In my previous life, I was hacked to death in the street by my mother’s debt collectors, my body left to rot in the open. It was only then that I learned the truth: the massive, life-ruining debt wasn’t even hers. It belonged to my aunt. My mother simply couldn’t bear to see her precious younger sister chased by loan sharks, so she took the entire burden upon herself. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the exact day my mother signed that promissory note. I grabbed our family’s essential documents, shoved them into my dad’s hands, and said, “Dad, you two need to get a divorce.” 1 My mom suddenly owed over a million dollars. For an ordinary, middle-class family like ours, it was a death sentence. My dad, unable to bear abandoning her, took the heavy burden upon his shoulders. From then on, our family of four worked ourselves to the bone. We sold our house, lived out of suitcases hiding from collectors, set up street stalls to make pennies, and constantly borrowed from Peter to pay Paul. We never had a single decent meal. Finally, after four grueling years, we had paid off around $400,000. There was still over $700,000 left to go. That day happened to be my little brother’s birthday. We had rarely splurged, but we bought a fresh fish and were just sitting down to eat. That was when Victor, the biggest loan shark of them all, kicked our door in. He had been a gang enforcer in his youth. Both of his massive arms were completely covered in intricate, intimidating tattoos of dragons and tigers. With a casual flick of his wrist, he flipped our flimsy dining table upside down. The food scattered across the floor. It was such a waste. Victor sneered, looking like a demon straight out of hell. “Sarah, where the hell else do you think you can hide? When are you paying me my money? Speak!” My mom’s voice trembled in terror. “Vic, I just sent you $4,000 last month. I’ll pay you the rest slowly, I swear.” Victor lost his patience. “Four thousand a month? At that rate, you’ll be paying off a $500,000 loan until the next ice age! And with the interest compounding, you will literally never clear this debt.” Victor lit a cigarette and sat down heavily on a chair. “If you don’t want to die today, give me your sister Brenda’s address. I’ll go collect from her.” My mom immediately panicked, her eyes turning red. “You can’t go after my sister! She’s struggling so much right now. Come after me.” My dad hesitated, then cautiously spoke up: “Sarah, no matter how much Brenda is struggling, she’s doing better than us. I heard she just bought a two-thousand-dollar purebred cat last month. Maybe… maybe you could ask her to lend us a little to hold them off?” My mom glared viciously at my dad. The moment Brenda was mentioned, she suddenly found her backbone. “I will prioritize getting the money for you during this period! But if you want Brenda’s address, you’ll have to kill me first!” Victor was enraged. He slammed his hand against a cabinet. “Give you this period? Do you have any idea how many years you’ve been saying that?! Since you want to play the martyr so badly, I’ll take this $500,000 out of your hide today!” Furious, Victor kicked my mom to the floor. My dad rushed forward to help, but Victor’s goons dragged him away and started beating him mercilessly. Watching my little brother crying hysterically, I immediately grabbed my phone to dial 911. But that only enraged Victor further. He lunged at me, slapped me hard across the face, and smashed my phone against the wall. I grabbed a kitchen knife to defend myself. He easily disarmed me, then began punching me, blow after agonizing blow. He took the knife. As I scrambled to escape out the door, he hacked at my back, screaming curses: “You’ve got a young, pretty daughter right here! Why hasn’t she sold herself to pay off the debt, huh?!” Victor had completely lost his mind. I stumbled, fell, and scrambled up again, only for him to catch me. He chased me out of the apartment and straight into the street. He was seeing red. He beat me until I was barely clinging to life. The cuts on my body grew deeper and deeper. Every slash was more brutal than the last. “You haven’t paid me a dime in years! I’ve given your family too much grace! That bitch Brenda said she’d pay me back the second month. It’s been twenty f*cking years! Can she even pay it back now?!” Victor’s goons finally rushed over and pulled him back, panicking. “Boss, stop! You’re gonna kill her! This kid looks like she’s barely in her twenties! You can’t keep hacking at her like this!” I looked down and saw my face bruised and swollen, my back covered in horrifying, deep gashes. A trail of my own blood stretched from our apartment all the way out to the asphalt. 2 I knew right then that I was dead. I could perfectly see my own mangled, bloody corpse lying on the pavement, and I couldn’t feel a single ounce of pain anymore. Victor finally snapped out of his rage. He jumped back, collapsing onto the ground, looking genuinely terrified by what he had done. My mom rushed out of the building. She threw herself over my corpse, sobbing as she looked at the loan sharks. “My daughter just paid off the debt with her life! You can’t go after Brenda anymore!” My soul felt like it had been struck by lightning. I had been hacked to death, yet my mother’s first thought—her primary concern—was making sure her sister wouldn’t be inconvenienced! Victor looked at my mom, his expression incredibly complicated. “Since your daughter paid with her life, I’ll consider that $500,000 a total loss!” He took a few steps, then turned back to my mom. “Your daughter having a mother like you… she’s unluckier than I am. “That money was borrowed by Brenda. You insisted on taking the fall for her. Even if you sold every single thing your family owned, it wouldn’t even cover the cost of one of Brenda’s designer bags. I genuinely don’t understand why you’re playing the hero!” My mom aggressively wiped away her tears, her voice stubborn and proud. “I am the older sister. It is my absolute duty to protect my younger siblings from the storms of life. It was worth it!” Worth it? I felt like I had been struck by lightning again. This massive debt had forced our family to live like rats scurrying in the gutters. It had cost me my life. And in the end, she looked at my corpse and said, “I’m the older sister. It was worth it.” Then what was my dad? What was my little brother? What was I?! My dad arrived, saw my lifeless body on the ground, and broke down sobbing uncontrollably. The sheer agony was too much, and he passed out on the street. The neighbors called the police. At the police station, Victor claimed it was manslaughter. My mom agreed that our family was at fault first, signed a letter of forgiveness, and declared the debt settled with my life. Victor only got three years in prison. As for my Aunt Brenda? She didn’t even bother to show up to my funeral. My dad cried at my grave for a full day and night before completely losing his mind. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn. 3 “If I owed a million dollars, would you help me pay it off?” My mom sat on the edge of the bed, folding laundry, asking my dad in an artificially casual tone. My dad, who was playing a game of digital Connect Four on the computer, turned around and looked at her in confusion. This exact scene was too painfully familiar. In my past life, it played out exactly like this. My mom was furious because my dad had only given her family an $800 cash gift for a recent celebration. She accused him of not caring enough about her side of the family and threatened to divorce him. She had given him the silent treatment all day. In my past life, my dad was thrilled that she finally initiated a conversation. “No matter what happens in the future, I will always carry the burden with you.” And my dad was a man of his word. Over the next few years, even when he fell ill and couldn’t handle heavy labor, he persevered, constantly working to pay off the massive debt she claimed was from a “failed investment.” Perhaps it was my dad’s unwavering sense of responsibility that gave her the audacity. She knew she had a safety net, which was why she recklessly took on that toxic debt for her sister, dragging our family down with her. It got me killed, drove my dad insane, and forced my little brother to live a life of transient poverty from the age of one and a half. Before my dad could answer, I immediately interrupted them. “Mom, Dad, weren’t you guys talking about getting a divorce yesterday? Are we going to the courthouse this morning or this afternoon?” My mom froze, looking incredibly awkward. Remembering her threat from yesterday, her face darkened again. “I already sent Brenda another $200 to make up for the cash gift. If your father takes his paycheck this month to buy your cousin Mason a new gaming console, and goes with me to Brenda’s house to apologize, I might consider holding off on…” I pulled out our family’s essential legal documents and shoved them directly into my dad’s hands. “I fully support you two getting a divorce. Dad, since Mom thinks you treat the people she cares about so terribly, you should just let her go.” Please, Mom, let my dad go! My dad took the documents, looked at my mom, then at me, and lowered his eyes guiltily. My mom immediately switched to a sorrowful, victimized expression, dredging up the past again. “When you had absolutely nothing, no family to speak of, I chose to be with you. I didn’t want anything from you except for you to treat me well, and to treat my family well…” My dad had always felt deeply indebted to my mom because she didn’t look down on him for being an orphan. My mom constantly used this fact to emotionally manipulate him, keeping him tightly under her thumb. I chimed in: “Exactly! Dad, Mom treats you so well, yet when Aunt Brenda hosted that graduation party for Kevin, you couldn’t even bear to give a $1,000 cash gift! Remember how generous Aunt Brenda was when my little brother had his one-month celebration last year?” My mom’s face instantly became incredibly uncomfortable. I faked righteous indignation. “This divorce has to happen. Dad’s behavior is completely unacceptable.” My mom let out an awkward, strained laugh: “Actually, your dad isn’t that unforgivable.” My dad muttered, clearly feeling wronged: “At your brother’s one-month celebration, your sister and her husband only gave $200, and they borrowed that $200 from you! I don’t even know if they ever paid you back!” “I’m the older sister! What’s wrong with giving a slightly larger cash gift to take care of my younger siblings?!” The moment anyone dared to criticize her family, my mom’s face would twist in anger. She threw the folded clothes aside, ready to explode at my dad. Just then, my mom’s phone, which was charging on the nightstand, started ringing. 4 Seeing “Brenda” on the caller ID, I immediately stepped forward, answered the call, and put it on speaker. My aunt’s voice echoed through the room: “Hey, Sis, have you thought it over?” Hearing this, my mom practically lunged across the room in three strides, snatching the phone from my hand and furiously turning off the speaker. She shot a guilty, panicked look at my dad, who had gone back to playing Connect Four. I asked, pretending not to care, “Thought what over?” My mom stammered her response to my aunt: “I still don’t know what Arthur thinks about it… Let me think about it a little more…” I don’t know what was said on the other end, but it was likely my aunt losing her temper. My mom’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. After hanging up, my mom said, “Arthur, I need to go over to Brenda’s house later.” 