint, growing wail of an ambulance finally reached us. But it was too late. As I drifted into unconsciousness, I heard the butler still mocking me: “Truly no self-awareness…” 3. I woke up two days later. The smell of disinfectant was pungent. I struggled to open my eyes; my throat was dry and sore. Claire happened to walk in, with Ben following behind her. Ben was holding a faded cloth doll in his hands. “Zach, how are you feeling? Still not too uncomfortable?” Claire’s voice was full of concern, as if nothing had ever happened. I stared intently at the doll. Ben instinctively clutched it tighter. “Dude, my mom made this. I couldn’t sleep without it when I was a kid.” A faded doll, rough stitches… My mom died for this piece of junk. Ben’s scalp tingled under my gaze. “Are you blaming me?” Claire frowned, her voice displeased. “Zachary, don’t be unreasonable. Ben is also a victim; no one wants a fire.” “Unreasonable?” I repeated the words. Seeing my expression, Claire’s face darkened even more. “It’s already happened. Your dissatisfaction won’t change anything.” “Yes, it’s already happened.” I suddenly laughed. The sound startled the sparrows outside the window. “It was an emergency; you should understand us. Ben’s mother’s mementos would be truly gone if they burned.” Claire said this while pulling out a compact mirror from her purse to reapply lipstick. As if my discontent was just an insignificant interlude. “Is my mother’s life worth nothing to you?” I lunged and grabbed Claire’s collar. “My mother is dead, she’s dead, are you happy now!” The IV tube swayed wildly from my tugging, and blood flowed back into it. Ben quickly came over and punched me in the face. His voice was cold. “You hit a woman? If you’re upset, take it out on me, don’t pick on Claire.” Claire turned to look at him, her eyes practically overflowing with adoration. Then she glared at me, “Can you be reasonable? Didn’t I leave some bodyguards to help you save her?” “Besides, the fire didn’t even reach her. What could possibly happen?” These past two days, she’d been out having fun with Ben. She hadn’t cared about my mom or me at all, so she naturally didn’t know my mom was gone. Seeing me about to strike, Ben actually pulled out a medical report from his pocket. “You’re too much! Auntie was actually in perfect health; she didn’t have asthma at all.” “You lied like that just to make Claire feel sorry for you?” “You’re so conniving, no wonder the Parks family elders don’t like you.” I sharply looked at his so-called medical report, my eyes like a predator’s. Claire also snorted, hands on her hips. “What else do you have to say? You and your mom are nothing but liars. She didn’t have asthma.” I trembled with rage. My mom was dead, and they were still slandering her like this. “Shut up! All of you, shut up!” I roared, heartbroken. The shout was so loud it triggered a coughing fit. My throat felt like it was being scorched by red-hot tongs, the pain unbearable. Ben shielded Claire behind him. From an angle she couldn’t see, he smirked provocatively at me. But the words he spoke were remarkably understanding. “I didn’t mean to expose you; I just didn’t want Claire to be deceived…” Claire glared at me. “Zachary, you’ve disappointed me too much.” “You and your mother truly are from humble beginnings, so full of schemes.” Her voice was filled with deep disappointment. “You shut up. You have no right to mention my mother!” I gritted my teeth as I spat out the words. Claire was startled by my intensity. But she still held her ground, “Hmph, you better reflect on yourself. Ben and I are leaving now.” She took Ben’s hand and turned to leave. Their footsteps faded, followed by the sound of the main door being forcefully shut. Once the sounds completely died down, I couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into uncontrollable sobs. A week later, I finished my mother’s funeral arrangements. Only then did I have time to return to that so-called home. The guest room in the mansion still bore scorched marks. Every one of them reminded me of my mother’s tragic death. Claire wasn’t there. She and Ben had gone on vacation abroad. All under the guise of “revisiting old haunts.” Ben kept flaunting their photos on social media, implying their intimate relationship with every caption. I looked at those pictures, feeling nothing. I packed my things and left without hesitation. As I arrived at the hotel, Claire’s call came through. “You’re not at the hospital?” “No.” I looked at a photo of my mother from her younger days. “Claire, let’s get a divorce.”

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The moment I stepped back into my college dorm on freshman move-in day, the memory hit me like a physical blow. I stared at the sparkling crystal bracelet resting in my roommate’s palm, knowing exactly what kind of hell was locked inside it. In my previous life, this seemingly innocent piece of jewelry bound my reproductive system to hers, trapping me in an absurd, agonizing nightmare. She had made it her life’s mission to become the ultimate campus heartbreaker. Her goal was to sleep with one hundred different guys before graduation, walking away from every encounter without a scratch, completely immune to pregnancy or disease. Meanwhile, I was the quiet, studious girl who had never even been on a date. Yet, I was the one who woke up with morning sickness. I was the one forced onto the cold, sterile surgical tables, enduring dozens of agonizing procedures to remove pregnancies that were not mine. The entire campus branded me a shameless tramp. People spat at my feet. The ordeal finally ended when my body gave out during the final, catastrophic surgery. I bled to death in a freezing hospital room, entirely alone. So, when my roommate smiled her sweet, deceptive smile and offered me that cursed bracelet again, I did not hesitate. I reached out and gently fastened it around the wrist of the woman standing next to her. Her mother. 1 “We are going to be roommates for the next four years. Consider this crystal bracelet a welcome gift. It brings good vibes and lucky energy.” Harper smiled warmly, pressing the delicate silver chain and sparkling stones into my hand. Her enthusiasm felt suffocating. Staring at the familiar piece of jewelry, the reality of my rebirth fully set in. “I appreciate the thought, but this looks expensive. We just met. It does not feel right accepting something so valuable right off the bat.” I gently pushed her hand back. Harper and her mother were dressed in faded, discount store clothes. They clearly were not wealthy. Out of the four girls in our suite, she was only offering this gift to me. It was a blatant trap. Noah stepped forward and clamped his hand over mine, forcing my fingers shut over the crystals. “Just take it, Avery. Harper is trying to be nice. Do you have to be so socially awkward on the first day?” Harper immediately played the victim. “Yeah, Avery. If you do not take it, you are basically rejecting my friendship.” I forced a tight, bitter smile. Noah was the boy I grew up with. He was the only reason I applied to this university in the first place. Yet, before classes even started, he had already flirted his way into Harper’s orbit through the freshman group chats. On the drive here, he specifically warned me to keep my distance so I would not ruin his chances with her. I suddenly grabbed Noah’s wrist. “You know, this bracelet really matches your aesthetic. Why do not you wear it?” Noah looked horrified. He violently yanked his arm back, stumbling away from me. “Are you crazy? Harper bought that for you! I am not ruining her gift!” My suspicion was confirmed. Noah knew exactly what the bracelet did. I quietly slipped the jewelry into my pocket and stopped arguing. A few minutes later, Harper and Noah turned around to unpack some boxes. I seized my chance. I stepped close to Harper’s mother, pulled the bracelet out, and swiftly clasped it around her wrist. The crystal pulsed with a faint, unnatural glow. The system had successfully bound its target. Harper’s mother ran her fingers over the stones, a greedy smile spreading across her face. “At least someone here has some sense. My daughter begged me to buy this expensive thing for you. I did not even want to let it go.” She looked me up and down, her eyes full of judgment. “Look at you, all dressed up in those tight jeans. You are clearly just here to chase boys. Do not you dare corrupt my daughter.” “I am keeping this bracelet. Do not mention a word of this to Harper, or she will throw a tantrum.” I offered her a polite, saccharine smile. “Do not worry, Mrs. Davis. Wear it in good health. Your secret is totally safe with me.” In my past life, putting on that bracelet initiated a dark, parasitic bond. Harper wanted to be the queen of the party scene, treating guys like collectible trophies. She spent countless nights in fraternity houses and off-campus apartments, treating her body like an amusement park. No matter how reckless she was, she never got pregnant. Instead, a virgin like me suffered the brutal, confusing consequences. Rumors of my constant hospital visits spread like wildfire. Every time I walked into the cafeteria, I heard the whispers. People called me a public restroom, claiming anyone could have a turn. No one believed my side of the story. Even the clinic doctors looked at me with disgust. “You young girls have absolutely zero self-respect. Do you think your body is a joke?” they would say. I paid for her sins with my life. This time, I was not playing the victim. If Harper wanted to play with dark magic, her own mother could pay the toll. 2 Once we finished unpacking, Harper insisted on taking the whole suite out for dinner. Sitting at the restaurant booth, she tilted her chin up proudly. “My goal for college is to be a legend. I am going to date one hundred different guys before we graduate.” “Someone with my kind of beauty shouldn’t be tied down. I am going to spread the love.” The rest of us exchanged uncomfortable glances. Lexi, our blunt and fiercely protective roommate, frowned. “Seriously? That sounds like you are treating people like disposable garbage. Plus, your boyfriend is sitting right next to you. Is not he bothered by you saying that?” Before Harper could even open her mouth, Noah jumped to her defense. “You guys just do not get it. Harper is a free spirit. I love how open and liberated she is.” “Besides, I am her main guy. Everyone else is just a temporary guest. As long as she comes back to me, why should I care?” Harper and Noah locked eyes, smiling like they were starring in a romantic movie. Lexi and I shared a look. We were watching two absolute clowns. I slowly shook my head. In high school, Noah was smart and kind. Now, he was a brainwashed lapdog. I could not believe I ever wasted tears on him. Harper enthusiastically mapped out her grand strategy over appetizers. “There are eight major colleges on this campus. I figure I will hook up with ten guys from each department. I will save the last twenty spots for athletes from other schools. Oh, and if I can bag a few young professors, that would be the ultimate flex.” “Fair, right? This way, every major gets a chance to experience me.” I knew arguing with her was pointless. I just nodded and pretended to be impressed by her ambition. Lexi could not hold her tongue. “If you are sleeping around that much, you better be using protection. One mistake and your life is ruined. Abortions wreck your body.” Harper waved her hand dismissively. “I never use protection. Skin-to-skin is the only way to do it. And do not worry about me. I am never getting pregnant.” I put down my fork and feigned shock. “Really? Are you infertile or something?” Harper glared at me. “Shut up. I just have complete control over my body. I only get pregnant if I choose to.” “I have a secret weapon.” Her eyes darted down to my wrist, landing on the sparkling stones. A smug, wicked grin crossed her face. What she did not know was that the bracelet I was wearing was a cheap, ten-dollar knockoff I bought at the campus bookstore. The real cursed artifact was currently resting on her mother’s arm. That night, Harper did not come back to the dorm. Neither did Noah. The three of us stayed quiet. When the Resident Advisor did bed checks, we did not cover for her. Right at midnight, Harper sent a message to the massive freshman group chat. “The beds at the hotel across the street are so stiff. My back aches and my legs are completely like jelly.” She attached a photo. She was lounging on white hotel sheets, wearing a silk robe that slipped strategically off one shoulder. The chat exploded instantly. Hundreds of guys flooded the replies. “Are you trying to kill us? How am I supposed to sleep now?” “Is the bed really the reason your legs are shaking, gorgeous?” Satisfied with the chaos she created, Harper dropped her snapchat link. “Add me if you want to hang out.” 3 Harper got written up for skipping curfew. Naturally, Noah blamed me for not lying to the RA. “We are supposed to be a team! You are just bitter because I picked her over you.” “Look in a mirror, Avery. You could never compete with Harper. Stop taking your jealousy out on her.” I did not even waste my breath arguing. I just rolled my eyes and locked my bedroom door. By the end of the first week, Harper had already cycled through three different guys. Every evening when I walked back from the library, I saw her making out with a new guy outside our building. The entire freshman class was talking about it. Some girls called her trash. Some of the guys treated her like a goddess. A girl from our biology class tried to pull her aside. “You really need to be careful. You are going to catch something serious.” Harper just laughed in her face. “My immune system is flawless. Keep your advice to yourself.” She was right. In my past life, every single bacterial infection and virus she contracted bypassed her system and manifested in my body. I spent half my freshman year shivering in clinic waiting rooms. This time around, I wondered how her dear mother’s immune system was holding up. For the next few weeks, Harper stuck to her rigid schedule. A new guy every three days. She barely set foot in our suite. Then, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, my phone rang. “Avery, my mom is in the hospital. Can you please come down here?” My ears perked up. This was not a standard cold. I grabbed my coat. I had to see this drama play out. When I arrived at the emergency room, Harper and Noah were pacing the hallway, looking completely frantic. The very first thing they did was stare at my wrist. Seeing the cheap crystal bracelet securely fastened to my arm, they both let out a massive sigh of relief. I played dumb. “What happened to your mom?” Harper rubbed her temples. “The doctor said… she is two weeks pregnant. And she has a massive bacterial infection. The doctor said it was caused by reckless, excessive intimacy.” “My dad was so furious he screamed at her in the lobby and drove off. Now we do not even know if she can keep the baby.” I peered through the glass window. Harper’s mother was lying in the hospital bed, gently rubbing her stomach with a dreamy, delusional smile. Harper suddenly turned to me, her fingers digging into my arm. “Avery, have you been feeling okay lately? Anything weird going on with your body?” I nodded slowly, looking concerned. “Actually, yes. I have gained a ton of weight out of nowhere. And my cycle is completely messed up. I am weeks late.” “Since I am already here, I was going to ask the pharmacy for some supplements.” Harper’s shoulders immediately dropped. The tension vanished from her face. I fought back a smirk. I had gained weight because Lexi and I discovered an amazing late-night taco truck near campus. My cycle shifted naturally because living with three other girls had synced our routines. Harper’s mother ultimately lost the pregnancy. She was too old, and her body was too weak to handle the violent magical transfer. The doctor gave her a stern lecture about practicing safe intimacy and warned her that another pregnancy could be fatal. Clearly, neither the mother nor the daughter took the warning seriously.