5 My dad looked surprised. “Didn’t you just get back from her place a couple of days ago?” “This is different. After Kevin’s graduation party ended, they kept two tables of close friends and family around for a private get-together. They invited me to come over for a bit.” My dad nodded in understanding. A sharp memory from my past life violently surfaced. It was exactly after attending this specific “family gathering” at my aunt’s house that my mom suddenly came home burdened with over a million dollars in debt. Every single promissory note had her bright red thumbprint on it, explicitly acknowledging the debt in black and white. There were seven or eight different loan sharks involved. There were definitely hidden details about this gathering that my dad and I were never privy to. This time, I was absolutely not going to let our family repeat the same fatal mistake. “Dad, I really want to go celebrate Kevin’s graduation too! Let’s all go with Mom.” My mom was naturally thrilled; she always desperately wanted us to be more involved with her side of the family. Before my dad could refuse, I added, “Mom was just talking about divorcing you because you don’t treat her family well. You can’t just skip out and make her lose face in front of her family today.” Persuaded by my logic, my dad agreed. My mom happily took us out to buy Mason a gaming console first. 6 I stared at the $300 gaming console, then looked at the “toy” my little brother was currently playing with—a cheap, empty plastic wrapper from a pack of wafers. My mom was always like this. Regardless of the price, she prioritized giving the best of everything to her younger siblings and their children. Even down to a single bowl of rice, or a single orange. Whenever I, my brother, and Mason were together, if my mom had three oranges, she would give two to Mason, and my brother and I had to share the remaining one. I was so confused at the time. “Shouldn’t everyone get one? Why does Mason get two?” My mom scolded me for being selfish. “How can you compare yourselves to him? You are my children, you have to be on my side. You need to be accommodating.” She deprived herself, and she deprived her own children, just to be endlessly generous to everyone else. She was always like this—boundlessly giving to outsiders, incredibly harsh to her own flesh and blood. My brother sat next to me. With a little squeeze of his hand, the plastic wrapper made a loud crackle. He giggled, completely carefree, blissfully unaware that his life was about to be turned upside down. I pointed to a remote-control car on the shelf. “Mom, my brother can play with that remote-control car too. It’s twenty dollars cheaper than the gaming console. If you’re buying one, you should buy the car for my brother too.” My dad grabbed the remote-control car, placed it in the basket, and smiled. “We’ll buy both.” My mom’s face changed instantly. She snatched the remote-control car out of the basket, put it back on the shelf, and then tentatively asked me: “Avery, why don’t you skip going to that expensive private university? It costs too much. The family doesn’t have the money to support it.” My dad immediately asked, “What do you mean we don’t have the money?” My mom stammered, “There are going to be a lot of places we need to spend money later on. We need to start saving.” I looked at the expensive gift she was holding for Mason and let out a harsh, incredulous laugh. “Saving up my college tuition so you can buy your sister’s son a gaming console?!” “How dare you speak to me like that!” My mom raised her hand to slap me, but my dad intercepted her arm. He said firmly, “It doesn’t matter if I have to work harder. Avery is absolutely going to that university.” My mom opened her mouth, then clamped it shut, saying nothing more. My nose stung. In my past life, after my mom took on that massive debt, I dropped out of college. I worked alongside them, running street stalls, leaving before dawn, and returning after midnight, hauling heavy sacks of rice and fighting for discounted vegetables at the market. I caught my dad secretly wiping away tears so many times, feeling like he had failed me. In my past life, the loan sharks went to the hospital where my dad worked to harass him, causing him to lose his job as a respected surgeon. He ended up hawking cheap goods at a night market. Unless we were truly at a dead end, he would never have agreed to let me drop out of college. 7 My aunt opened the door. When she saw my dad and me, her hand clearly froze on the doorknob. She obviously hadn’t expected us to come. She forced a stiff, unnatural smile. “Oh, Arthur and Avery came too~” My mom smiled warmly. “Yeah, Arthur bought a gaming console for Mason, and some action figures for Kevin, to celebrate him getting into college.” My aunt glanced into the living room, her smile looking incredibly strained. I noticed a designer bag hanging on the entryway hook and smiled brightly. “Aunt Brenda, is that your new bag?” Seeing me notice the bag, my aunt beamed, a hint of arrogance flashing in her eyes. “Of course. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” “It’s beautiful,” I said. Of course it was beautiful. It was an authentic Louis Vuitton; it better be beautiful. My aunt took the gaming console. “Come on in and sit down.” Stepping inside, I saw over a dozen people crowded into the long living room. There were seven or eight older relatives I recognized, and seven or eight unfamiliar faces. Among the unfamiliar faces, I locked eyes with someone I knew intimately. My heart gave a violent tremor, a primal, physiological terror washing over me, making my body shake. That man was Victor, the loan shark who hacked me to death in my past life. I forced myself to calm down, reassuring myself that right now, he didn’t know me. He naturally wouldn’t target me, let alone hurt me. And my only job today was to ensure my family cut all ties with this catastrophic, life-ruining debt. My aunt truly was a master manipulator. It was obvious now: in my past life, my mom had been pressured into signing those promissory notes right here, in front of this group of elder relatives. Confused and manipulated, she stamped her bright red thumbprint on every page, transforming my aunt’s borrowed money into our family’s toxic debt. 8 Before we even had a chance to warm our seats, a middle-aged woman on the sofa suddenly burst into loud, theatrical wails. “My husband is still in the hospital! That $7,000 is literally life-saving money! I’m begging you, just pay me back first!” My dad was stunned, clearly bewildered by the sudden outburst. My aunt cast a few anxious, pleading glances at my mom, who immediately understood her assignment. She stepped forward and helped the wailing woman up. “It’s $7,000, right?” The woman looked at my mom in confusion. My mom pulled out her phone and checked her bank balance. “Scan my Venmo QR code, or give me your bank routing number. I’ll transfer it to you right now!” She was about to transfer $7,000 without a second thought. Even my dad, who usually didn’t manage the household finances, was suspicious. He asked my mom, “Sarah, what is this $7,000 for?” My mom looked at my dad, desperately trying to formulate an explanation. My aunt quickly stepped in to clarify: “My sister owes Mrs. Martinez $7,000. Mr. Martinez is in the hospital with kidney failure, and they desperately need the money for dialysis to save his life.” The moment those words left her mouth, not only my dad, but even Mrs. Martinez looked confused. Mrs. Martinez looked at my aunt, then back at my mom, who was holding her phone ready to transfer the money. The phrase “But you’re the one who borrowed the money” died on her lips. My dad asked, “Sarah, what exactly is going on here?” My mom thought for a second, then lied smoothly: “I lost some money on a bad investment. I borrowed it from Mrs. Martinez. Since her husband desperately needs it for life-saving treatment right now, we need to withdraw it and pay her back to cover the emergency.” Hearing this, although my dad looked unhappy, he knew that debts must be paid. It was only right, and there was nothing else to be done. Watching my dad sit back down, my aunt clearly let out a massive sigh of relief. She turned to address the room: “I told you my sister would definitely pay back the money. There won’t be any issues. “Today is supposed to be a celebration for my Kevin. Can we discuss the rest of these matters later?” Seeing my mom generously stepping up to take responsibility, the other creditors assumed she was a wealthy, easy mark, so they didn’t raise any further objections. As Mrs. Martinez was scanning my mom’s Venmo code, I muted the TV, picked up the karaoke microphone, and stood up. “Hello everyone. My name is Avery, Sarah’s daughter. Excuse me, but are there any other people in this room that my mom owes money to? “My parents are getting a divorce soon. We’re here to clear up all the marital debts right now.” 9 Divorce? My aunt’s eyes bulged out of her head. She knew better than anyone that my mom was a stay-at-home housewife with zero income. The entire family relied on my dad’s salary. If they got divorced, my mom would have absolutely no way to shoulder over a million dollars in debt. She immediately rushed forward, her face twisted in rage, pointing a furious finger at me. “Avery, what nonsense are you spewing?! A marriage isn’t something you can just end on a whim! “As a daughter, shouldn’t you be wishing for your parents to be happy? How can you be so incredibly ignorant and disrespectful?!” I blinked innocently. “It’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my mom. They were literally planning to go to the courthouse to file the divorce papers today. We only delayed it because you called us over.” I turned the volume on the microphone up and shouted again. “Since no one is answering, if my parents walk out that door, we are absolutely not recognizing any debts that magically appear later!” Still, no one stepped forward. After all, they knew the money was personally borrowed by my aunt, not my mom. Hearing that the divorce hadn’t been finalized yet, my aunt clearly let out a sigh of relief. Terrified that my parents might actually go straight to the courthouse after leaving today, she made a desperate gamble. She turned to my dad. “Arthur, please don’t be angry. My sister only owes a little over a million dollars. She had a failed investment. Please don’t blame her. In business, there are always wins and losses. You need to look at the big picture. If your whole family works together, you’ll definitely pay it all off eventually.” My dad’s entire body violently jolted. He looked like he was about to pass out from sheer rage. The creditors looked equally confused, exchanging bewildered glances. Wasn’t Brenda the one who borrowed the money? Why did this guy suddenly appear out of nowhere to take the fall as the ultimate sucker? My aunt noticed their confusion and quickly turned back to the creditors: “Everyone, please don’t worry. My brother-in-law is a highly respected surgeon at the county hospital. He has a very secure, high-paying job. He will slowly but surely pay back every cent he owes you.” Her ambiguous phrasing gave the creditors hope, while simultaneously keeping my dad completely in the dark about the true nature of the debt. I walked over to my dad and looked earnestly at my mom. “This million dollars… did you really borrow it?” My mom paused, glancing at my aunt’s pitiful, pleading face, and gritted her teeth. “Yes. It’s my debt.” I nodded slowly. “Okay. In that case, can you name every creditor in this room? “Do you remember exactly how much money you owe to each person?”

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I got early admission to Stanford, but Mia begged me to give my spot to her. When I refused, she cried, “Your family is rich. Going to Stanford is just the icing on the cake for you. But if I go, it could change my whole life…” She even secretly opened my admissions packet. “You’re so smart, even if you take a gap year, you’ll still get into Stanford. But I only have this one chance…” Just like that, my parents and my brother, whose hearts ached for her, forced me to step aside. Later, on my way to enroll at Stanford anyway, I was crushed to death by a semi-truck. After I died, I heard her crying in my brother’s arms, “She only lost her life, but I lost my identity as a Stanford student…” When I opened my eyes again, I was looking at Mia, who was timidly trying to please my parents. I smiled. In this life, as long as she’s miserable, I’ll be happy. 1 The gears of fate began to turn the moment Mia pushed open the front door of my house. And thanks to her, after I died, I was reborn. “Chloe! Don’t just sit there. Come over and meet Mia. She’s going to be part of our family from now on,” my dad called out to me. But Buddy, the golden retriever in my arms, barked aggressively at Mia, his hackles raised, just like in my previous life. Mia’s eyes welled up with tears, and she hid behind my older brother, Liam. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, I’m scared. Maybe I should just go back to my own house… sob.” Playing the victim to get her way again. I couldn’t help but sneer. In my past life, the day after Mia arrived, my beloved dog, Buddy, whom I’d raised for three years, was crushed to pieces by a delivery truck. I was too consumed by grief back then to think clearly. But looking back now, who else but Mia could have done it? After all, Buddy had gone through two thousand dollars’ worth of professional training. He was incredibly well-behaved and never ran out into the street. Before my parents could scold Buddy, I cut them off: “Mom, Dad, did you forget? You only agreed to let me bring Buddy home because he’s a good guard dog. If he didn’t bark, that would be a problem!” My parents opened their mouths to speak but stopped themselves. “Ah, right. Don’t be scared, Mia. Buddy just barks at strangers. He’ll get used to you.” Catching the word “strangers,” I couldn’t help but let the corners of my mouth curl up. Mia bit her lip a little harder. “Stranger”—that was the word Mia hated most in this life. Meanwhile, my idiot brother, Liam, grabbed a water bottle and threw it at Buddy. “Stupid dog, if you bark again, I’ll eat you!” Buddy whimpered and lay by my feet, looking full of grievance. I rubbed his little head. Mia’s mother was my mom’s best friend. Two days ago, she and her husband died in a car accident. Rumor had it they were on their way to pick Mia up from dance class. Unable to bear seeing Mia become an orphan, my parents brought her straight to our house. They constantly whispered in my ear about how pitiful Mia was and how I needed to let her have her way. In my past life, I yielded to her at every turn, but it only made her bolder. She used her manipulative, “pick-me” tactics to steal all the affection from my family, and eventually, she set her sights on my early admission spot to Stanford. Because of that, I died a gruesome death in a car crash on my way to enroll. Only after I died did I learn how despicable and cheap I was in Mia’s stories. Being reborn, if I let these idiots hurt me even a little bit, I’d have lived this second life in vain! 2 Just like in my previous life, Mia fully moved into our house. To make her feel more at ease, Liam started coming up with terrible ideas again. “Chloe, let Mia have your room. You can take the guest room. I’ll take you to buy new furniture tomorrow, okay?” Here we go again. I didn’t see through it before I died. Only after did I realize my own brother and Mia were having an affair. Or rather, Mia had a clear target and was gunning for my brother from the very beginning. “Chloe, what are you thinking about? I’m talking to you!” I swatted away Liam’s hand waving in front of my face and bluntly refused this time: “No.” Mia opened her mouth, then lowered her eyes submissively and tugged at the hem of Liam’s shirt. “It’s fine, I’ll just sleep in the guest room.” I crossed my arms and watched her perform in silence, even nodding in agreement. “Yeah, Liam. I’ve lived in this bedroom for eighteen years. I can’t just give it up.” Liam glared at me, scolding me for being unreasonable. I tilted my head, ready to manually open Liam’s mind. In my past life, I was always the one yielding to Mia. In this life, Liam can be the one to yield: “You know, Liam makes a good point.” I nodded. Just as Liam’s expression softened, I pivoted: “Then Mia can just sleep in your bedroom!” The smile that had just appeared on Liam’s face instantly froze, and the tips of his ears turned red. “No, I… that wouldn’t be appropriate.” Heh. I blinked innocently at Mia. “Then you’ll just have to make do with the guest room…” After closing my door, I heard Mia mumble a few words. And then Liam’s bedroom was no longer his. Either way, I wasn’t the one yielding. What did it matter to me? 3 The next day, Mia offered to walk Buddy, claiming it would help them bond. Buddy wore a harness but absolutely refused to budge. Watching this scene, my eyes slowly filled with tears. In my previous life, I had personally pushed Buddy out the door and made him go with Mia. This life… I smiled and took the leash back from Mia: “Mia, you just got here. How could I let you walk the dog? Look, Mom and Dad aren’t home, and Liam is right over there. Why don’t you go bond with him instead?” After saying that, I took Buddy and left the house. I walked him around the block and then went to the backyard. Buddy and I pressed our faces against the glass door. I wanted to see exactly when Mia and Liam hooked up. The two of them were sitting in the living room. Everything seemed normal at first. About three minutes later, Mia suddenly stood up but grabbed her head, swaying unsteadily. Seeing this, Liam hurried to support her. Mia conveniently collapsed, her soft curves pressing directly against Liam’s arm. In that moment, Liam froze. No wonder. No wonder the brother who used to dote on me completely changed after Mia arrived. In my past life, Liam even hit me twice for Mia’s sake. Makes sense. With a beautiful girl throwing herself at him, what does a younger sister matter? 4 That very evening, Liam suggested Mia transfer to my private prep school. I raised both hands and feet in support. My parents looked at me, a hint of relief on their faces: “Chloe, you’re finally acting mature.” I chuckled dryly. In my past life, with Mia acting all sweet and innocent at home, my own parents didn’t give me an ounce of trust. Even after I got the early admission spot to Stanford, they unanimously told me to give it to Mia. Mia nervously fiddled with her chopsticks. “But that’s an elite prep school. I’m afraid I won’t fit in.” As soon as she said that, my mom immediately offered to take her shopping for clothes. I put down my chopsticks. “No need! I have so many clothes in my closet. Once Mia transfers to our school, I need to take good care of her. I’ll definitely give her some of my clothes then.” My parents exchanged a hesitant look, while Liam’s eyes lit up and he nodded. He nudged Mia’s arm: “Chloe’s clothes are all designer pieces. Even the limited editions aren’t always available in stores.” “Okay.” Mia agreed readily, but I saw her toes curling tightly against the floor under the table. A flash of resentment crossed those seemingly innocent eyes. I was in a great mood. Only after I died in my past life did I realize Mia completely took my good intentions for granted. I used to feel sorry for her, so I cut the tags off many new clothes and gave them to her. But in her mouth, it turned into me treating her like a garbage can. Since she was so willing to degrade herself, I’d grant her wish in this life! When we picked out clothes that night, I deliberately left all the closet doors wide open. Shock flashed across Mia’s face, followed by an undeniable eagerness. She especially couldn’t tear her eyes away from the clothes with huge designer logos. Seeing this, I smiled. Just like in her past life, she was short-sighted, only seeing the logos and not the quality. “Chloe, thank you so much. Can I have these few pieces…?” I smiled and agreed, pulling out all the logo-heavy clothes she was eyeing and handing them to her: “Sure! We’re family now. These are all yours.” I said “family” with a thick layer of sarcasm. Unfortunately, not only did she miss it, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards uncontrollably. Her gaze landed on my jewelry, and she deliberately touched her bare neck: “I hope so. It’s just that I…” I understood instantly. I shoved a bunch of chunky, gaudy, sparkling jewelry into her arms. “Now your outfit is complete!” 5 When I saw Mia the next day, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Even Liam frowned imperceptibly. We were both wearing understated designer pieces, while Mia was dressed like a flamboyant peacock. “These are the clothes you gave Mia?” I shook my head innocently. “She picked these out herself.” In my past life, Mia had wanted to dress like this too, but I stopped her. In the end, she didn’t embarrass herself, but she held a grudge against me instead. This life, of course, I was going to let her fly her freak flag! “Liam, do I look okay like this?” Mia intentionally flipped her hair. The gaudy rings on her hands were blinding. Liam glared at me. “It’s fine. You look beautiful!” I smiled coldly. My parents went to handle Mia’s enrollment, and she ended up in the same homeroom as me. I confidently walked into the bustling crowd of students, while Mia followed awkwardly behind. To “take care” of her… “Chloe, where should I sit?” Her soft, sweet voice immediately caught the attention of several classmates who turned to look. But the moment they clearly saw Mia, everyone’s mouths twitched, and they looked at me. I understood instantly, frowning and shaking my head slightly: “You can sit anywhere. The teacher will be here soon.” Mia looked around and finally found an empty seat right in the middle of the classroom and sat down. Some people smirked, others rolled their eyes. I just raised an eyebrow. In my past life, Mia sat there too, but only because I forced her to. This time, without my help, she sat there purely on the strength of her own thick skin. 6 To let Mia