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When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the edge of the Underworld. My boyfriend, Jim, was fiercely guarding the passage to the Golden Ship—the only chance to be reborn as a wealthy scion. He said he had to wait for the unconscious Tanya Hayes, even as the ship was about to depart and the surrounding spirits roared with anger. In my last life, I used my own life to force him onto that ship. Later, we became celebrated socialites, while Tanya, when found, was barely clinging to life in the hands of human traffickers. He lightly dismissed it, saying she was ill-fated and lacked blessings, then turned and proposed to me. But on our wedding night, he slashed my throat with scissors, screaming that I had ruined Tanya’s life. This time, watching his anxious, waiting back, I decided not to interfere. Let them be “star-crossed lovers” together; I wanted to see if their love could still be so cheap and grand once they landed in the slums. … The boarding gate for the Golden Ship ticket was crammed with hundreds of souls, utterly impassable. With only ten minutes left until the last ship departed, Jim defiantly stood his ground at the gangway. “Get lost! You idiot! Do you know what missing this ship means?” A ghost, at its wit’s end, roared. Jim sneered, his gaze contemptuous. “Tanya isn’t awake yet. No one gets on.” “He’s lost his mind!” A trembling old man pointed at him, shaking with rage. “You’d ruin all of our next lives for your own selfish desires?” “Exactly! If we miss the Golden Ship, we’ll be reborn in the slums on a dinghy!” The shouts of anger surged like a tide, and Jim’s expression grew increasingly impatient. Suddenly, a young ghost charged forward, trying to force his way onto the ship. Instantly, Jim struck like lightning, grabbing the ghost by the neck and flinging him over ten yards away. “If you don’t want to be annihilated, behave yourself!” His voice was utterly menacing. The ghosts recoiled in fear, never expecting this living CEO to be so ruthless even in death. The Captain looked at me with a troubled expression, speaking in a voice everyone could hear, “Miss Hamilton, you come from a family of mystics. You must know that if this continues, the ship genuinely won’t be able to depart.” I slowly rose to my feet, and all eyes immediately turned to me. After all, as the only one present with connections to the Underworld, my words carried significant weight. “Everyone, please don’t rush.” “Since we’re all friends who’ve made it this far together, of course we should leave together.” These words struck like thunder, leaving all the ghosts on site dumbfounded. “Miss Hamilton, does that mean…?” someone asked, trembling. Jim’s eyes lit up with wild joy, and he strode quickly to my side. “Holly, I knew you’d understand me best!” He squeezed my hand tightly, his voice trembling with excitement. “Tanya, she’s always been frail and sickly. If she were reborn into a poor family by herself, wouldn’t that be the end of her?” I gently patted his back, soothingly saying, “You’re right. How could I bear to see poor Tanya suffer?” The other ghosts completely despaired, never having imagined I would condone Jim’s outrageous behavior. “But Miss Hamilton, there really isn’t enough time…” The Captain hesitated. I waved my hand dismissively, “No rush. A little more waiting won’t hurt.” Jim smugly surveyed his surroundings, his gaze seemingly saying: See? Even the Hamilton heiress is on my side. But he had no idea that I didn’t need this run-down ship for my reincarnation. With the Hamilton family’s standing in the Underworld, I could take a VIP passage to a wealthy family at any time. The only reason I crowded onto this ordinary ship with them in my last life was because I was worried their karma was too heavy to get into a good reincarnation. But them? They repeatedly trampled on kindness, taking my good intentions for granted. This lifetime, I wanted to personally watch them plummet into despair. Time ticked by, second by agonizing second, amidst everyone’s anxiety. Just at this critical moment, the unconscious Tanya finally stirred. “Jim darling…” She slowly opened her eyes, seeing Jim guarding her side, and tears instantly streamed down her face. “You really didn’t leave me!” Jim’s eyes welled up with tears of excitement. “Tanya, you’re finally awake!” However, in this deeply moving moment, the ferry’s horn blared loudly – the last boarding time was up, and the Golden Ship slowly pulled away from the dock. As the ship’s departure whistle faded into the distance, the hopeful souls completely collapsed. That ship carried the promise of a life as a wealthy scion. And now, they could only watch hope vanish into the vast, ghostly fog. “It’s over, completely over…” Some ghosts directly collapsed onto the ground, wailing. More hatred began to target the instigators. The white-haired elder’s hand trembled as he pointed at Jim. “You beast! You’ve doomed all of us to be poor ghosts on a broken ship!” “And that conniving wretch faking illness!” Another ghost glared viciously at the newly awakened Tanya. “Not waking up sooner, not waking up later, but right now! It was clearly intentional!” Tanya was terrified by the sudden onslaught of curses, her face drained of color, and she trembled, hiding in Jim’s embrace. The curses all around them cut like knives, and Jim’s face darkened, his fists clenched, yet he dared not retaliate. Just as the tension reached its peak, I cleared my throat, and everyone instantly fell silent. “Everyone, what’s done is done. No amount of yelling will change anything.” “The most important thing now is to figure out what to do next.” The Captain asked with a worried expression, “Miss Hamilton, the Golden Ship is gone. Where are we souls supposed to go now?” I pretended to think for a moment, then slowly said, “It’s not completely hopeless. I remember there’s a temporary waiting room at the docks. We can stay there for now.” As soon as these words were uttered, a glimmer of hope rekindled in the ghosts’ eyes. Jim excitedly grabbed Tanya’s hand, his tone relaxed, “See? Holly always finds a way.” Tanya looked at me gratefully, “Holly, darling, if it weren’t for you, we really wouldn’t know what to do…” I smiled faintly. “We’re all friends. No need to be so polite.” Half an hour later, our group of distressed spirits arrived at the dilapidated waiting room by the dock. It was damp and cold here, a world away from the luxurious interiors of the Golden Ship we’d just seen. The ghosts managed to find spots in the damp corners, leaning tiredly against the moldy walls. Just then, the Captain’s face changed dramatically, and he rushed over. “Bad news!” he said, panting. “I just received notice from the port authority: due to an upgrade of the Underworld system, no ships will be departing for the human world for at least six months!” This news was like a thunderclap, plunging all the ghosts into utter despair. “Six months? So we’re stuck in this dump for six months?” “After six months, maybe even the worst ships will be gone, and we’ll be stuck as wandering spirits forever!” Despite the general panic, Jim appeared unusually calm. He put his arm around Tanya, saying nonchalantly, “What’s the panic? It’s just waiting six months, isn’t it? It’s a bit run-down here, but at least it’s shelter. No harm in waiting until the system’s fixed.” Hearing his dismissive tone, the ghosts’ anger was instantly ignited. “It’s easy for you to say! If it weren’t for you…” I quickly cut off the impending conflict, pulling out a shimmering spirit charm. “Everyone, don’t panic. I’ll contact my connections in the Underworld right away to see if we can find a solution.” The charm glowed golden, and soon there was a response. I feigned a surprised expression and turned to everyone. “Good news! I’ve arranged for an internal special ship in three days that can take us to be reborn into middle-class families!” The ghosts heard this and were reborn with hope, thanking me profusely. Jim also breathed a sigh of relief, tightly embracing Tanya. “Tanya, did you hear? We’ll be reborn together soon!” Tanya’s eyes welled with tears, and she squeezed his hand. “Jim darling, meeting you in this life is truly my greatest blessing…” Watching this self-indulgent couple, a mischievous smile played on my lips. I had indeed contacted the Underworld and applied for an internal special ship. However… this ship only had seven seats. And here we were, including Jim and Tanya, exactly eight ghosts. Three days later, it would be their time to choose. Would they abandon the woman they loved to save themselves, or would they stay with her in this dilapidated waiting room, forever losing the chance to be reborn? I was eager to see what kind of test their so-called true love could truly withstand. Over the next two days, the dilapidated waiting room by the dock became our temporary refuge. Although the conditions were harsh, at least it provided shelter. Besides the occasional ship’s whistle, we could barely manage to settle in. Yet, some people seemed to have no idea what “enough is enough” meant. On the first evening, I was reviewing the reincarnation regulations issued by the Underworld when I heard rustling from a corner of the waiting room. I turned my head to see Jim stealthily taking a perpetual lamp from the altar. “Jim, what are you doing?” I asked, feigning confusion. He turned around, guilty as charged, pretending to be calm. “Tanya’s afraid of the dark. I’m taking this to light her way.” “But this is a sacred lamp consecrated to King Yama. How can you just move it?” The old man nearby couldn’t help but interject. Jim impatiently waved his hand. “Just borrowing it for a bit; it’s not like I’m not putting it back! Besides, we’ll be leaving soon. King Yama wouldn’t be so stingy, would he?” With that, he swaggered over and placed the perpetual lamp beside Tanya. Tanya took the lamp, sweetly clutching his arm. “Jim darling, you’re so thoughtful…” I watched the scene with cold eyes, not interfering. The next morning, Jim had a new trick up his sleeve. While the other ghosts were still resting, he secretly snuck to the herb garden behind the waiting room, frantically picking precious Soul-Restoring Grass. “Tanya’s soul is too weak; eating more Soul-Restoring Grass will help her recover faster.” Jim reasoned, plucking the herbs. I watched him brew large quantities of Soul-Restoring Grass into a medicinal soup, serving only Tanya, while the other ghosts could only watch with longing eyes. Someone finally couldn’t hold back and whispered, “If he keeps picking like this, what if the rest of us get sick?” Jim heard it and scoffed disdainfully, “Tanya’s health is paramount. What do you coarse people know?” The ghost was fuming at his retort but still held back. Late the next night, Tanya suddenly pouted, saying she wanted to hear music. Jim actually dismantled the ancient zither in the waiting room, saying he would make her a music box. “Wait, that zither is the property of the Underworld…” The Captain tried to dissuade him. “So what?” Jim continued to dismantle it without looking up. “Tanya’s happiness is more important than any broken antique. It’s just a broken zither!” His words made all the ghosts present gasp. This was a sacred artifact with a thousand-year history, and he was just dismantling it? I watched Jim intently making the music box for Tanya, my perception undergoing a drastic change. In my previous life, I had always believed his actions stemmed from affection for a “sister” he had grown up with. Now, it seemed he was merely accustomed to trampling on rules, accustomed to disregarding others’ rights to satisfy his own desires. What was even more sickening was that Tanya seemed completely accustomed to his misdeeds. She lay in the corner illuminated by the perpetual lamp, drinking the medicinal soup brewed from precious Soul-Restoring Grass, playing with the music box made from zither strings, looking like a princess enjoying herself. “Jim darling is truly the best man in the world!” she cooed. “To be protected by you like this, I’m simply the happiest woman in the world!” Hearing this, I almost couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Happy? If she knew how many people’s possessions Jim had stolen to spoil her, how many sacred objects he had trampled upon, would she still feel happy? If she knew that because of their selfishness and greed, everyone had missed the best chance for reincarnation, would she still take this indulgence for granted? The night was as dark as ink, the waiting room quiet save for the sound of crashing waves. I lay on the cold floor, staring at the damaged ceiling above, my plan for revenge growing clearer. Tomorrow was the day the internal special ship would arrive. The third day, at noon, I was packing my belongings, preparing for the upcoming reincarnation opportunity, when I suddenly heard urgent shouts from a corner of the waiting room. “Holly Hamilton! Come here quickly!” Jim’s voice was clearly panicked. I put down my things and hurried over. Tanya lay on the floor, her face as pale as paper, her body trembling slightly. “What’s wrong with her?” I knelt to examine Tanya. Jim’s eyes were tear-filled, tightly gripping Tanya’s hand. “I don’t know either. She was fine just a moment ago, and then suddenly she became like this. She says her soul feels like it’s dissipating, like she’s about to vanish!” I carefully sensed Tanya’s soul-power fluctuations; they were indeed a bit unstable, but this level was far from life-threatening. “It should just be a normal reaction before reincarnation,” I said truthfully. “Newly deceased souls often experience similar symptoms before being reborn. She just needs to rest.” However, Jim didn’t think so. He suddenly grabbed my sleeve, his eyes unusually resolute. “No, this isn’t a normal reaction! Tanya’s condition is very serious, I can feel it!” “You must use your ancestral jade bracelet to save her!” Hearing this, I was stunned. The ancestral jade bracelet was a family heirloom of the Hamilton family, passed down for a thousand years, imbued with endless spiritual power. If used, it would not only severely damage the bracelet itself but also potentially cause me to lose the protection of my ancestors during reincarnation. This precious item, he wanted me to use it to treat Tanya’s minor soul-power instability? “Jim, what are you talking about?” I tried to explain, “The ancestral jade bracelet cannot be easily used, and besides, Tanya’s condition…” “I don’t care!” Jim suddenly stood up, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Tanya is in so much pain right now. Can you really bear to see her suffer?” His emotions grew more agitated, his voice becoming sharper. “Didn’t you say you’d treat Tanya like your own sister, just like me? Now that she’s in trouble, you’re here quibbling!” Other ghosts heard the commotion and gathered around. Seeing the situation, everyone exchanged bewildered glances. “Mr. Hayes, how precious is an ancestral jade bracelet? How can it be used so casually?” An old soul cautiously advised. Jim glared at him. “What’s it to you! Is Tanya’s life not more important than a broken bracelet?” He turned back to me, his tone filled with an undeniable threat. “Holly Hamilton, I’m saying this again: bring out the ancestral jade bracelet!” “If you don’t save Tanya, then we’re completely done. From now on, we’ll be strangers!” Faced with his ultimatum, my heart was a mix of emotions. In my previous life, I had compromised and retreated countless times under such threats. For his smile, to maintain our relationship, I could give everything. But now, as I re-examined everything from an outsider’s perspective, I realized how foolish I had been. He had never truly cared about my feelings, nor had he considered my situation. In his eyes, I was nothing more than an inexhaustible resource, a tool to be exploited at will. However, on the surface, I still maintained my former obedience. I slowly took off the warm, jade-like bracelet from my wrist. The bracelet was carved with exquisite phoenix patterns. “Since you put it that way, how can I stand by and do nothing?” Jim’s face instantly lit up with joy when he saw the jade bracelet. “I knew you loved me most!” He took the bracelet and quickly placed it on Tanya’s wrist. A gentle green glow instantly enveloped Tanya’s body, and her previously pale face quickly regained its rosy color. In just a few breaths, Tanya opened her eyes, looking at Jim weakly but clearly. “Jim darling, I feel much better… Thank you!” She then turned to me, her eyes full of gratitude. “Holly, darling, I’ll never forget this kindness. I’ll surely repay your life-saving grace in the future!” I smiled and nodded, but my heart sneered. Life-saving grace? Her minor ailment, even without the jade bracelet, would have lasted an hour at most. And my ancestral jade bracelet was the essence of our Hamilton family’s centuries-old heritage. To use such a precious treasure to treat a “symptom” that didn’t even need treatment—that was probably the most absurd thing in the world. Even more ridiculous, Jim still looked utterly entitled, as if everything I sacrificed was simply expected. “Alright, Tanya’s fine. Let’s get ready for reincarnation!” He happily took Tanya’s hand. Watching their intimate gestures, I finally made up my mind. Since he cared so much about Tanya, the next choice would be etched into his memory forever! …