fully unleash her “pick-me” attributes. I deliberately took a week off school. During that time, my friends texted me to complain. [Why haven’t you come back yet? [If you don’t come back soon, the Sterling family’s eldest daughter is going to be that Mia. [She has zero taste and dresses like a trashy peacock, but insists you told her to dress like that. Now everyone misunderstands and thinks you have malicious intentions!] I laughed. I didn’t explain, nor did I go back. After all, if I went back, how could the knock-off throw her weight around? I wanted Mia to stand on a pedestal so she could fall hard. When Mia came home for the weekend, she was exuding confidence. Right before my parents got home, she dove into the kitchen to cook: “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, you’re home? “I’m making pork rib soup for you tonight.” I didn’t say a word, but two sharp glares shot my way. “Chloe Sterling! “What did Mom and Dad tell you? You come home from school and watch TV, while Mia is in the kitchen cooking! “You said you’d be mature. Mature, my foot. You’re really disappointing us.” Liam gripped the remote control, fanning the flames. “Exactly. I just told her that, but she wouldn’t listen.” Here we go again. Just like in my past life! I was scolded into obediently going into the kitchen, only to get splattered in the face with hot oil, leaving several large blisters. This life… I leisurely held up my phone and opened my photo gallery: “What are you talking about? Mia was sitting on the couch playing on her phone a minute ago. She only went into the kitchen when you guys walked in.” Mia, in the kitchen, panicked. “Wh… what?” I smiled and showed her a video I had just recorded: “Sorry, I was just taking a selfie video and happened to catch you in the background.” 7 Mia’s cheeks instantly flushed red. I don’t know if she was burning with shame. Even the expressions of the parents who had been defending her turned subtle. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, I… “Actually, you guys…” Liam clicked his tongue and interrupted, “What nonsense are you talking about? “Mia is just thoughtful and wanted to show off her cooking skills. She didn’t say anything. You’re the one making a fuss over nothing, Chloe, causing everyone to misunderstand.” Mhm… My brother is an expert at shifting the blame: “Chloe, are you jealous that Mia is in our house?” Jealous? I was more than jealous; I wanted to tear her apart. But on the surface, I scratched my head looking apologetic, even saying “sorry” to Mia: “Sorry about that. Maybe I really did misunderstand you. “So, keep going with the pork rib soup? I want to taste your cooking too.” My parents looked pleased with my good attitude, but Mia was stunned. I laughed. Because I knew she had no idea how to make pork rib soup. She was just pretending! But since the fire was already lit, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go back into the kitchen. The four of us sat in a row on the sofa watching TV. Ten minutes later, we heard Mia scream. Everyone jogged over. In the kitchen, Mia was squatting on the floor, covering her face. 8 There were three blisters on her pale cheek. Glancing at the ribs she had just pulled out of the water, I covered my mouth. “Oh my, you silly girl. Of course hot oil will splatter if you put water in it.” Mia was crying from the pain, and my idiot brother was stamping his feet in distress. I deliberately covered my mouth and gasped, “Oh no! Hurry, go to the hospital! What if her face is ruined!” As soon as I said that, Mia was terrified. On the way back from getting ointment at the hospital, the atmosphere in the car was oppressively tense. As soon as we got home, Liam slapped me across the face. I deliberately didn’t dodge. My cheek felt numb and hot. “Liam, why did you hit me?” I cried. I faked it. Liam had one arm around Mia and pointed at my nose with the other: “You still have the nerve to ask! If you hadn’t pressured her, why would Mia have cooked? How else would she have gotten three blisters on her face!” Looking at the three red spots on Mia’s cheek, I felt happy despite the slap! But on the surface, I looked at my parents: “Mom, I had nothing to do with this. Why aren’t you saying anything to Liam!” The couple shared a rare moment of unspoken agreement, looking away from my face: “Chloe, you only got slapped once. But the burns on Mia’s face might leave scars. “Mia is an orphan now. We can’t let her suffer in our house. Go to your room and reflect on your actions.” I smiled brightly: “Right. One minute before you got home, she went into the kitchen. I forced her to. “She said herself she wanted to make pork rib soup for you. I forced her to. “She messed around when she didn’t know what she was doing. I forced her to. “Are you two sure you’re fit to be parents?” When I finished, I saw the embarrassment flash across the faces of the people opposite me. My mom hesitated, about to say something, but I ignored her, turned around, and went to my room. Having lived through my past life, I had absolutely no hope for this family. So, I wasn’t going to take that slap for nothing. 9 By the time I went back to school, Mia had already become quite popular in my class. As soon as class ended, people crowded around her, showing concern. “Mia, what happened to your face?” “How did you end up like this just by going home for a couple of days?” Mia didn’t answer directly. Instead, she looked at me hesitantly a couple of times: “Ah, it’s nothing. I wasn’t careful.” My classmates’ looks toward me shifted. Two of the blunter ones even started making passive-aggressive remarks. “I heard that Mia is the Sterling family’s foster daughter now. She goes home for two days and ends up like this. She must be getting bullied.” Mia tugged at their sleeves and shook them gently. “It’s not like that, stop talking…” That explanation was worse than no explanation at all. But, I opened my mouth, and I was going to speak my piece. I took two steps forward and, in front of everyone, brushed aside the hair covering my cheek: “Mia, are you intentionally trying to make everyone misunderstand me? “You said yourself you wanted to make pork rib soup to thank my family. You accidentally burned your face, and my brother came home and slapped me without asking any questions. “Between the two of us, who is the innocent one?” I spoke louder and louder, wishing the whole world could hear. My classmates fell silent. Seeing that no one was taking her side anymore, she blinked and was about to cry. I preempted her: “Cry! Cry! Cry! “Because you cried, the brother I grew up with hit me for the first time! Now you’re crying again. Do you want everyone to misunderstand me and isolate me!” Mia’s spellcasting was violently interrupted by me. After I finished, I started wailing at the top of my lungs. Mia stared at me blankly, for a moment forgetting to even react. My classmates exchanged glances, and my friends started adding fuel to the fire. “This Mia looks weak and fragile, but she’s full of lies.” “She’s so manipulative. Is she intentionally trying to cause drama among classmates? Did she know we all come from prominent families and is doing this on purpose?” After a few sentences, the classmates who were just siding with Mia switched sides. No matter how she explained, it was useless. Taking advantage of the situation, I swapped out Mia’s burn ointment. Without that pitiful, pathetic face. I wanted to see how she could play the innocent victim anymore! 10 With college entrance exams approaching, I battled wits with Mia while studying hard. My grades steadily improved, while she became increasingly anxious: “Chloe, could you tutor me a bit?” Looking up at her face, which looked as if she had been wronged, I wanted to laugh. She continued as usual: “I know you’re still mad about what happened before. “I’m sorry, I misunderstood you. Please, if you’re really that angry, I’ll kneel down and apologize in front of everyone.” Everyone looked over again. I couldn’t hold back a laugh, sitting straight in my seat, looking at her with a beaming smile. Seeing that I didn’t stop her, Mia was stunned: “Chloe, I… I’ll kneel down and admit my mistake.” I blinked and nodded in agreement. “Sure, go ahead and kneel.” Mia choked on her words. She looked around helplessly, but not a single person in the whole class spoke up for her. She stood in front of my desk, caught between kneeling and not kneeling. “Tsk.” I shook my head. “You say you want me to forgive you, forgive you for what? For last time? But didn’t that happen a long time ago? If you want me to tutor you, just ask nicely. Why pull this stunt? “If people didn’t know better, they’d think I was bullying you.” Mia shook her head frantically. “It’s not like that. Chloe, you misunderstood. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. “You have good grades and a good family background. I became an orphan at a young age and have to rely on others. Maybe I’m too insecure and sensitive. Since you want me to kneel, then I’ll kneel.” Mia bent her knees to kneel down, but before I could speak, a loud shout came from the doorway. Liam took a few large strides, rushed in front of me, and pulled Mia behind him. Typical. If she was willing to put on this act, it meant Liam was definitely here. I wasn’t surprised, watching Liam spew nonsense: “Chloe Sterling, don’t go too far! Is this what you meant by not bullying people? “Is this what you promised Mom and Dad at home? And you kept saying you’d take care of Mia!” This time, I didn’t speak. I just silently signaled my friends. Two or three people gathered in front of me, shielding me behind them. “I think you’re the one who can’t tell who your own sister is, right?” “Yelling at your own sister for an outsider. Look for yourself, the swelling on Chloe’s face from when you hit her still hasn’t completely gone down!” Liam was rendered speechless by the questioning. His face flushed red before he managed to squeeze out that both were his sisters. Quite a few people in the class laughed. Everyone could see it clearly. Someone in the crowd even asked, “Biological sister, or ‘romantic’ sister?” Everyone erupted in laughter. Mia cried from anger, and Liam’s gaze toward me darkened. That look was familiar. It was the exact same expression Liam had on the day of my car accident in my previous life. For some reason, a cloud of suspicion gathered in my mind. In my previous life, my whole family wanted me to give the Stanford spot to Mia. After I refused, I set off on the road to Stanford alone. But was that car crash really an accident?