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Our campus was too small for a delusional deity like Ivy. I didn’t grasp the full extent of her madness until days later, when my penniless roommate dared to crash my engagement party—wearing my custom wedding gown and dripping in my million-dollar jewelry. She crossed her arms, eyeing me with disgust as if I were the trespasser. “Look who showed up. The imposter,” she sneered. “You’ve leeched off my family and stolen my life for twenty years. But as former roommates, kneel and beg, and I might let you serve me to pay off your debt.” Watching her drown in her own fabricated “switched at birth” fantasy, I stayed silent and pulled out my phone. To understand this, rewind to the first week of the semester. It began with a hairpin. When Ivy learned the diamond clip in my hair cost fifty grand, her eyes reddened with envy. “Fifty thousand! Without your parents, could you ever afford that?” she shrieked. “Audrey, you need a reality check. Every bite you eat, even the air you breathe, belongs to my family!” “Think shiny rocks make you less of trailer trash? Just wait—my real parents will throw you out. Let’s see you act the heiress then!” Stunned by her rant, I laughed. “I’m not the Page heiress? Let me guess… you are? Do yourself a favor—spend less time reading cheesy web novels and more on your student loans.” With that, I stepped into my family’s town car and drove off, leaving Ivy shaking with rage on the sidewalk. It was definitely time to arrange a change of scenery for her. 1 I was sitting in the dorm room, handing out souvenirs to my roommates and sharing funny stories from my summer vacation in Europe. Brooke suddenly leaned in, staring at the side of my head. “Audrey, that hairpin is absolutely gorgeous. Is it new?” I nodded casually, not thinking much of it. “Yeah, you could say that.” Ivy stepped closer, narrowing her eyes as she scrutinized the piece. “It looks incredibly tacky. That material is obviously cheap resin or glass. You can find identical junk on Shein for two dollars. It is nothing special.” The moment the words left her mouth, Brooke let out a loud gasp. “Oh my god, I just recognized it! That is a limited-edition piece by that genius French jewelry designer. There are only ten of them in the entire world. They retail for at least fifty thousand dollars.” “I cannot believe you actually got your hands on one. I have been obsessing over it for months, but it is way out of my budget. Audrey, can I please look at it closer?” I was just reaching up to unclip it when Ivy’s voice shattered the peace of the room. “Fifty grand? For that ugly piece of metal?” The truth was, I had sketched the design myself when I was bored. My dad saw the drawing, loved it, and had his luxury brand produce a limited run. The pearls were plucked directly from the South Sea, and the crushed diamonds were flawless. Her aggressive tone irritated me, but I didn’t want to start a screaming match over jewelry. I kept my voice perfectly flat. “It is alright. I just bought it because I liked the design.” “Because you liked it? You say that so casually!” Ivy’s voice cracked. “Fifty thousand dollars! If your parents weren’t funding your ridiculous lifestyle, could you ever afford it?” “Your toxic materialism and parasitic reliance on your parents is disgusting. You are a complete embarrassment to the entire student body!” Her voice pitched so high it physically hurt my ears. Lexi and Brooke exchanged exhausted glances. Seeing Ivy puff out her chest and play the righteous hero was getting old fast. Lexi muttered under her breath. “Here she goes again, playing the moral police.” “Fifty grand is literally pocket change for an only child like Audrey. I don’t understand why Ivy is throwing a temper tantrum. It isn’t her money…” I swatted away Ivy’s finger, which was currently hovering an inch from my nose. My patience officially evaporated. “Are you quite finished?” “Where my money comes from and how I choose to spend it is entirely my business. But watching you choke on your own jealousy is honestly just pathetic.” Ivy’s face turned a violent shade of crimson. “You… I am trying to give you good advice! Why are you so ungrateful?” “You haven’t worked a single day in your life, yet you burn through tens of thousands of dollars like it is water. When the Page family cuts you off, you are going to starve in the gutters!” My expression turned ice-cold. “What makes you think I am not spending my own money? And even if I am spending my family’s wealth, so what? I am happy. My parents are happy. What the hell does it have to do with you?” “If I wanted to buy a solid gold bathtub encrusted with rubies, my dad would ask what color rubies I prefer. I am not spending a single cent of your cash. Why are you acting like you own the bank?” 2 Brooke and Lexi could not hold it in anymore. They burst out laughing. The self-righteous fury froze on Ivy’s face. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. I was too exhausted to deal with her psychotic behavior. Today was just freshman orientation anyway, and classes didn’t start until Monday. My driver was waiting downstairs. I grabbed my designer tote and headed for the door. Just as I reached for the handle, Ivy stepped in front of me, blocking the exit. She crossed her arms, raking her eyes over my outfit like she was inspecting garbage. “God, any stray dog thinks they can slap on some designer labels and act like royalty these days.” “Some people are just cheap knockoffs down to their very bones. Wearing something that expensive on your head should make you sick to your stomach!” My good mood was entirely ruined. I glared at her. “Ivy, do you ever shut up?” My anger only fueled her twisted sense of superiority. “Audrey Page, you need to understand your place. Every meal you eat, every dollar you waste, even the oxygen in your lungs belongs to my family!” “Do not overestimate yourself. You think wearing a shiny rock changes your DNA?” “Just wait. Very soon, my real parents are going to throw you out like the trash you are. Let us see how long you can keep playing the pampered Page heiress!” I was utterly mesmerized by her sheer stupidity. I finally decoded her psychotic rambling. She had read too many trashy internet novels and genuinely convinced herself that we were switched at birth. She thought I was the fake heiress destined to be banished to the slums, while she was the tragic, hidden diamond. What she didn’t know was that when my mother went into labor, my father rented out the entire VIP floor of a private hospital in Switzerland. I was the only infant born on that floor that week. The security was tighter than a military base. A mix-up was scientifically impossible. I let out a breathless, mocking laugh. “I am not the Page heiress? Let me guess, you are?” “Do me a favor. Spend more time looking in a mirror, stop rotting your brain with fiction, and focus on paying off your student loans.” The color instantly drained from Ivy’s face. She looked like she had just been slapped. But a second later, she lifted her chin, her eyes flashing with a bizarre, terrifying obsession. “What do you know? My suffering is only temporary. It is just a test from my parents to make sure I do not grow up to be a useless parasite like you.” “It is just a small loan. Once I return to the Page estate, that debt will be nothing. The financial compensation they owe me is unimaginable!” She took a step closer, her eyes practically overflowing with malice. “But you, Audrey. Everything you have is stolen. You are wearing my jewelry, spending my inheritance, and soaking up the love that belongs to me. Don’t you feel any shame?” “Enjoy your borrowed time. The moment I present the DNA evidence and kick you out the door, you will be begging on your knees for my mercy!” I stared at her like she belonged in a straitjacket. I tapped my temple. “Ivy, I strongly recommend a psychiatric evaluation. Anyone with a functioning brain cell would never speak like this.” I shoved past her, walked out of the building, and got into my car. Ivy didn’t show up to the dorm for the rest of the week. Brooke heard a rumor that she took a leave of absence for a family emergency. I couldn’t care less. Without her suffocating presence, the rest of the suite got along perfectly. Friday morning, I was sleeping in since my first class was canceled. My phone buzzed violently against the nightstand. I groggily pressed accept, still half-asleep. “Where the hell are you?!” a shrill voice demanded. My brain was completely foggy. “Where am I supposed to be?” Ivy’s furious scream nearly blew out my speaker. “Audrey, do you have absolutely zero concept of time?!” “I texted you last night to be here by nine sharp! Why are you still in bed?!” “Get up right now. You have thirty minutes to get here, or you will regret it for the rest of your miserable life!” Her screeching completely obliterated my exhaustion. I assumed there was a sudden schedule change for one of our core classes. I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked my messages. Sure enough, there was a text from an unsaved number sent at 10 PM last night. “Meet me at the City Records Office tomorrow at 9 AM.” I had assumed it was a spam text or a scammer and ignored it. I hadn’t even bothered saving Ivy’s number to my contacts. When I didn’t respond, she completely lost her mind. “Are you deaf?! We agreed on nine, and it is already eight-thirty.” “Get down to the Records Office immediately and sign the paperwork to remove yourself from the Page family trust. The clerks go on lunch break soon.” “Letting you play the billionaire heiress for twenty years is generous enough. Do not delay my official return to my bloodline.” Realizing this had absolutely nothing to do with school, my annoyance morphed into pure rage. I was about to unleash a string of curses when Lexi groaned from the bed across the room. “Who is screaming at this hour? People are trying to sleep.” “Seriously Audrey, turn the volume down. It is giving me a headache.” I took a deep breath, muttered “absolute psycho” under my breath, and hung up the phone. I blocked Ivy’s number, put my phone on silent, pulled the heavy duvet over my head, and went right back to sleep. 3 I went home to my family estate that afternoon, completely forgetting about the insane phone call. This weekend was my engagement party with Spencer. Everything was perfectly planned, but my beloved business mentor fell severely ill on Friday night. I booked a red-eye flight to visit him in the hospital out of state. Even though Spencer’s family had arranged the venue, I didn’t want to risk any delays. I had my driver deliver my custom gown and diamonds to the bridal suite a day early. I flew back Saturday afternoon and rushed straight from the airport to the luxury hotel. Just as I stepped out of the car, a rough, calloused hand clamped down on my wrist. “Audrey? You are Audrey, right?” I stumbled in my heels, turning to face a disheveled, middle-aged woman in cheap clothing. Her cloudy eyes were brimming with dramatic tears. “Oh, my poor sweet baby! Mommy finally found you! I have been searching for you for so many agonizing years!” Her shrill, theatrical wailing echoed across the hotel driveway, instantly drawing the stares of wealthy guests and valets. After a second of pure shock, I recognized her face. I had seen her in the background when Ivy FaceTimed her family in the dorm. This was Ivy’s mother. Looking at the exaggerated, tragic expression plastered on her face, combined with Ivy’s psychotic behavior, I realized mental illness definitely ran in their genetics. Choosing my engagement day to pull this stunt was a new level of desperate. “Let go of me.” I tried to yank my arm away, but the woman dug her dirty nails into my skin. “My beautiful daughter, please do not abandon your real mother!” “I know you live a life of luxury now. I know you climbed the social ladder and look down on your poor, struggling mom.” “But blood is thicker than water! You share my DNA. How can you be so incredibly heartless? Please, pack your bags and come home to the trailer park with me!” She shrieked even louder, dropping her weight and letting her knees hit the concrete in a pathetic display of begging. The crowd of onlookers began whispering. I saw expressions of curiosity, judgment, and blatant disgust. I had absolutely zero patience for this circus. I forcefully ripped my arm out of her grip. “Lady, your acting is terrible.” “Go back and tell Ivy that if she wants to be a billionaire heiress, she needs to pray for a better reincarnation in her next life.” “Sending you here to throw a public tantrum and try to publicly shame me only makes you both look like pathetic clowns.” “Security! What are you staring at? Remove her from the property!” I personally funded and owned this luxury hotel. The security guards knew exactly who I was. They sprinted over immediately, grabbing the screaming woman by her arms. “Let go of me! Do you have any idea who I am?!” “I am the adoptive mother of the true Page heiress! I gave birth to the fake billionaire you are protecting! How dare you lay your hands on me!” The guards dragged her down the driveway. She kicked and thrashed, her cloudy eyes locked onto me, burning with a sickening mix of greed and hatred. I refused to let a lunatic ruin my mood. Today was my engagement. I took a deep breath, smoothed my hair, and walked into the grand lobby. I took the private elevator up to the penthouse bridal suite to get dressed. I pushed the heavy oak doors open and froze. Ivy was sitting at my vanity mirror. She was wearing my custom, million-dollar bridal gown. The dress was entirely wrong for her. She was far too frail to fill out the bodice, and the sweeping, backless design hung loosely off her bony shoulders. But the dress wasn’t the worst part. The blinding diamonds wrapped around her throat, dangling from her ears, and encircling her wrists were the pieces I had spent months sourcing. She was dragging her fingers over the flawless gems, completely mesmerized. She had even shoved my custom engagement ring onto her own finger. The moment she saw my reflection in the mirror, she stiffened. But it only took her a fraction of a second to sink perfectly back into her psychotic delusion. “Oh, look who decided to show up. The imposter.” “You have to admit, clothes really do make the woman. Look at us right now. Between the two of us, who actually looks like the daughter of a billionaire?” I thought her dorm room rants were just toxic gossip. I never imagined her sickness had progressed to this terrifying level. The jewelry and the gown combined were worth over fifteen million dollars. She was wearing them without a single shred of fear. My hands balled into tight fists. I took a slow, menacing step into the room. “Take it off.” Ivy shrank back slightly, her eyes darting nervously. “Audrey Page, what are you trying to do?” “These diamonds belong on the skin of the true Page daughter! You are the one who stole twenty years of my life! You are the thief!” “Every single thing in this room, the Page fortune, the prestige, and even Spencer… it all belongs to me! You stole my destiny!”