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My broke boyfriend suddenly became the sole heir to the city’s wealthiest billionaire, and my twin sister decided she wanted my life. She conspired with our parents to imprison me, selling me off to a foreign trafficking ring where I was brutally mutilated into a “human sculpture”—a limbless freak put on display in a jar for the sick amusement of the underground elite. Meanwhile, she stole my face, my clothes, and my identity, seamlessly slipping into my place by my boyfriend’s side. For a time, my sister genuinely believed she had successfully replaced me, becoming the luckiest woman in the world. But what she didn’t know was… my boyfriend wasn’t just deeply, obsessively possessive of me. He was more ruthless and psychopathic than anyone could have ever imagined! 1 My soul hovers in the cold air, watching my twin sister, Scarlett, holding my phone. She’s on a FaceTime call with my boyfriend, Caleb Vance. I stare at the screen, at the man I’ve loved for years. Ever since he was revealed to be the long-lost heir of the multi-billion-dollar Vance empire, he’s been flying across the globe—learning the business, building connections. We’ve spent more time apart than together, keeping our love alive through a two-year long-distance relationship. “I just landed and went to your apartment, but you weren’t there,” Caleb says. “Why are you suddenly at your parents’ house?” His face is etched with exhaustion. He’s breathless, likely having rushed from the airport just to find me. He looks just as I remember—sharp features, deep, haunting eyes—but he’s grown more mature, more imposing. To the world, he is an apex predator, a hawk circling its prey. But to me, he was always the most gentle, devoted man. Scarlett hesitates, then lies, saying there was a family emergency and she had to stay at her parents’ for a couple of days. She had to be here. When Caleb went from a penniless orphan to the heir of the world’s wealthiest family, my sister’s envy curdled into pure, venomous jealousy. She conspired with our parents to erase me and step into my life. They kept me prisoner for six months. They tried to beat every detail of my relationship with Caleb out of me—my habits, my secrets, his likes and dislikes. At first, I cooperated just to stay alive. But when I realized they never intended to let me live—that they wanted me dead so Scarlett could wear my face permanently—I stopped talking. They have my passwords, but they don’t have the keypad code to my hidden rental apartment. Scarlett has nowhere else to go but our parents’ house. “Come downstairs,” Caleb says, his voice thick with a joy he can’t hide. “I’m at the front gate. I brought you those artisan donuts from that shop you love.” “I missed you so much,” he whispers. “I couldn’t wait another second.” Scarlett panics. She doesn’t even know what to wear. “Deep breaths,” our mother whispers, comforting her. “Don’t be nervous. You’re twins. You look identical, your voices are the same. You’ve been mimicking her diary for months. It’s been two years since they’ve seen each other in person. He’ll never know.” “Right, right!” Scarlett murmurs, convincing herself. She puts on my clothes and walks out with a mix of dread and anticipation. I follow her like a shadow. The moment she steps outside, there he is. Caleb. He’s thinner, but more magnetic than ever. He’s wearing a long black trench coat, one hand on a suitcase, the other holding a small pastry box. The moment he sees Scarlett, he breaks into that breathtaking smile that could captivate anyone. He sets the box down and opens his arms. “Hug?” It’s his signature move whenever we reunite. Caleb has always struggled with a deep lack of security. Every time we saw each other, I would hold him tight, stroke the back of his hair, and whisper, “I’m here. I’m always here.” Scarlett steps forward and wraps her arms around my boyfriend. “Get off him!” I scream. I absolutely refuse to let her touch him. My instinct is to run forward and rip them apart. But my hands pass straight through their bodies. I can do nothing. 2 I know he can’t hear me, but just as I’m about to break, Caleb suddenly pulls away. The smile on his face vanishes bit by bit. His eyes turn cold, clinical, as he studies her. “Wh-what is it?” Scarlett asks, her voice trembling slightly. The sudden shift in his demeanor makes her anxious. I see her hands clenching tightly at her sides. She clearly doesn’t understand the unspoken rhythm between me and Caleb. “Nothing.” Caleb’s eyes flicker with an unreadable emotion. The excitement of the reunion completely fades. He picks up the pastry box and hands it to her. “I went out of my way to get these from your favorite place.” Those donuts aren’t even that good. I only “loved” them because they were from the shop where he took me on our very first date. He knew that. He told me that as long as we were apart for more than three days, he would always bring them when we met. He called it the “start of our forever.” “Thank you,” Scarlett says, mimicking my sweetness as she obediently takes the box. “Thank you?” Caleb’s brow furrows even deeper. She doesn’t know. I was never this perfectly obedient in front of Caleb. And I never, ever said “thank you” to him for things like this. Scarlett’s grip on the box tightens. Caleb lets out a short, dry laugh. He reaches out and pats her shoulder. “It’s been two years. I just got off a flight, and you aren’t even going to invite me inside?” He has never asked to come inside this house. Because he knows exactly what this family means to me. Scarlett and I are twins, born twenty minutes apart. But the exact moment I was born, our grandmother passed away. My mother always believed my birth brought death into the house. To them, I was a mistake that shouldn’t exist. Since childhood, nobody loved me, and nobody cared about my feelings. If murder weren’t a crime, I probably would have died at their hands years ago. My ghost feels a surge of joy. Did Caleb notice something? “I-I’m just so happy I forgot my manners,” Scarlett says with a forced smile. She leads him inside, trying to hook her arm through his, but he subtly shifts, dodging her touch without making it obvious. 3 “Caleb! You’re here. Come in, sit down,” my mother greets him with a massive, plastic smile. “Scarlett, go make some tea.” Scarlett freezes for a second before realizing my mother used her real name instead of mine. She takes a few seconds to snap out of it, stammering a “yes” and rushing to the kitchen to prepare the good tea. “Where is Scarlett?” Caleb asks the moment he walks in, his eyes scanning the room. Nothing escapes his gaze. When we were together, he never mentioned my sister once. “Oh, Scarlett?” my mother chirps, her smile overly bright. “She’s studying abroad. Left a few days ago.” “Is that so? What a pity.” Caleb says it to her, but it sounds like he’s talking to himself. He looks thoughtfully at the tea Scarlett brings out. After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, he stands up to leave. “Caleb, aren’t you staying?” Scarlett asks, stepping in front of him, looking like a kicked puppy. “We finally have time together.” “I’m back for good now. We have all the time in the world.” He says it, grabs his suitcase, and walks out the door without looking back. “Mom, do you think he knows? He was so eager to see me, but then he just left,” Scarlett asks frantically the moment the door shuts, her heart pounding. “He’s probably just exhausted. Don’t overthink it.” My mother whispers, comforting her. “Look, he was looking for you the moment he walked in. That means he has a good impression of you. Even if he finds out you’re actually Scarlett one day, as long as he’s used to you, you’ll be the one by his side. We already sold Serena. How could she possibly come back and fight you for him?” They are my mother and my sister. Yet they locked me in a basement for half a year. They beat me, starved me, and dehydrated me. When I was no longer useful, they sold me to a human trafficker. The trafficker then smuggled me overseas. They were right about one thing. I could never come back and fight Scarlett for him. Because I refused to cooperate with their sick charade, they chopped off all four of my limbs. They cut off my nose, blinded my eyes, and poured mercury into my ears. I was stuffed into a ceramic jar, turned into a “human sculpture” for the sick amusement of paying customers. Even though my physical body wasn’t technically dead yet, the light had already left me. I think my obsession was just so impossibly deep that my soul separated from my body and drifted back home. Maybe once my physical body draws its last breath, my soul will finally vanish. 4 During the day, I fear the sun and hide in the shadows of the house. When the sun sets, I drift out to find Caleb. He is the only thing left of my heart. I have no time left; I just want to spend every passing second by his side. When I find him, he’s sitting in front of his office computer, gently rubbing his temples. “Mr. Vance,” his assistant says, knocking and walking in. “Did you find what I asked for?” Caleb doesn’t open his eyes. He’s exhausted, his voice soft, as if asking a casual question. “Yes. We checked everywhere. There is absolutely no record of Scarlett Miller leaving the country.” “So she just… vanished into thin air?” Caleb’s voice isn’t loud, but it’s so cold it makes the assistant shiver. “Since Serena visited her parents eight months ago, there has been zero trace of Scarlett.” “Eight months ago… Serena goes home…” Caleb finally opens his eyes. They are entirely bloodshot. I reach out, gently tracing the line of his cheek, my heart breaking for him. He seems to sense something. His head snaps violently in my direction. I’m so startled I yank my hand back. But it’s just my imagination. His gaze is unfocused; he’s looking at empty space. “Sir, do you think something happened to Scarlett?” “I’m not worried about her.” Caleb waves his hand, dismissing the assistant. In the massive, empty office, I hear his heavy sigh. “Serena… why do I feel like you’ve changed?” He suddenly remembers something, grabs his keys, and drives straight to the apartment I used to rent. I lived in that apartment for over three years. The keypad code is the year of his birth and the day he first confessed his love to me. This room has been empty for exactly eight months. The moment Caleb steps inside, his brows knit tightly together. The apartment is tidy, but you can tell the owner left in a hurry. Caleb slowly runs his finger across the dining table. It comes away coated in a thick layer of dust. Everything inside the refrigerator is rotten and spoiled, emitting a foul odor. Caleb covers the lower half of his face with his hand. A sudden, dark, guttural laugh tears from his throat. “‘There was a family emergency and I had to stay at my parents’ for a couple of days’?” He is teetering on the absolute edge of losing control. I want to reach out and hold him, to tell him I’m right here beside him. But right then, Caleb’s phone rings. It’s Scarlett. Like the start of many typical couple conversations, she asks what he’s doing. “Take a guess?” Caleb’s smile widens. He knows she doesn’t have the answer. “I’m waiting for you at our place.” 