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On the icy delivery bed, I lay like a discarded ragdoll, my breath long gone. The nightmare began simply because my husband—the star of Memorial Hospital’s OB department—decided I was bullying his sweet nurse, Windy. “Windy isn’t your maid. What gives you the right to order her around? Being pregnant doesn’t mean you can act like a spoiled child!” His words pierced me like ice. I was trapped in endless contractions, screaming until my throat bled, even snapping the bed’s guardrail. A ten-pound baby was stuck in my pelvis. Drained, I begged the brilliant surgeon I called my husband: “This is your child! Please, just cut me open. Any longer and neither of us will survive.” His reply was pure sarcasm. “Give it up! As a doctor, I refuse unnecessary procedures. And as your husband, I won’t sign the consent. If you can scream, you can push.” Then he had his nurse gag me with a towel. My cries faded. Through the pain, I faintly heard intimate sounds from the adjoining bathroom. The child I carried for nine months had become a weapon, tearing me apart until only crimson remained. At sunrise, after a night of passion, he finally showed a sliver of mercy. “Audrey should’ve learned her lesson. Windy, call another attending for her C-section. We’re clocking out.” He brushed it off casually. But by then, my eyes had closed forever. 1 “God, she’s so loud! Every woman goes through labor, but Audrey has to make the biggest scene!” “If you ask me, she’s spending all her pushing energy on torturing the staff and putting on a theatrical performance.” Drew pulled his white coat back on, popping the collar to hide the fresh hickey on his neck. “Dr. Drew, an eight-pound baby is already grounds for a C-section. Your wife is carrying a ten-pounder. If we’re not careful, this will end in severe dystocia…” Sam, the young male intern, swallowed hard, his face pale with anxiety. “Who gave you the right to speak? I’ve delivered thousands of babies. My clinical judgment has never been wrong!” Crack! A loud snap echoed from the delivery room. It was the sound of me breaking the bed’s handrail. Hearing my blood-curdling scream, the intern flinched but tried again. “She’s been in active labor for twenty-four hours straight. I’m worried the baby will go into fetal distress…” “Has it been that long? I completely lost track of time.” Drew glanced down the hallway at his framed “Doctor of the Year” awards. A fleeting look of concern finally crossed his face. Just as he gripped the door handle to check on me, Windy appeared. She thoughtfully handed him a cup of warm coffee. “Drew, honey. Audrey is working so hard. She must be parched from all that yelling. Let me go in with you to bring her something to drink.” Drew’s face instantly darkened. “Is she ordering you around again? She wants you to wait on her hand and foot? She doesn’t deserve you.” Tears welled up in the corners of Windy’s eyes. She bit her lip, looking utterly wronged. “No, it’s not like that. I genuinely want to help.” “Don’t make excuses for her. Since she wants to play games, let her wait a few more hours.” His expression turned thoroughly disgusted. He slammed the delivery room door shut and strode down the hall. Windy jogged to keep up, trailing closely behind him. Inside that room, my last thread of hope snapped. To distract myself from the blinding agony in my abdomen, I had bent my fingers back so hard they dislocated. My twisted hands looked grotesque. Below my waist, a river of red continued to spread, masking a fractured pelvis and a ruptured uterus. Thankfully, I didn’t have to endure it much longer. The screams they just heard were my final, desperate struggles. My soul detached, floating upward. I looked down at the ruined woman on the bed and laughed out of pure, bitter rage. I wondered if Drew would feel even an ounce of regret or heartbreak. Sadly, Drew’s eyes were full of heartbreak… for another woman. He was in the breakroom, gently popping a small blister on Windy’s pristine hand and applying ointment with tender care. “Windy, Audrey takes advantage of your sweet nature. She knows you got hurt trying to help her, yet she keeps treating you like garbage!” “Ten-pound baby? That’s just a pathetic lie. Faking an ultrasound report is child’s play! Don’t forget, even getting pregnant was her manipulative scheme to trap me!” My spirit shuddered violently. The phantom pain was almost worse than childbirth. Because of a drunken mistake on his part, I, a woman who always wanted to remain childfree, became an older mother. I softened and decided to keep the baby. I even listened to my mother-in-law’s nagging and quit my high-paying corporate job to rest. Drew was a seasoned obstetrician, yet he allowed his mother to feed me greasy, calorie-dense bone broths every single day, bloating the baby into macrosomia. Right before labor, Windy saw my cracked lips and offered to pour me hot water. She conveniently spilled it, burning her own hand. Drew immediately branded me a monster who abused medical staff. He canceled my scheduled C-section and mandated a natural birth. But the baby’s hardened, oversized skull just kept crushing my internal organs. Knowing something was horribly wrong, I mashed the call button. Drew ignored it. A passing doctor from another unit agreed to scrub in for me. Drew found out, threw a massive fit, and accused me of seducing other men out of spite. “Give it up, Audrey! As a doctor, I can deny this surgery. As your husband, I am withholding consent! If you can scream, you can push!” He trapped me inside, tore my consent forms to shreds, and announced to the floor: No wasting hospital resources! No surgery! No epidural! Natural birth only! The massive hemorrhage was inevitable. I watched helplessly as my own lifeblood poured out like a broken dam, dripping onto the tiles, seeping into the grout. Baby, Mommy really tried. I stroked my still-swollen belly and closed my eyes to the world. 2 “I still think Audrey wouldn’t lie about the baby…” In the staff room, Windy’s sugary voice broke through Drew’s angry rant. “Oh, please. I know my own wife. She’s pulled countless dirty tricks. You’re the only one innocent enough to fall for her acts, baby.” Getting the answer she wanted, Windy flashed a sly smile and buried herself in his embrace. His words made me both furious and curious. What dirty tricks? Before I could listen closer, Sam, the intern, burst into the room in a blind panic. “Dr. Drew! We have a patient coding from a massive uterine hemorrhage! We need you in the OR now!” A surge of wild joy hit me. Was there still time? Could I be saved? “That’s impossible. Out of the five patients tonight, four delivered smoothly. The only one left is…” Even the famously calm Drew lost his composure. He crumpled the chart in his hand. “Oh my god, is it Audrey?!” Windy shrieked, sprinting toward the OR ahead of him. But when she saw the stranger’s face on the operating table, she pouted in disappointment. Sam panted, trying to catch his breath. “Dr. Drew, this is a high-risk transfer from the ER. You’re the only surgeon skilled enough to handle this.” I gave a bitter, ghostly laugh, mocking my own delusional hope. Drew instantly regained his cool, snapping on his gloves and grabbing the hemostatic forceps. He was Memorial Hospital’s absolute best. Solid foundation, impeccable technique. He had pulled countless mothers back from the brink of death. Wall-to-wall plaques and awards decorated his office. What an absolute joke. I was his wife, yet I died a gruesome death on a lonely bed because of his ego and blind prejudice. Following the loud cry of a newborn and the announcement of “mother and daughter stable,” the surgery was a success. Perhaps the adrenaline sparked a tiny bit of conscience in him. He stared blankly down the hall toward my room. If he had taken just a few more steps, he would have seen the dark red pool seeping out from under my door. Blood loss of that magnitude was an instant death sentence. Drew started walking slowly toward my room. Behind him, Windy gave a seductive little smirk. She hooked her arm through his and yanked him into an empty, private staff restroom. He frowned, making a half-hearted gesture to push her away. But the look in his eyes betrayed a sickening amount of adoration. “Windy, I’m a doctor. No matter how awful Audrey acts, I still have to make sure she delivers safely.” “As for the divorce, just give me a little more time.” Windy stayed stubbornly silent, burying her face against his chest. Then, she reached up and bit down hard on his neck, leaving a deep red mark, staking her claim. Drew looked down, his gaze catching the side of Windy’s face. A bright red handprint was stamped across her delicate cheek. It looked glaringly obvious. “Who hit you? You were perfectly fine a minute ago!” His demeanor flipped instantly. He grabbed her hand, ready to storm out. “It doesn’t hurt. If hitting me makes Audrey feel better, I’ll take it!” Her cryptic words painted a very specific picture. But Windy had been attached to his hip the entire time they were in the OR. She hadn’t even been near my room. That “slap mark” was clearly drawn on with a lipstick bullet when he wasn’t looking. It was the dumbest trick in the book, yet Drew bought it without a second thought. He was ready to come scream at me, but Windy stopped him with a barrage of breathless kisses. Soft curves pressed against him, and Drew completely lost his mind, responding with animalistic hunger. We were separated by a single wall. On the left side, I lay dead, having felt every agonizing second of my organs failing. On the right side, my husband was having a steamy hookup with his mistress. My soul felt like it was being ripped to shreds, phasing back and forth through the drywall. I hated myself. I hated how stupid, how blindly trusting I had been, throwing my life away for a man like this! As if sensing my grief, two streams of clear tears slid down the cheeks of my lifeless corpse. 3 Just a second before crossing the absolute point of no return, Drew gently but firmly pushed Windy away. He rushed to the sink, splashing freezing water on his face, pinching the inside of his arm to force himself to snap out of it. “Drew, why not… Do you think I’m dirty?” Windy cried beautifully, wrapping her arms around his narrow waist from behind. “Never!” He spun around, panting heavily in frustration. “I have too much baggage right now. Windy, just wait for me. I swear I won’t let you carry the title of a homewrecker!” He smoothed her bangs and kissed her lips over and over again. Over his shoulder, Windy flashed a victorious, wicked smile straight in my direction. It was utterly absurd! To Drew, I was just “baggage,” while Windy was a precious gem who couldn’t be allowed to suffer a single grievance. Too bad Windy had shown her true colors a long time ago. Ever since she found out I was Drew’s wife, she made a point to cross my path at every prenatal checkup. She would parade around wearing his oversized doctor’s coat, using his engraved pen, calling him “honey” loud enough for everyone in the waiting room to hear. Once, when I needed an ultrasound, Windy pretended to be the tech. She used the probe without any gel, digging it into my skin so violently it left me bruised, caused a minor infection, and nearly triggered a miscarriage. Furious, I filed a formal complaint with hospital administration. But with no hard evidence, it was written off as a hysterical pregnant woman throwing a tantrum. Since Drew was my husband, he took some heat for it from the board. From then on, I was nothing but a drama-seeking, jealous shrew in his eyes. I was deep in my third trimester by then. Between the suffocating fights with his mother and my heavily swollen joints, I didn’t have the energy to fight for a husband who already had one foot out the door. When I checked in for labor yesterday and saw Windy assigned as my charge nurse, a cold dread washed over me. Sure enough, while setting up my IV, she “couldn’t find the vein.” She dug the needle around under my skin, intentionally hitting a nerve. The back of my hand blew up like a balloon, leaving my fingers numb and throbbing. When Drew came in to check my chart, I finally snapped and complained. His face turned to thunder. He grabbed my hospital bag and slammed it down directly onto my swollen, bruised hand. “Playing the victim now, are we?! You hold a petty grudge, so you threw boiling water on a nurse who was just trying to help you. And she hasn’t said a single bad word about you!” “She made a tiny mistake with a needle, and you’re acting like she stabbed you!” “Don’t think being pregnant means you own the world, and don’t think being my wife gives you a VIP pass! You can deliver this kid by yourself!” “Does it hurt? Good. Pain builds character.” Under his orders, Sam was forced to restrain my limbs, and Windy shoved the rag into my mouth. I had looked at him with sheer terror. “Drew, I’m not afraid of the pain! I’m afraid the baby and I will die! How can I deliver a ten-pound baby naturally? This is your child!” Drew just sneered. “Ten pounds? You think I’m an idiot?” “Drop the act. Once you push the kid out quietly and give Windy a formal, bowing apology, I might consider forgiving you.” With that, he left me to die, carrying a perfectly fine Windy away to put a band-aid on her. Now, having barely pumped the brakes on their bathroom tryst, Drew hugged a flushed Windy and finally felt a tiny drop of pity. “Audrey should have learned her lesson by now. Windy, page another attending to do her C-section. We’re clocking out.” Right then, Sam the intern came sprinting down the hall, his face devoid of color. “Dr. Drew! Something’s wrong! Your wife… I think something terrible happened!”