5 “Caleb…” Scarlett’s voice is low, trembling slightly. “You left in such a hurry, I forgot to tell you. I don’t live there anymore. I’ll drop you a pin with my new location.” Caleb doesn’t argue. He looks at the location she shares. “Pretty far out, isn’t it? Are you sure you can make the commute every day?” “But I like the peace and quiet. It’s… nice here,” Scarlett says, desperately trying to mimic my tone. I like the peace and quiet. That was a line Scarlett read in my diary. My current rental was quiet and remote, so she naturally assumed that was the reason I chose to live there. The truth was, I rented it because it was cheap. Back then, neither of us had any money. He was trying to save capital to start a business, and I wanted to save as much as I could for him. During that time, we were practically counting pennies. Combined with the insane rent prices near my office, a place like this was my only option. Later, when Caleb was recognized as the billionaire heir, he repeatedly urged me to find a place closer to the city center. But I didn’t want to spend his money. He had just entered that cutthroat family. He wasn’t used to it, and he had a dozen sets of eyes watching his every move. He was walking on thin ice. How could I make selfish demands at a time like that? I like the peace and quiet was just the excuse I used to reject his offer. Caleb didn’t push it. Because from that point on, we rarely got to see each other. I missed him terribly, but I never dared to interrupt his work. He was like a hawk; the vast, open sky was his ultimate destiny. I was willing to be the woman standing quietly behind him, supporting him forever! If only… My mood plummets. They say a few more things, but I don’t listen. When I look up again, Caleb has already hung up the phone. He takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, and starts cleaning the apartment. He cleans it meticulously. He even swaps out the sofa cushions for fresh ones. I watch him sitting exhaustedly on the sofa in the spotless room, my heart aching with a bitter sorrow. I don’t know what he’s clinging to, but I know he’s already started suspecting Scarlett. Scarlett severely underestimated our bond! She underestimated my place in Caleb’s heart. “Where are you? What exactly happened?” Caleb mutters to himself, letting out a heavy sigh into the empty air. “I’m right here. I’m right beside you.” I stand behind the sofa, reaching out to wrap my arms around his neck. Even though I can’t hold him, I just want to nuzzle my face into his hair. He grew up unable to trust anyone. He had zero sense of security. But the day we got together, he held my hand and looked at me dead in the eye. He said that from now on, I was his only safe harbor. I was the only person in the world he was willing to surrender his body and soul to. 6 Caleb treats this apartment as his actual home now. He doesn’t call Scarlett. He just has his assistant quietly dig up everything they can find about me and Scarlett. Scarlett is the one who loses her patience first. She went to all this trouble just to marry Caleb. Now that he’s finally back, he’s completely ignoring her. Caleb doesn’t reject her enthusiasm. He even actively invites her to go grocery shopping with him. Scarlett has memorized my diary backward and forward. She knows my preferences, and she knows some of his. I can see that when it comes to picking out food, she is extremely cautious. “Did you forget? I’m allergic to mangoes,” Caleb says, leaning over her from behind, pressing his hand over hers as she reaches for a mango. He whispers it right next to her ear. That seductive, magnetic voice makes even my ghostly, incorporeal heart race. Scarlett freezes. Mechanically, she puts the mango back on the shelf. Her cheeks flush red, and she lowers her head shyly. “How could I? I was just looking.” Heh. I was with Caleb for years. I didn’t even know he was allergic to mangoes. Every time we got mango shaved ice, he ate just as much of it as I did. Caleb narrows his eyes. He stands up straight, his voice instantly turning cold. “Let’s go. We’re going home.” Scarlett is clearly confused by his sudden shift in attitude. She freezes for a few seconds before quickly hurrying after him. “Caleb, where… where are we going?” she asks nervously, sitting in the passenger seat. “Home,” Caleb chuckles darkly. “What, did you forget the way to your own house?” “But… this isn’t the way home.” It’s not the way to her new rental. It’s the way to my old apartment. I know this road better than anyone. It isn’t a main road, but it never has traffic. Every time we came back from this specific supermarket, we always took this exact route by unspoken agreement. Caleb doesn’t answer. He expertly parks the car in my old spot, grabs the groceries, and heads toward the stairs. Scarlett finally recognizes the building. She researched everything about me, so naturally, she scouted this place. But I bet she only came here a handful of times. She clearly hasn’t memorized this maze of side streets and shortcuts. Caleb walks fast, completely ignoring the fact that Scarlett is wearing high heels, practically running behind him as she clicks frantically against the pavement. “Caleb, slow… slow down.” Scarlett is panting by the time she catches up to him outside the door of my rental. “My hands are full. You open it.” Caleb smiles earnestly, stepping aside to give her room. He genuinely looks like his hands are tied up. “Caleb.” Scarlett awkwardly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you forget? I don’t live here anymore.” Caleb looks like he just remembered, shrugging with a perfectly natural expression. “I forgot.” Scarlett doesn’t know him, but I do. The more he makes that face, the closer he is to a complete psychotic break. “The lease isn’t even up, and you already forgot the passcode?” Caleb’s smile widens, growing more terrifying by the second. “Did you get rich when you went back to your parents’ house?” Scarlett panics. Before she can explain, Caleb drops the groceries and gently, almost lovingly, takes her right hand. “It doesn’t matter if you forgot the code. Your fingerprint still works, right?” As he speaks, he slowly forces her hand toward the smart lock. Scarlett violently yanks her hand back, clutching it to her chest. “My… my right hand is injured. It hasn’t healed yet. The scanner probably won’t recognize my print.” Looking at Scarlett still trying to act her way out of this, I know she’s finished. Because that lock doesn’t even have a fingerprint scanner. Sure enough, upon hearing her excuse, that dark, guttural laugh rumbles from Caleb’s throat again. He rests a hand gently on Scarlett’s shoulder, his face a mask of pure tenderness. Then, his hand violently drops, grabbing her right arm and yanking her forcefully toward him. Scarlett watches in sheer terror as her fingers are fully exposed to Caleb. She tries to pull away, but his grip is ironclad. “Didn’t you say it was injured?” His voice is impossibly soft. But with his other hand, he pulls a pocketknife from his slacks and, without a second of hesitation, slices deeply across several of her fingers. “Now it looks like it’s injured.” Scarlett lets out a bloodcurdling scream, her face contorting in agony. Terrified out of her mind, the moment Caleb slightly loosens his grip, she doesn’t even care about her bleeding fingers. She turns to run. But Caleb grabs her by the hair, punching the passcode into the door, and practically drags her into the apartment. When it comes to anyone other than me, he has absolutely no concept of the word “gentleman.” “Wh-what are you doing?!” Scarlett slumps pathetically on the floor, staring in horror as Caleb lazily plays with the bloody pocketknife. “We only bought vegetables today. We didn’t buy any meat. Why don’t you… contribute some?” Caleb’s voice is so gentle it could melt snow, but he waves the blade menacingly in front of Scarlett’s face. 7 I always knew Caleb was a little unhinged. I met him when we were in middle school. He was just an orphan from the group home. Even though his grades were always top of the class, he was incredibly isolated. He always had this cold, unapproachable aura. One day after school, I watched a guy two grades above him corner him in an alley. The guy poked Caleb in the chest, calling him a motherless bastard, a stray mutt who didn’t deserve to live, and threatened to kill him one day. One second, Caleb was smiling at the guy. The next second, he kicked the guy so hard in the shin that his leg snapped. The guy collapsed. Before he could even scream for help, Caleb clamped a hand over his mouth. Aside from the initial yelp of pain, the bully couldn’t make another sound. “Shh,” Caleb whispered, the laughter in his throat growing darker. “Since your parents love you so much, let them spend some quality time with you in the hospital.” Wearing the gentlest smile while committing the most brutal acts. That was Caleb Vance. That was the first time I saw him fight. The second time was the year I graduated high school. Because of my parents’ extreme favoritism, I was desperate to escape that house. I scored incredibly high on my exams and was accepted into my dream university. But my parents not only demanded I marry some local thug immediately, but they also wanted my sister to steal my identity and go to university in my place. I fought them tooth and nail. My parents threatened me, saying even if I went to college, they wouldn’t give me a single cent, and threatened to disown me. But I had stopped caring about them a long time ago. Whether I took out loans or worked three jobs, I was going to finish my degree. I thought my persistence would earn me a future. I didn’t expect that the day after my massive blowout with my parents, I would be cornered in an alley by three thugs. They held a knife to my throat and ordered me to strip. When I refused, they slammed me against the wall, covered my mouth, and started tearing at my clothes. I shook my head frantically, making muffled noises of terror, but my limbs were pinned. I couldn’t move. Fear… despair… my mind went completely blank. I felt a sudden chill against my skin, and tears instantly flooded my eyes. I never asked for wealth or luxury. I just wanted to live a normal life. Why did it have to be this hard? Hands were groping all over me. I stared with wide, horrified eyes as one of the men eagerly started unbuckling his belt. I used every ounce of strength I had left to try and break free. But another man grabbed my hair and slammed my head violently against the brick wall. “You’re not happy marrying our boss? You shouldn’t have f*cking provoked us then! Let’s see if anyone wants you after we’re done making you our little bitch!” I didn’t even know what they were talking about. All I knew was that someone was smashing my head against the wall, over and over again. Dizzy, blinded by pain! The moment they let go, I collapsed to the ground. I thought I was going to die in that alley. But the pain didn’t continue. Instead, I heard the sounds of a brutal fight and agonizing screams! Blood was pouring down my forehead, gluing my eyes shut. I struggled to open them, and saw Caleb fighting the three thugs like a man possessed, wielding a heavy metal pipe. He had trained in martial arts. He swung the pipe down on one of the thugs, breaking the man’s arm with a sickening crack. He tossed the pipe aside, ignored their begging, and started beating them to a bloody pulp with his bare hands. “Caleb…” Looking at his bloodshot eyes, I was genuinely terrified he was going to kill them. I tried to stop him, but my voice was pitifully weak. But he heard it instantly. He sprinted over to me. I watched him take off his jacket and drape it over me. Before I could even clearly see his face, I lost consciousness. Caleb called the police. Even though the thugs ended up in the ICU, the police didn’t press charges against Caleb. From their confessions, we learned they had mistaken me for my sister. They were actually hired to force her into marrying their boss. My parents couldn’t bear to let my sister suffer, so they tried to use me as the sacrificial lamb! After that incident, I was mentally unstable for a long time. I was terrified of being touched. I was terrified of knives. My parents and my sister just called me dramatic. They said since nothing actually happened—and even if I had been raped, so what! I wasn’t missing an arm or a leg. They told me to stop making such a big deal out of it. “Is that really how you think?” I will never forget the look of utter heartbreak and rage on Caleb’s face that day. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of that house. From that day on, I never voluntarily spent another night in that house. In this world, the only person who could bring warmth to him was me. And the only person who could bring warmth to me was him!