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When I was five years old, holding my mother’s hand, I stepped through the wrought-iron gates of the Brown estate. I, a girl born with a severe stutter, was the newest member of a high-society dynasty. Outsiders whispered that my mother had used dirty tricks to marry into the family. They were all just waiting for the day we got tossed out onto the streets. The wedding day was a massive spectacle. The grand hall was overflowing with elite guests. I, however, found myself backed into a corner of a small sitting room by a group of girls who had come just to watch the drama unfold. They grabbed the collar of my dress, laughing and calling me a mute little burden. At the time, no one thought my new stepfather would care about a kid who wasn’t his blood. But the very next morning, my stepfather stood before the entire household and visiting relatives. His voice left no room for argument. “Lily Brown is my youngest daughter. She is not mute, and from this day forward, she is a rightful heir to the Brown legacy.” 1 “Are you a mute?” Rowan asked. I wasn’t mute. I just had a stutter. When other toddlers were stringing together full sentences, I could barely force out a single syllable. My mother realized something was wrong and took me to countless specialists. The doctors chalked it up to genetics and the fact that I was born premature. Most kids outgrow a stutter with proper speech therapy. I didn’t. It only got worse. By the time I turned five, the anxiety of speaking was so crushing that I refused to make a sound at all. I hated opening my mouth. I hated the pitying, impatient looks people gave me when I stumbled over my words. I wasn’t trying to be rude by not greeting my new stepbrother. I knew I was supposed to say hello, but my throat locked up entirely. The harder I tried, the more panicked I became, until fat tears began rolling down my cheeks. My mother panicked. She pulled me into her arms, pressing soft kisses to my forehead. “Don’t cry, sweetie. Rowan is just joking. Our Lily isn’t mute. She just gets a little anxious, that’s all.” My stepfather, Paul, shot Rowan a freezing glare. “Is that how you speak to your sister? Apologize.” Rowan hadn’t expected a single question to make me cry like this. He froze, his handsome, aristocratic face looking uncharacteristically foolish. His biological sister, Abby, shot him a look of pure schadenfreude. He opened his mouth, his voice barely a mumble. “Sorry. My bad.” Paul wasn’t satisfied. “Louder.” My mother didn’t want to cause a massive rift on her very first day in the house. She gently touched Paul’s arm. “It’s fine, really. Lily heard her brother. Right, sweetheart?” I rubbed my watery eyes and nodded vigorously. That evening, my parents had to entertain a flock of business partners and VIPs, so Paul asked Abby to watch over me. She was older than me by about eight years. Dressed in a pale yellow designer gown with a small pearl tiara resting in her hair, she looked like royalty. I had never seen anyone so pretty. She pulled out a box of imported toys and gently showed me how they worked. Knowing my struggle with words, she didn’t force me into conversation. A little while later, her phone buzzed. She walked over to the farthest window to answer it. Ever since I was a baby, I had incredibly sharp hearing. I could pick up the faint rustle of leaves down the street. It was a secret only my mother knew. Abby clearly didn’t know, otherwise she never would have taken the call in the same room. It was her aunt on the line. Abby and Rowan’s biological mother had passed away from cancer years ago, and they had always remained incredibly close to their maternal aunt, Victoria. “Abby, darling, how is that woman treating you? Is she giving you attitude? She has the face of a home-wrecker. I knew she was bad news the moment I saw her. She completely bewitched your father. Marrying him after only knowing him for a few months.” Victoria scoffed through the speaker. “A divorced woman dragging her brat into a billionaire’s home. She’s playing a dangerous game. I am so worried about you and Rowan.” “She is a snake, and that daughter of hers is no better. Don’t let them butter you up.” Abby had her back to me. I couldn’t see her expression. I only heard her hum in agreement before changing the subject, asking how Victoria’s business trip abroad was going and when she would return. “If I wasn’t buried in paperwork in London, I would have been there today to back you two up. Did anything happen?” Abby hesitated for a second before recounting the crying incident from that morning. Victoria let out a cold, sharp laugh. “They are establishing dominance, Abby. Day one, and they already forced the Brown heir to bow his head and apologize. Just wait until she gives your father a son. You two will be entirely pushed out.” “A new wife means a new father. It’s a tale as old as time. Keep your guard up, and warn your brother.” “Rowan and I will be careful,” Abby replied quietly. 2 My mother would never have another baby. I muttered the words silently in my head. It was an agreement she made with Paul before the wedding. I had heard them talking about it late at night. Abby hung up and walked back to me. The warmth in her eyes had cooled significantly. With a soft sigh, she looked at me. “Lily, play here for a bit. I need to go change my dress.” I nodded, knowing she was actually going to find Rowan. Less than five minutes after she left, the heavy oak door swung open. Three girls, all roughly Abby’s age and dressed in obnoxious, glittering party dresses, strolled into the room. “Where is Abby? I thought they said she was hiding in here.” The girl leading the pack scanned the room and locked eyes on me sitting on the rug. “Who is this kid? Hey, where did Abby go? Do you know?” I sat perfectly still as the three of them surrounded me, looking down at me like I was a stray dog. I pressed my lips together, shook my head, and pointed toward the door Abby had just walked through. “Why aren’t you answering? Whose kid are you?” one of them demanded, her eyes wide with intrusive curiosity. “This is the private family wing. What’s your connection to Abby?” Another girl gasped. “Look at her dress. It’s the same designer collection Abby is wearing.” “Wait, I heard Abby’s new stepmom brought a kid with her. Is that you?” The realization hit them, and all three covered their mouths, giggling as if my existence was the punchline to a hilarious joke. Their laughter made my skin crawl. I dropped my wooden block, hopped off the rug, and headed for the door to find my mother. “Hey, don’t run away, little baggage.” They grabbed the back of my collar, yanking me backward. They didn’t realize their own strength. The stiff lace of my collar tightened like a noose around my windpipe. My eyes rolled back, and an uncontrollable, strangled gasp tore from my throat. Right at that moment, Abby walked back in. Seeing me choking and dangling by my dress, the color drained from her face. She rushed forward, violently shoving the girls away and pulling me into her arms. “Lily! Are you okay?” The three girls panicked, immediately backing up. “We didn’t mean to.” I coughed hard, my chest burning. I patted Abby’s hand to let her know I was breathing. Seeing the physical tears of pain welling in my eyes, Abby’s face twisted in pure rage. “You come into my home as guests, and you attack my little sister? What exactly are you trying to do?” “We just said it was an accident. Stop screaming at us,” the lead girl retorted, crossing her arms. “Is she actually your sister? Why doesn’t she make a sound? Is she a retard?” It was obvious these girls were not Abby’s friends. They were rivals. Abby glared at them. “That is none of your business. You have zero manners. Get out of my room.” Normally, a kid being choked would scream or cry. The fact that I remained completely silent made the girls exchange malicious, knowing looks. They snickered. “Wow, Abby. Sucks to be you. Your dad gets a new wife and forces a disabled freak of a sister onto you. It’s embarrassing.” “Nobody in our circle has a defective sibling.” “You always act so high and mighty at school. Let’s see you try to act superior now.” Abby held me tighter, taking a deep, shaky breath. “Is this the elite upbringing your parents paid for? Let me be clear. Whether my sister has a disability or not, who gave you the right to look down on her?” “There are security cameras in this room. I’m going to have the estate manager pull the footage and send it directly to your parents.” “You better prepare yourselves to come back here and beg my sister for forgiveness.” 3 The very next day, three terrified families dragged their daughters into the Brown foyer to apologize. Paul sat me down on the plush velvet sofa right beside him. His face was a mask of terrifying authority. He looked at the sweating parents and cleared his throat. “Lily Brown is my youngest daughter. Whether she chooses to speak or not is irrelevant. When the time comes, she will receive an equal share of the Brown empire.” A collective gasp echoed through the room. My mother, sitting beside Paul, grabbed his hand in shock. Looking into her wide eyes, I realized he hadn’t discussed this with her at all. “Paul…” she whispered. He just patted her hand, giving her a reassuring nod. Children are terrible at hiding their emotions. The three bullies stared at me in pure horror, then shot desperate, questioning looks at Rowan and Abby, who were standing behind us. I peeked over my shoulder at my new siblings. Their faces were an unreadable mix of shock and conflict. I quickly turned my head back around, pretending I hadn’t seen a thing. Paul offered Rowan and Abby a brief, unbothered glance before turning back to the guests. “I suggest you teach your children basic human decency. I refuse to let the future heirs of the Brown family associate with people of such low character.” The parents practically tripped over themselves, apologizing profusely and forcing their daughters to bow to me. I knew these apologies were entirely fake, born out of fear of Paul’s wealth, not genuine remorse. I also didn’t want to push Rowan and Abby’s buttons any further. I looked up at Paul, patted my stomach, and forced out two words. “Hungry. Eat.” The guests and my siblings looked stunned. They really had thought I was entirely mute. Paul gave a final, dismissive wave. “Lily will be attending Edenbridge Academy alongside her brother and sister. I expect her school life to remain peaceful and pleasant.” “See yourselves out.” Edenbridge Academy was the most prestigious prep school on the East Coast. It was an incubator for future CEOs, politicians, and socialites. Because of how ruthlessly I was bullied in my old kindergarten, the thought of going to school terrified me. I sat in the back of the Maybach, completely miserable. But Paul used his billionaire leverage to bypass kindergarten entirely, dropping me straight into the first grade. Standing outside my new classroom, my mother kissed my cheek. “Go on, sweetie. Don’t be scared. Your father and I are right behind you, always.” When the homeroom teacher introduced me, she made a point to mention that I was a “quiet soul who preferred listening.” She seated me next to the class president. The class president was a girl with a sharp bob and massive, calculating eyes. She eagerly stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Dania.” I shook her hand and offered a polite, quiet smile. All the teachers had been briefed on my condition. They never called on me to read aloud. During recess, because I was the new kid who didn’t talk, no one really approached me. I survived my first week in total, peaceful silence. My secret was safe. “She is so quiet. She literally hasn’t said a word all week.” “Have you ever even heard her voice?” “I haven’t. But I think Dania talked to her.” The only word I had spoken to Dania was a soft “thanks” when she handed me a pencil. Because the elementary and high school divisions had different schedules, I rarely rode home with Rowan and Abby. But on Friday, they unexpectedly showed up at the elementary wing to pick me up. I had no idea they were basically royalty at Edenbridge until I saw the way my classmates reacted. “Oh my god, Rowan and Abby Brown are your siblings? Lily, why didn’t you tell us?!” “They say Rowan is going to be valedictorian again. And Abby is flying to Vienna next month for an international violin competition.” “They are literally the king and queen of the school. No wonder Lily is so pretty.” I looked exactly like my mother. It was the one thing I was fiercely proud of.

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My heart completely shattered the moment Patrick pushed me aside for another woman. This was the man who had spent ten years relentlessly pursuing me, swearing I was the only woman he would ever love. Yet, on the night before our wedding, he admitted to his friends that I was nothing more than a placeholder. He casually mentioned that if his secret little girlfriend could just behave herself, he’d keep her around. He was absolutely certain that I, his official, broad-minded wife, would eventually forgive him. But on the day of the wedding, his little girlfriend caused a massive scene. She held a jagged piece of shattered glass to her own throat, screaming hysterically, demanding Patrick choose between us. When she violently shoved me off the wedding dais, Patrick didn’t even glance in my direction. He threw himself forward to shield the woman threatening him. As I lay on the floor with a fractured leg, Patrick roared at me to “get the hell away.” He was desperate to rush her to the hospital, screaming that if I delayed her treatment, he would make me pay with my life. That very night, I bought the earliest ticket out of the country. I left, and I never looked back. … “Ana, are you incapable of signing your own damn consent forms? Is that why you’ve called me twenty times?” “Just because Kate got hurt, you have to throw a tantrum and fake a broken leg? I am emotionally exhausted! Stop causing trouble for me!” Patrick’s voice dripped with irritation and barely contained rage through the phone. Ever since Kate crashed the wedding, he had vanished with her for a solid twelve hours. This was the twentieth time I had called him. The previous nineteen had been sent straight to voicemail. His freezing tone made me pause. I pleaded, “Kate pushed me.” “The surgeon says a family member has to sign the consent form. Since you’re already at the hospital, can’t you just walk over for two minutes and sign it?” Patrick’s response was to violently hang up the phone. Expecting exactly this, I sighed heavily. “Nurse, just bring me the consent forms. I’ll sign them myself.” The attending surgeon looked hesitant. “Ma’am, maybe you should try calling Mr. Kensington again? Perhaps he just misunderstood?” “Yesterday, he had the entire surgical team on standby. He told us that if Kate tried to crash the wedding and you got so much as a scratch, we were to treat you immediately.” “In the past, you couldn’t even catch a cold without Mr. Kensington calling for a board consultation and sitting by your bed for three days straight.” “If he finds out you actually fractured your leg, and that Kate caused it, he’ll lose his mind. You’re clearly the most important person to him.” I let out a bitter, hollow laugh. I used to think I was the most important person to him, too. Clearly, that wasn’t the case anymore. At my insistence, the surgeon finally handed over the clipboard, allowing me to sign my own surgical release. Right up until the anesthesia hit, I gave Patrick one last chance. I waited for him to just come check on me. All I got was an Instagram update from Kate. It was a boomerang of Patrick blowing on a steaming bowl of oatmeal, carefully feeding it to her, then gently tucking the blankets around her shoulders. The caption read: “Three years by your side was the greatest luck of my life. Now, you’re using the rest of your life to prove your love to me.” Kate’s smile in the video was sickeningly sweet. It was hard to believe that just a few days ago, she was getting blackout drunk because Patrick had abruptly dumped her. She had shown up at my apartment, reeking of alcohol, pointing her finger in my face and sobbing hysterically. “I was Patrick’s shadow for three years! I gave him everything! But he never touched me. He always said you, Ana, were the only woman he would ever marry. What makes you so special?!” “I tried cooking his favorite meals just like you do. And you know what he did? He slapped me! He told me I was nothing compared to you. He said I wasn’t as pretty as you, I wasn’t as gentle as you, and told me to stop embarrassing myself by trying to be a cheap imitation.” She had screamed, her voice cracking, “He told me I was just a distraction to kill time until you moved back to the States! He said the second you landed, I was out! Why did you have to come back, Ana? Why couldn’t you just die over there?!” Patrick had walked in, furious that she had insulted me. He slapped her across the face and dragged her out the door without a second thought. His eyes were cold and full of absolute disgust as he glared at her. “We are done. Stop stalking me. Did you just curse Ana? Are you insane? If you want to die, go do it somewhere else.” “Ana is my one and only. I will never look at anyone else.” Yet, today, at our own wedding, he ran straight to Kate without a second thought. He held her like she was the most precious thing in the world, panicked and desperate as he rushed her into the ER. My surgery was brief. I woke up as the nerve block wore off. Suddenly, the door to my private room burst open. Patrick stormed in. I thought his conscience had finally kicked in. I thought he was coming to apologize. Instead, the very first thing he did was grab my arm—the one with the IV line—yanking it out from under the blankets and aggressively inspecting my hand. When he didn’t see what he was looking for, he glared at me. “Ana, where is your engagement ring?” “Give it to me right now!” His violent pull yanked the IV needle deep into my vein, sending a sharp spike of pain up my arm. I didn’t answer his question. I just looked at him. “Why do you want my ring?” I had designed that ring myself. I spent months working with a master jeweler to hand-cut the stones. It was the physical proof of our promise. “Kate likes it. She said she wants us to wear matching rings.” “Just give it to her to play with. It’s just a piece of metal. It’s not even a big diamond, it’s basically worthless!” While talking, he spotted the ring sitting on the corner of the nightstand. He snatched it up without hesitation and turned to leave. I lunged forward to grab it, forgetting my leg was in a cast. I barely caught the edge of the ring, refusing to let go. “Give it back!” Patrick looked down at me, his eyes full of profound disappointment. “Ana, I thought you were a mature, forgiving woman. When did you become so petty? You’re going to fight over a cheap piece of jewelry?” I stared at him. “If you take that ring, we are done.” Patrick froze. He dropped to his knees, staring at me in absolute disbelief. “What did you just say?” His voice trembled. “Ten years. Ten years of history, and you’re just going to throw it away over nothing?” “Don’t you know I can’t survive without you?” “I forbid you from leaving me!” I looked at him with dead eyes. “But Patrick, you threw me away first. For Kate.” Patrick buried his face in my chest, hugging me desperately. “No, no, you don’t understand. I just pity Kate! She was having a mental breakdown, she was going to kill herself! I had no choice but to calm her down.” “Once she’s stable, we will re-do the wedding. I promise you! Just trust me!” Looking at his frantic, panicked face, I slowly nodded. “Okay.” He let out a massive sigh of relief and stood up. But he didn’t give the ring back. He walked out the door with it in his pocket. I rubbed my bare ring finger, then picked up my phone and dialed a number in London. “Hey, it’s Ana. Could you ask Professor Sterling if there’s still an opening at the lab? I want to come back and finish my research.” My former colleague sounded thrilled. “Are you serious? Professor Sterling was devastated when you left! He’ll be ecstatic. I’ll go talk to him right now.” “Wait, didn’t you just get married? Won’t the long-distance thing be hard on your husband?” Instinctively, I almost made an excuse for Patrick. Then I realized how pathetic that was. “He passed away,” I said flatly. “He won’t be interfering with my career anymore.” After hanging up, I booked a red-eye flight to London. I checked myself out of the hospital and went home to pack. Over the next few days, Kate was incredibly active on social media. I watched Patrick buy her haute couture gowns and bid on million-dollar necklaces at auctions. I saw photos of their hands intertwined, Kate proudly wearing the diamond ring Patrick had ripped from my hospital room. I saw the professional engagement photos they took. Kate’s caption read: “Three years in the shadows. Finally stepping into the light to claim my love.” Patrick even shared the post on his own page, though he deleted it two minutes later, terrified I would see it. Instead, he tried to cover his tracks by forwarding me an invitation to his mother’s 60th birthday gala. Before the wedding fell apart, Patrick had stressed how important this gala was. He made me promise to attend as his wife to wish his mother well. His mother, Martha, had even held my hand and personally invited me. Even though the wedding never happened, I bought an expensive gift and took a cab to the Kensington estate. When I pushed the mahogany doors open, I froze. The banquet had already started. The entire extended family was seated. Patrick and his mother were sitting together at the head table. Sitting directly between them was Kate. Martha placed a piece of lobster on Kate’s plate. “Kate, dear, you’ve lost weight. You need to eat more.” Patrick gave his mother a playful look. “Mom, she’s so high maintenance. She refuses to crack her own lobster. I have to peel it for her.” Despite his complaint, Patrick cracked the shell, pulled the meat out, and fed it to Kate by hand. I stood alone in the grand entranceway, leaning on a crutch, feeling completely exposed and humiliated. Suddenly, one of his aunts noticed me and gasped. “Ana?” Patrick’s head snapped up. His face immediately turned dark. “What are you doing here? My mother didn’t invite you today.” Before I could say a word, he marched over, grabbed my arm, and started dragging me back out the door. With my broken leg and crutch, I almost lost my balance. I violently yanked my arm free. “Don’t touch me. I can walk.” Patrick’s tone was ice-cold. “Ana, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but nobody invited you to my mother’s birthday.” “If you came here to mark your territory and try to steal Kate’s spotlight, you can leave. You are not welcome here!” I stared at him, genuinely shocked. “What are you talking about? You specifically texted me to come.” Patrick opened his mouth, a flash of pure guilt crossing his eyes. “I don’t remember that. You’re probably just lying.” Martha hurried out into the foyer. “Ana, Kate has been very depressed lately. I told Patrick to bring her so she could get out of the house. Could you please just leave? I don’t want her getting triggered by seeing you.” It seemed everyone had conveniently suffered amnesia regarding all the promises they made to me. Fine. If I wasn’t welcome, I had no reason to stay. I nodded and turned to leave. Just then, Kate walked out of the dining room. She put on a sickeningly sweet display of pity. “Mom, Patrick, don’t be so mean. I’m not that petty.” “Ana is injured. It must have been so hard for her to limp all the way over here. Let her stay! We can all eat together!” I ignored the triumphant smirk in her eyes. “No thanks. I’m leaving.” But Patrick stepped in front of me, blocking the door. “You are staying.” “Kate was gracious enough to overlook your trespassing and offer you a seat at the table. Are you really going to disrespect her like that?” “If you walk out that door, the wedding is permanently canceled. Don’t forget, you threw away your entire career in London for me. If you lose me too, you’ll have absolutely nothing!” I froze. Patrick had spent ten years chasing me. I never intended to date him. But one day, a truck ran a red light. Patrick didn’t hesitate; he tackled me out of the way, taking the brunt of the impact. As they loaded him into the ambulance, bleeding from his head, he gripped my hand. “If it means saving you, I would gladly die. I just hope that in the next life, you’ll finally give me a chance.” That was the moment my walls broke. I dropped my prestigious research position in London and flew back to marry him. And now, he was using the very sacrifice I made out of love as a weapon to control me. I took a deep breath. “Do whatever you want. Cancel it.” I walked out the door without a backward glance. I didn’t see the brief look of total panic that flashed across Patrick’s face. That night, I packed my final two suitcases. My flight was at 6 AM. I didn’t expect Patrick to actually come back to the apartment in the middle of the night. He walked in and stared at the empty living room, stunned. “Where is our photo wall? Where did all our vacation pictures go?” “They fell and the glass shattered,” I lied smoothly. “I threw them in the trash.” Patrick walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Why won’t you even look at me? Are you mad?” He sighed deeply. “You’re so stubborn. Why can’t you just compromise? All my relatives were there today. I had already introduced Kate to them. When you showed up, it made everyone uncomfortable.” “If you had just dropped the gift off and left quietly, none of this would have happened.” I suddenly felt his fingers grabbing my left hand, slipping a ring onto my finger. It was a generic diamond ring. It wasn’t mine.

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Michelle said something came up at work and left in the middle of our dinner again. I didn’t try to stop her. I just quietly finished my meal alone. Later that night, scrolling through Instagram, I saw a new post from her childhood friend. It was a picture of her hands, sleeves rolled up, serving a plate of food. The caption read: “Stomach bug from hell. Huge thanks to Soph for being my hero and cooking for me. You’re my rock, always showing up when I need you.” This time, I didn’t call and start a fight like I used to. From that day on, whenever she ditched me to take care of him, I’d just smile and tell her it was okay, acting like the most understanding boyfriend in the world. Until the day he sent me a picture of them playing a game, sharing a single Pocky stick between their lips. I saw the photo and felt nothing at all. That’s when she finally panicked. Her eyes turned red, a mix of desperation and hurt welling up as she asked me, “Why aren’t you angry?” 1 Michelle had barely touched her steak when her phone rang. “Something came up at work,” she said, already grabbing her purse. “I’ve gotta head back.” “Okay. Go on.” I cut off a piece of my own steak and chewed slowly. It was tender, juicy. Perfect. Michelle seemed thrown off by my calmness. She frowned. “I’ll bring you back a gift.” Then she rushed out. I calmly finished the rest of my meal. A small part of me was disappointed. Our last anniversary dinner, and we couldn’t even get through it together. When I got home, I saw the Instagram post from her childhood friend, Alex. The photo showed Michelle’s hands, sleeves rolled up, placing a dish on a table. The caption: Stomach bug from hell. Huge thanks to Soph for being my hero and cooking for me. You’re my rock, always showing up when I need you. I shut off my phone, got into bed, and went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard the soft beeping of the keypad lock. I registered that it was Michelle, then drifted back into a haze. Just before I fell completely asleep, I felt a presence beside the bed, someone watching me in the dark. The next morning, I showered, made myself a simple breakfast, and was sitting at the table when Michelle came into the dining room. She glanced at the sandwich and glass of orange juice on the table and fell silent for a moment. “You didn’t make me anything?” She hated simple, cold breakfasts. I usually didn’t have the energy to make two different meals, so I’d always made her favorite, a proper hot breakfast for us both. “Yeah, I forgot. You can just order something or grab a bite on your way out.” I finished my food in a few bites, ready to leave for work. When I looked up, I saw her face had darkened. “I know you’re mad that I lied to you yesterday, but you used to get so dramatic, I was afraid to tell you the truth…” “I’m not mad.” “Alex’s stomach flu was acting up again, and he lives alone. I was worried, so I…” “…I’m really not mad.” “Can you please stop this? I told you, I only see Alex as a brother. Why can’t you just understand that?” “I’m really, truly not mad, okay?!” My voice rose without me meaning for it to. Seeing the shock on her face, I took a breath and softened my tone. “I get it, I do. But I have to get to work now. We can talk when I get back.” Without waiting to see her reaction, I walked out the door. 2 At work, my boss, Ms. Davis, called me into her office to talk about the overseas assignment again. “Larry, this is a fantastic opportunity. The location is great, it’s safe, and the career path is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Please, think it over again.” She had tried to convince me for weeks, laying out everything from the salary bump to the long-term benefits. But I’d always hesitated, held back by my relationship with Michelle. But now… I looked up at Ms. Davis, at the hint of ‘I-can’t-believe-you’re-passing-this-up’ in her expression. “I’ve made my decision, Ms. Davis. I’ll take it.” A wide smile spread across her face, and the relief I felt in not letting her down was like a heavy weight lifting from my own shoulders. After work, I grabbed dinner by myself before heading home. To my surprise, Michelle was already there. Now that was a rare sight. “You’re home late,” she said, her expression unreadable. She handed me a small box. “Anniversary gift.” “Oh,” I said, taking it. I felt a flicker of something, but it was closer to embarrassment than guilt. “Thanks. I, uh, I forgot to get you something. I’ll make it up to you, okay?” Her face seemed to darken another shade. “Larry, can you please just calm down and listen to me?” “I’ve told you before, Alex and I grew up together. It’s not easy for him, moving to this city all by himself. I promised his parents I’d look out for him.” I could feel the anger rolling off her, but I honestly didn’t understand why. “Don’t get worked up. I know. I understand.” “Just say what’s on your mind! Stop being like this!” she snapped, her voice rising. “How many times do I have to tell you it’s platonic? He’s like a brother! What will it take for you to believe me? And think about it, if I really wanted to be with him, why would I be with you?” I tried to soothe her. “Calm down. I’m not mad. I truly believe you’re just friends.” “You…” She took a few deep, frustrated breaths, her chest rising and falling. “I’m hungry.” “Sorry, I already ate on my way home. Why don’t you order some takeout? Or there’s stuff in the fridge if you want to cook.” The only answer I got was the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut. 3 I was almost asleep when Michelle came into the room. She walked in and just stared at me. “It’s raining outside.” “Huh? Oh. You should probably dry your hair, or maybe just take a hot shower.” She was soaked, but I didn’t get what she was trying to say. Her voice was thick with disbelief. “I didn’t have an umbrella. I was gone for five hours! It’s pouring! Aren’t you worried about me at all?” “You used to be different,” she went on, her voice cracking. “Whenever we fought and I stormed out, you’d call me, or you’d call my friends to see if I was okay.” “At the very least, you’d leave a light on in the living room and wait for me to come back.” “But tonight, I was gone for five hours, and you didn’t even send a single text!” I kept my voice gentle. “I didn’t contact you because you’re a grown woman. I figured you could handle yourself. Besides, I didn’t want to embarrass you by calling around to all your friends, asking where you were.” Michelle’s face froze. She must have remembered what she’d screamed at me a long time ago. “Are you ever going to stop?! I’m an adult! I know what I’m doing! Do you have to blow up my phone like a lunatic? And why are you harassing my friends? Do you have any idea how much they make fun of me because of you?!” That time, I had spent hours frantically calling everyone I could think of to find her. The moment I finally heard she was safe, the relief that washed over me was immediately shattered not by her gratitude, but by her rage. But I wasn’t interested in digging up the past. The hand-off for my new assignment was starting, and I was just… tired. “Look, just go take a shower so you don’t catch a cold.” I turned and went into the master bedroom. It took a while to fall asleep, my mind churning with work that needed to be done. In that blurry space between waking and sleeping, I thought I felt a hand gently stroke my face, followed by a soft sigh. Then, the mattress dipped beside me. 4 It seemed Michelle was genuinely angry now. She started leaving early and coming home late, avoiding me completely. No texts, no calls. I was more than happy for the peace and quiet. I certainly wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. But after five days of the silent treatment, she actually texted me. [I’m making dinner tonight. Come home and eat.] Honestly, I was shocked. For our entire relationship, I had been the one who cooked. I remember once, I’d playfully complained that I was tired and asked if she would cook for a change. She had just hugged me and said, “My cooking skills are so bad, I’d probably put you in the hospital. Besides, I love eating my husband’s home-cooked meals every single night.” Blinded by love, I never questioned the glaring contradiction in her words. I’d spent countless hours after work teaching myself to cook, following recipes to get the flavors just right for her, collecting a nice set of burns and knife-cuts along the way. I was still living in that sweet fantasy, proud that my girlfriend got to eat my food every day, right up until Alex casually mentioned how great a cook Michelle was. That led to a massive fight. Michelle’s reaction was, as always, coldly dismissive. “Alex can’t cook, and he’s a really picky eater. We can’t have him ordering takeout all the time, can we?” “He’s not like you, you’ll eat anything. I’m just taking care of my big brother.” “You’re a grown man. Stop expecting people to cook for you all the time.” “If you think cooking for me is such a chore, then just stop. It’s not like I’m forcing you to.” And after that? I think I let her half-hearted apology smooth things over, and I forgave her. What’s that saying? Love really does make you a special kind of stupid. But still, I texted back: [Okay.] We were on the verge of breaking up anyway. If possible, I wanted it to be clean. The moment I opened the front door, I heard Michelle’s cheerful voice from the kitchen. “Larry! You’re home! Go wash up and relax for a minute, dinner’s almost ready.” I sat down at the dining table, a strange mix of emotions swirling inside me. I never thought I’d see the day Michelle willingly stepped into the kitchen. If this had happened on any other day, at any other point in our relationship, I would have been overjoyed. Michelle soon brought out a spread of four dishes and a soup. Though they were all fairly simple, one bite was all it took to confirm that she was, indeed, an excellent cook. “Larry,” she began, her voice tinged with a surprising vulnerability, “why have you been ignoring me for so many days?” “Whenever we had a fight before, you’d always come around by the next day at the latest. But this time… it’s been five days and you haven’t reached out once.” “Uh…” I swallowed the food in my mouth. “I was just trying to give you some space.” An awkward silence fell between us. After a moment, she spoke again, her tone cautious. “That night… I ended up getting to Alex’s so late because of his stomach thing that I hadn’t eaten. That’s the only reason I cooked for him. I’m going to teach him how to cook, so I won’t have to go over there so much anymore.” “Oh. Okay, good.” I mumbled a reply, afraid she’d blow up again and accuse me of not understanding, then went back to eating in silence. “Hey,” she said, her voice softer still. “How about you come with me to this month’s get-together?” I was so surprised I looked up. Her eyes were shining with hope. 5 It wasn’t that Michelle had never taken me to hang out with her friends before, but we both knew what she meant: the special monthly gathering for her inner circle. It wasn’t special because of what they did, but who was there. It was a closed group. No partners allowed. I’d asked her to take me before, but she’d always brushed me off. When she saw I wasn’t buying her excuses, she lost her temper. “Larry, can you stop being so damn needy? It’s suffocating! I already told you, this is our one night a month where it’s just us, a time to unwind. Why do you have to interfere with every little bit of personal space I have?!” I’d flipped a table that day, screaming at her. “Then what about Alex? You took him, didn’t you?” Her reply had been ice-cold. “Alex grew up with me. He’s met them all before. He’s not an outsider.” “Besides, he doesn’t have any other friends in this city. I only brought him because I didn’t want him to be lonely.” “Stop being so paranoid. You sound like a psycho.” I never thought she’d be the one to invite me. But the hand-off for the overseas post was genuinely hectic. Thinking of my workload, I had to refuse. Besides, I was never really close with her friends anyway. At this point, there was no reason to try and force it. “I’ve got a lot on my plate at work right now. Maybe some other time.” Michelle slammed her chopsticks down on the table. A deep weariness was etched on her face. “Larry, I know you’re unhappy about Alex. That’s why I’ve been bending over backwards for you these past few days. But I get tired too. I’ve humbled myself enough. What more do you want from me?” “You’re twenty-eight years old,” she said, her voice tight. “Stop throwing tantrums like a child.” “You’ve got it wrong,” I said calmly. “Work really is just busy right now.” “Whatever,” she said, her voice hard as stone. We finished the rest of the meal in total silence.

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The first thing I remember after the car crash is a memory from three years ago. Back then, Ember and I hadn’t broken up yet. My voice was thick with tears as I dialed his number, telling him my head hurt so much. There was a long silence on the other end. Then, Ember’s voice, cold as ice, asked if I thought this was some kind of sick joke. He hung up on me. I was completely lost. About five minutes later, he called back. He told me to give him the address, and that this had better not be some stupid dare. 1 I gave him the address of the hospital. Half an hour later, Ember appeared at my bedside. He was dressed in a sharp black suit, looking like he’d traveled a long way. My nose stung with the urge to cry, and I threw myself into his arms. He smelled faintly of tobacco, a scent that felt foreign to me. The Ember I knew didn’t smoke. His body went rigid. He gripped my wrist and pulled me away. “Chad, what the hell are you doing?” I stumbled back onto the bed, my eyes instantly welling up. “Ember, you don’t love me anymore! We’re done!” “Done?” Ember let out a short, harsh laugh, as if my words were the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “We broke up three years ago.” His words hit me like a thunderclap. A wave of pain crashed over me. I clutched my head, my brow furrowing tightly as the room spun around me. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Ember slamming the call button by the bed, his voice sharp with panic. “Doctor!” When I woke up again, the sky outside was dark. The hospital room was silent. My heart sank. Ember was gone. The doctor told me the amnesia was caused by a blood clot in my brain. He couldn’t say for sure when my memories would return. I lay in bed, my mind replaying scene after scene of Ember and me, sweet moments that felt like they’d happened only yesterday. He had always doted on me, spoiled me. He would never lie to me, and he would never, ever say the word “breakup.” The more I thought about it, the more miserable I became, and the tears started to fall again. Just then, the door opened, and Ember walked in, carrying a takeout container. He was still in the same suit, his tall, lean frame getting closer and closer. I couldn’t hold it back anymore and started sobbing. “I thought… I thought you left…” A tissue was held out in front of me. I took it, wiped my eyes, and blew my nose. Ember pulled a chair up to the bedside. He opened the container, and the rich aroma of food filled the small room. It was a steaming oxtail soup, and it looked incredible. Grumble. My stomach protested loudly, the sound echoing in the quiet room. Ember glanced at me, then slowly ladled a bowl of soup and held it out. I didn’t take it. The words slipped out before I could stop them. “Babe, you feed me.” His hand froze in mid-air. The way he looked at me, it was like he was looking at a complete stranger. Reality came crashing back. We broke up, he’d said. A heavy weight settled in my chest, making it hard to breathe. I fought to keep my emotions in check, my voice muffled. “It’s just… a habit. I’ll get used to it.” “Is that what you call Nathan, too?” Ember’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. “You’re hurt. How come I don’t see him here?” Nathan? He was a senior from our university. Ember, being the jealous guy he was, had never wanted me to be too friendly with him after he’d asked me out once. I was completely confused. “What does he have to do with anything?” Ember’s gaze clouded over, but he didn’t push the subject. Trying to remember things just made my head ache, so I let it go. My eyes were fixed on the chunks of meat in the bowl. “So, are you going to feed me or not?” He glanced at the IV in my hand and finally relented. “It’s hot!” “I want the broth.” “Come closer.” I couldn’t help it. I fell back into our old rhythm, whining and being playful with him. Ember paused for a second, then obediently scooted his chair closer. His face hadn’t changed much from my memories. But looking closer, I could see the differences. The boyish cockiness was gone, replaced by a quiet, steady confidence that showed in his every move. A wave of sadness washed over me. “Ember,” I whispered, “why did we break up?” He never answered my question. He took a work call and left. Later, I found a train ticket in my purse. The departure city was Northwood, over six hundred miles away. Vague, blurry fragments flashed in my mind, but I couldn’t piece them together. The next day, two police officers came to my room. That’s when I learned that the driver who hit me had been caught. The reason he’d done it? He was in a bad mood. As for compensation, that was something I’d have to handle myself. That evening, the doctor came by on his rounds and reminded me to settle the hospital bill. I nodded, agreeing readily. But when I took my bank card to the payment window, the clerk informed me I had insufficient funds. Flustered, I fumbled for another card. Still insufficient. The clerk was getting impatient. “Which card is it? If you don’t have the money, let the next person go.” My face burned with humiliation. “This one.” A hand with long, elegant fingers slid a credit card through the window. Ember paid the bill for me. The clerk’s attitude changed in a heartbeat, her voice suddenly sweet. “Here’s your card back, sir.” Ember took it, his face like stone. “Apologize to her. Unless you’d prefer to receive a formal complaint.” The smile on the clerk’s face froze. After a moment, she grudgingly muttered an apology to me. Back in the room, Ember set down the takeout and turned to leave. I panicked. I ran and wrapped my arms tight around his waist, instinctively nuzzling my face against his chest. His breathing hitched. His body was ramrod straight, and his voice came out low and rough. “Chad, let go.” I refused, pressing my full weight against him and looking up with pleading eyes. “Ember, don’t push me away.” “I feel dizzy…” The room fell silent. Then, Ember suddenly swept me into his arms. I instinctively hooked my arms around his neck, my gaze fixed on the sharp line of his jaw. My voice trembled. “Ember, what… what are you doing?” The words were barely out of my mouth before he unceremoniously dropped me onto the bed. The romantic bubble in the air popped with a sad little poof. A week later, I was discharged. Ember came to pick me up. I stared at the luxury car for a few seconds, then said nothing and got in. Over the past few days, he would bring me food and then stay in the room for an hour or two. But he was always on a conference call or on his phone. I’d secretly looked him up online. What I found was shocking, but also, not entirely unexpected. Back in his junior year, Ember had already been planning to start his own business. He was Southport’s valedictorian, accepted into Southport University with the top scores in his program. He loved game design and had even won a gold medal with his roommates at the National Game Design Awards. He’d racked up countless awards during his time in school. His dream was always to start his own game development company. And in just three years, he’d done it. He was even more successful than I could have imagined. He had glowing reviews online, and a legion of female fans who called him their “internet husband.” He’d always been popular at school, but everyone knew how crazy he was about me, so I never paid those other girls any mind. But now… “Where do you live?” Ember’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I opened a hotel booking app on my phone and gave him the address. The day after the accident, the doctor had told me to contact my family. I’d opened my mom’s chat history and scrolled through our messages. My heart had plunged into a pit of ice. She had remarried and moved out of Southport. No wonder I was staying in a hotel. I didn’t have a home here anymore. Ember was quiet for a moment, his grip on the steering wheel tightening slightly. I pulled myself together, and a question popped into my head. “Ember, do you have a girlfriend?” The light ahead turned red, and the car slowed to a stop. Ember turned to look at me, his eyes dark and unreadable, swirling with an emotion I couldn’t name. “No.” A smile spread across my face. “Then can I stay at your place?” After picking up my luggage, Ember took me back to his apartment. It was in the most expensive part of the city. The place was huge, immaculate. I wandered around under the pretense of “taking a tour” and found no signs of a woman living there. Ember wheeled my suitcase into the guest room, said, “Make yourself at home,” and disappeared into his office for a meeting. The meeting lasted for over an hour. I watched TV, bored, until my stomach started to grumble. The fridge was stocked with fresh ingredients, so I rolled up my sleeves, ready to cook. And promptly sliced my finger. “Ah—” I cried out, my brow knitting in pain. I heard a string of worried footsteps, and Ember’s voice, tight with tension. “What happened?” I turned to see him standing there, his eyes locked on the bead of blood welling up on my fingertip. Before I could say anything, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the living room. He sat me on the sofa, opened a first-aid kit, and knelt in front of me. His head was bowed as he carefully disinfected the cut and applied a bandage. The bandage had little cartoon characters on it, my favorite. Watching the focused, gentle way he tended to me, I felt a lump form in my throat. My voice was dry. “I’m sorry. I was just hungry and wanted to make something.” Ember looked up, his dark eyes reflecting a blurry image of me. A small smile touched his lips. “Chad, this isn’t like you.” He stood up and ruffled my hair. “Don’t cook. I’ll take you out.” The nights in Southport were as lively as ever. Ember took me to the food street near the university, to the ramen place that used to be our favorite. In my memory, we had been here just a short while ago. But the shop’s decor was completely different. After we sat down, I asked him, “Do you come here often?” [Chad is about to learn the painful truth behind their breakup. Unlock the next chapter to discover the secrets that tore them apart.] Ember poured me a cup of tea. “Rarely.” I tried to sound casual. “Have you brought other girls here?” He just looked at me, his gaze deep and unreadable, and didn’t answer. Time had changed him. He’d learned to hide his feelings. He was no longer the boy who had shared everything with me. My heart ached, but I couldn’t stop myself from probing. “Well, have you or haven’t you?” What I really wanted to ask was if he’d dated anyone in the years since we’d been apart. “Two bowls of ramen!” The owner’s voice cut through our conversation. Steam rose from the bowls, blurring Ember’s face. With food in front of me, I forgot my question and took a sip of the broth. It still tasted exactly the same. Suddenly, a few extra slices of braised pork appeared in my bowl. I looked up, surprised. Ember’s jaw tightened slightly. He tried to look nonchalant. “Just a habit.” I blinked. “Oh.” Was that his answer? That night, after my shower, I was curled up on the sofa watching TV. Ember had been in his office ever since we got back. After thinking for a long time, I padded over in my slippers and knocked on the office door. “Ember, can I borrow your computer?” He opened the door and leaned against the frame, arms crossed. “What for?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I want to work on my resume.” Now that I was back in Southport, I didn’t plan on leaving again. I wanted to build a life here. Ember nodded and stepped aside to let me in. The computer was locked. I turned to him. “What’s the password?” He paused, then walked over, leaned down, and typed in four numbers. He was so close I was practically enveloped by him, his warm breath fanning against my cheek. My heart hammered in my chest. The temperature in the room seemed to rise. On impulse, I tilted my head up and kissed his cheek. “You still haven’t answered my question from the ramen shop.” Ember froze, a faint blush creeping up his neck. His voice was low and husky. “What about you? Are you back in Southport for Nathan? Or… for me?” Nathan again? Did we break up because I cheated on him? Think, you idiot, think! I tapped my head, but he caught my wrist. “Forget it.” Ember straightened up, a self-deprecating smile on his lips. “What’s the point of arguing with someone who can’t even remember?” He turned and walked away, his lean back looking strangely lonely. A fragmented memory flashed through my mind. On the day we broke up, I think I watched him walk away just like that, disappearing into the thick darkness of the night. Ember got incredibly busy, leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night. He had his lawyer help me with the accident compensation. He also hired a cook to prepare my meals. And just like that, I settled into his home. That weekend, I went back to the hospital, desperate to get my memory back. After a simple check-up, the doctor told me, “There’s a condition known as psychogenic amnesia. It’s possible the memories are so painful that your brain has chosen to forget them as a protective measure. If you truly want to remember, you could try hypnosis, or revisiting old places, meeting old friends…” I left the hospital, the doctor’s words echoing in my head, twisting my heart into a knot. I sat on a roadside bench for a long time, until a pair of black leather shoes entered my vision. “Chad.” A familiar voice came from above me. When I didn’t respond, Ember knelt down to meet my gaze. “Why are you crying?” he asked, frowning as he gently wiped a tear from my cheek. “I’m not crying. Something got in my eye,” I said stubbornly. “Want me to blow it out for you?” “…” And then he actually did, leaning in and blowing gently at my eyes. I held my breath, my cheeks turning red. Ember had come straight from his office. On the way to the parking garage, he took a call about a dinner meeting. I stopped by the car door. “I can just take a cab back.” Ember opened the door for me. “The cook is off today. There’s no food at home.” Home. The word dropped like a pebble into a still lake, sending ripples through my heart. “It’s just Marco and the guys. Want to come with me?” he added. Marco was his college roommate. I was still hesitant. “Would that be weird for me to go?” Ember didn’t push. “Then you pick a place to eat.” I thought for a few seconds. “Where are they eating?” “Near the university.” The doctor’s words came back to me—revisit old places, meet old friends. “Okay,” I nodded. “I’ll go.” The traffic was terrible. By the time we got to the restaurant, the private room was already full. The moment I walked in, the lively chatter died down. The atmosphere turned tense. Ember scanned the room, his gaze lingering for a moment in one direction. I followed his line of sight and froze. It was Nathan. He smiled at me. Out of politeness, I smiled back. When I turned my head, I met Ember’s dark eyes. He didn’t look happy. His lips were pressed into a thin line. Marco stood up, glass in hand. “Ember, my man! You’re late! You know the rules, you gotta chug one.” He poured a generous amount of liquor into Ember’s glass. Then, as if he’d only just noticed me, he feigned surprise. “Well, well, Ember. And who did you bring with you?” Ember frowned, downed the drink in one go, and shot Marco a warning look. “Get another chair.” Marco ignored him, his eyes fixed on me. “Isn’t this Chad Shaw? Couldn’t hack it in Northwood, so you came crawling back to Ember?” Ember’s face darkened. “Marco, shut up,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “What? Did I say something wrong? Who was it that dumped you and ran off when you needed her most? Wasn’t it Chad?!” “Marco!” A dead silence fell over the room. Everyone else just watched, a vaguely hostile curiosity in their eyes. Nathan opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. I stood there, mortified, digging my nails into my palms. “Whatever, my bad,” Marco said, waving a hand dismissively and calling a waiter to bring another chair. A warm hand closed over mine. Ember was pulling me toward the door. Suddenly, a sharp female voice cut through the silence from behind us. “Ember, Chad’s father is a murderer! You’d better stay away from her!”

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