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We agreed to an open marriage when I tied the knot with the heir of the Pierce family three years ago. We played by our own rules. At a business gala. Carter Pierce stared at my interlocked fingers with my new toyboy, his expression unreadable. “You seem busy, honey.” I scoffed, glancing at the two teary-eyed starlets flanking him. “Right back at you.” Then, a video titled “Mrs. Pierce Takes Toyboy Diamond Shopping” shot to the top of the trending topics. That night, Carter pinned me against the wall. “Playing for keeps this time?” I flashed the diamond ring. “Yeah. I think I’m ready to settle down.” 1 Carter’s birthday party was a lavish affair. Everyone who was anyone in New York’s elite circle was there. When I arrived, he was in the middle of a passionate kiss with a trending pop star. Someone noticed me, stood up, and called out, “Hey, Chloe.” Others quickly followed suit. I nodded in acknowledgment, long accustomed to Carter’s reckless behavior. “So you’re the famous Mrs. Pierce?” A girl wearing barely anything blocked my path, her tone laced with provocation. I looked at her face, which was a carbon copy of the starlet currently in Carter’s arms. “Twins?” Before she could speak, I walked straight past her to a single armchair near Carter and sat down. “You really know how to play.” Carter released the starlet, his long legs spread casually. With a relaxed, rebellious air, he pulled a cigarette from his case, held it between his lips, and lit it. “Why didn’t you bring your new catch?” Hearing Carter mention him. I couldn’t help the corners of my mouth curving up: “He has a tournament this month.” Carter found that smile deeply irritating and narrowed his eyes. I pulled a manila envelope from my bag, placed it on the table, and gave it a push. It slid to a stop right in front of him. “Happy Birthday.” He took the cigarette from his lips and stubbed it out, his voice utterly flat: “Is this because I’ve been getting close to Sienna these past two days?” Carter came from a powerful family, was ruthless in business, and had a sharp mind. He didn’t need to open the envelope to guess what was inside. Sienna was the younger of the twins, the one who had just been sitting on his lap. She was soft and fragile, like a delicate flower clinging to a tree. Since I arrived, she hadn’t said a word, just sat obediently beside Carter. Lighting his cigarette, handing him the ashtray. Sensible, never overstepping. Occasionally looking at him with big, watery eyes, perfectly designed to trigger a man’s protective instincts. He smiled, feigning nonchalance: “Sienna is a good girl. She won’t threaten your position.” I looked up, meeting his pitch-black eyes. “But you are threatening his.” The words hung in the air. A bottomless, freezing glint appeared in Carter’s eyes. “What did you just say?!” The once-lively VIP room was swiftly cleared out. Carter pulled out the divorce papers and tore them to shreds right in front of me. “Has no one ever told you that using this trick too often makes a man resent you?” He quickly reverted to his usual lazy, arrogant demeanor. “I don’t care who you have on the side, and you don’t manage my affairs. We keep playing by our own rules. When we need to put on a show for the parents, you give me a call.” He stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and prepared to leave. At the door, he turned back: “I won’t look into your guy, and you don’t cause trouble for Sienna. Her career is on the rise.” “Carter, I’m serious. If you don’t sign, I can’t get a marriage license with him.” The anger Carter had just suppressed flared up again. He grabbed the heavy crystal ashtray and hurled it at the floor. “Chloe, are you out of your fucking mind?!” I don’t have the best temper either. I grabbed a wine bottle and chucked it at him. He dodged it, walked over, and hoisted me over his shoulder in one swift, rough motion. At the door, he looked at Sienna, whose eyes were swollen from crying. “You go home first.” 2 Ever since I brought up the divorce, Carter hadn’t gone out partying for days. At a gathering with friends. I pulled my hand free from Carter’s grip. “I’m going to get some air.” Carter watched my retreating figure. Next to him, Julian Vance blew a smoke ring and raised an eyebrow. “I heard Chloe asked for a divorce?” Carter narrowed his long eyes. “Someone whispered some sweet nothings in her ear, and she got hot-headed and made a rash decision, that’s all.” He continued dismissively, “Even if she wants a divorce, the Quinn and Pierce families won’t agree so easily. It’s not as simple as she thinks.” Julian advised him, “You should probably dial it back lately. If Chloe is really dead set on a divorce, you’ll be the one crying.” “How many boyfriends has she had in the last three years? Have any of them lasted more than a month? This time is no different; the novelty just hasn’t worn off yet.” Carter firmly believed that no matter how much he messed around, I would never actually divorce him. At most, I was just throwing a tantrum. Julian looked concerned. “You should still rein it in. In the past, when Chloe threw a tantrum, it was at home. This time, it was public, in front of everyone. Haven’t you thought about why?” Carter’s gaze slowly darkened. 3 I stood on the terrace, leaning against the railing, looking out over the glittering Manhattan skyline. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist. “I didn’t see you get this mad when I was playing around with other women before. Sienna is just like the rest of them. Don’t take it to heart.” I sneered. If she were really like the rest of them, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to let me know. I loosened his tie and pulled out the jade pendant he was wearing. “Didn’t you say you hated wearing this kind of stuff?” For his birthday last year, I specifically went to a temple to get a blessed jade pendant for him, meant to ward off evil and bring peace. He said he didn’t like wearing it and told me to put it away safely at home. Carter’s fingers stiffened slightly. “It’s just a trinket little girls like. If you don’t like it, I won’t wear it.” I looked up at the moon. “Carter, I’m not throwing a tantrum. I really want a divorce.” He looked stunned, unable to believe it. “What exactly are you throwing a fit about?! I told you, you will always be Mrs. Pierce. Sienna won’t threaten your position, and I’ve even made time to be with you. You’re still hung up on the divorce thing, aren’t you?” He bit down on a cigarette and lit it, a hint of hostility between his brows. Carter was about to say something else when his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID, hesitated, and then answered. I don’t know what Sienna said, but the usually composed man showed a rare expression of panic: “I’ll be right there.” “Sienna fell down the stairs, I…” Sienna again. “Go ahead. I’ll drive myself back later.” “I’ll have the driver wait for you.” “No need.” With that, I turned and walked away. 4 On the drive back. At a red light, a car failed to brake and rear-ended me hard. With a loud crash, I instinctively raised my arms to protect my head. It took me a minute to recover. I opened my eyes, looked in the rearview mirror, and saw a man stumble out of the car behind me, reeking of alcohol and pointing at me. “Do you know how to fucking drive?!” I frowned, pulled out my phone, and started recording. “You’re driving under the influence?” “You’re the one under the influence! I’m not drunk.” “…” Seeing how wasted he was, I didn’t bother arguing. I called the traffic police and then dialed 911 for myself. If my guess was right, I probably had a mild concussion. After the police arrived and determined fault, I was taken to the hospital. The doctor examined me and said, “Mild concussion. We need to keep you for observation overnight.” A nurse handed me my phone. “I couldn’t reach your husband at first, and then he just started declining the calls. I called over a dozen times. I have to say, your husband has some nerve, not even worrying that something serious might have happened to you.” The nurse’s words felt like a knife twisting in my heart. I pretended not to care and took the phone. “It’s fine. I can handle it myself.” She wanted to say more but seemed to realize it wasn’t her place, so she just said “get some rest” and left. In the next bed was a young couple, giggling and playing around, completely oblivious to whether other patients were trying to rest. “Miss, didn’t your boyfriend come to stay with you?” The girl looked over, blinking her big eyes at me. I thought for a moment, then just before pulling the covers up, I said, “He’s dead.” The girl instantly felt terrible and stuck her tongue out. “I’m so sorry.” After that, she went back to messing around with her boyfriend. Chattering all night long. The next morning, after the doctor cleared me, I was discharged. The Pierce family estate. As soon as I walked in, I heard laughter coming from the living room. Carter’s parents were fussing over Sienna. Grace Pierce: “Sienna, your belly is truly a blessing. This is the eldest grandson of the Pierce family. You must take good care of yourself. Falling down the stairs like that can never happen again.” Sienna is pregnant? My hands, hanging by my sides, unconsciously clenched my clothes. Sienna was the first to see me. She called out “Chloe,” then quickly lowered her head. Carter looked over, his pitch-black eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions, including apology. Grace, who had long been dissatisfied with me—a daughter-in-law who hadn’t produced an heir in three years of marriage—took the opportunity to humiliate me: “Good timing, you’re back. I have something to tell you. You haven’t given the Pierce family a child in three years, and now Sienna is pregnant. She’s a hero to our family. I’ve decided she’ll stay here to rest during her pregnancy. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” “Not that it matters if you do. Considering how much your Quinn family has benefited from the Pierce family these past few years, you don’t have the right to object.” Carter interjected: “That’s enough!” Grace was actually quite intimidated by her son. She glared at me and shut her mouth. Sienna timidly tugged at his sleeve: “Mr. Pierce… please don’t argue because of me. I can just go home to rest.” Carter pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at her. Sienna obediently sat down. “Go back to the bedroom. I’ll give you a proper explanation.” He reached out to take my hand. I took a step back, leaving Carter’s hand hovering in mid-air. I said expressionlessly: “No need. Just sign the divorce papers. I don’t care who lives here.” Hearing that I wanted a divorce, Grace looked incredulous: “What did you say?! You want to divorce my son? Do you even know what you’re saying? If anyone brings up divorce, it should be us. It’s not your place!” I astutely noticed that when I said “divorce,” a glint of calculation flashed in Sienna’s eyes. It seems she wasn’t as innocent as she portrayed herself to be. “Enough, everyone shut up!” Carter forcefully grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the bedroom. He took off his jacket, sat on the sofa, and was silent for a moment before speaking: “I’m sorry about Sienna getting pregnant. After she has the baby, I’ll make her leave the Pierce estate. Your dad has always wanted that East Side development project. I’ll have my assistant sign the contract tomorrow.” Hearing Carter’s words, I couldn’t suppress my anger: “Are you trying to use a project to compensate me?! Carter, you always know exactly how to humiliate me.” Carter frowned slightly: “That’s not what I meant. I just want to do something.” “Then sign the divorce papers.” I was completely and utterly disappointed in this man. Carter kicked the coffee table: “Chloe, you’ve really got some nerve!” He had been spoiled since childhood, everything had always gone his way. Hearing me repeatedly bring up divorce, his tone became laced with anger. “What’s wrong with you lately? It’s not like this hasn’t happened before, so why are you making such a huge deal out of it just because it’s Sienna!” From last night until now, the rationality I had been forcing myself to maintain completely shattered. “Why?! Why didn’t you answer any of the dozen calls I made to you last night? Do you know I got rear-ended?! I was alone at the hospital getting scans! I had a mild concussion and still had to go to the police station to handle the accident report! Tell me why!” I felt so sick I couldn’t stand straight and swayed on my feet. Carter moved quickly to catch me, but I dodged him. Hearing this, his heart clenched: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I thought you…” I thought it wasn’t anything important. “I ended up in the hospital from a car crash, and you were keeping Sienna company. I’m tired. I just want a divorce!” Carter’s gaze fell on me, mixed with too many emotions. He pulled a cigarette from his case, lit it, and didn’t speak for a long time. He smoked one cigarette after another… After a long while, his hoarse voice broke the silence in the room: “Have you really decided to get a divorce?” I pulled out a spare copy of the divorce agreement and signed it with a flourish. “The fault in our marriage lies with your infidelity. I want 15% of Pierce Enterprise’s shares and two hundred million in cash.” Carter nodded: “Your post-marital income is more than two hundred million. I’ll have the lawyers prepare your share and transfer it to your name.” I packed my things. As I walked to the door, Carter suddenly asked: “Is that man good to you?” “Very good. He’s like you when we first started dating. His heart and eyes are full of only me.” Carter smiled: “That’s good.” We went downstairs together. As I was leaving, I heard Sienna’s happy laughter from behind: “Mr. Pierce, why aren’t you wearing the jade pendant I gave you? I went out of my way to get it blessed to keep you safe.”

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My sister-in-law spoiled her son with absolutely no bottom line. When I warned her that “spoiling a child is like killing a child,” she ran to my brother and complained that I was just jealous she had a son to carry on the family name. Sure enough, when her son grew up, he turned into a destructive delinquent. Yet, my sister-in-law was incredibly proud: “My boy is so masculine for his age! You guys are just jealous!” Terrified he would end up hurting someone else, I tried my best to discipline him. But my sister-in-law brainwashed him: “Your aunt has wanted to get rid of you since you were in my womb! If you want to torture someone, go torture her!” Later, I was pushed down a flight of stairs by that very child and died. When the police showed up, my entire family played dumb to cover for him. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. My sister-in-law was smugly bragging: “My son is so strong, he’ll definitely land a solid, iron-rice-bowl government job in the future.” I sneered. Mhm~ Well, how about a lifetime of three square meals in prison? Doesn’t get more ‘iron’ than that. 1 “Are you saying the deceased jumped off the building on her own accord? Did you see it with your own eyes?” “Yes, absolutely! My husband can vouch for it!” My sister-in-law, Chloe, was giving the police a firm, dead-certain answer while subtly shooting glances at my brother, David. David tore his gaze away from my bloody corpse and nodded dumbly. “Yes, we can all vouch for it. When my sister… jumped, my son was inside reading a book. He wasn’t at the scene.” The police officer turned to look at the twenty-year-old man being shielded by his grandparents. His height and build far exceeded his peers. He was heavily built, with a face full of well-fed fat, single eyelids, and a menacing stare. He had a buzz cut. This was David and Chloe’s only child, and my parents’ precious, deeply doted-upon only grandson—Tyler. Before the police could even ask a question, my parents shoved him behind them. They kept telling the police how well-behaved and obedient their grandson usually was. Instead, they slandered me, claiming I had a weird personality, saying I studied psychology so much I went crazy, and that I jumped off the building myself. The neighbors watching from the sidelines shook their heads and sighed, but no one dared to step forward and tell the truth. Finding no leads, the police eventually classified the case as an accidental fall. The day my body was brought back to the house, Tyler walked over. Seeing no one around, he raised his foot and kicked my stiff head sideways. “Dead bitch, haha. Mashed up your insides real good, what a rush!” “That’s what you get for not letting me play my games, for always telling me what to do!” He kicked and stomped on me until his father, David, saw him and rushed forward to stop him. Chloe also hurried over, pulling Tyler away, scolding him: “Touching a dead body? Aren’t you afraid of bad luck?” David straightened my head. “Sister, I’m sorry. I only have one son, I have no choice… Please don’t blame me, and don’t blame Mom and Dad.” 2 Dying with my eyes wide open, my spirit coldly watched the Thorne family cover for a murderer. They knew perfectly well how I died. My brother and sister-in-law wanted a son so badly they aborted two female fetuses. Their third pregnancy finally yielded a boy, whom they named Tyler. A grandson was incredibly precious in this household. From the moment he was born, Tyler became the family’s treasure. Under this intense spoiling, he learned at a very young age to throw tantrums and act out to get what he wanted. I couldn’t stand watching it and warned Chloe that “spoiling a child is like killing a child.” Chloe, who only had a middle school education, didn’t understand the depth of that phrase at all. She rolled her eyes at me, turned around, and buried her face in my brother’s chest, crying: “She’s so vicious! She actually wants to kill our only son!” “Your sister is just jealous that I gave you a boy! She’s afraid he’s going to get her share of the inheritance!” My parents also pointed fingers at me and scolded: “Can’t you ever wish for anything good? Why are you targeting your own nephew? How did we raise such a wicked daughter?” I was only a sophomore in high school then, and no one in the family cared about what I said. Every time Tyler caused trouble, not only did Chloe not discipline him, she clapped and cheered: “My boy is so manly! He’ll definitely land a great government job when he grows up! He’ll protect his mommy and daddy! Everyone else is just jealous!” Under the relentless spoiling and indulgence of my brother and his wife, Tyler started using violence to solve his problems. I was the only person in the family who would try to correct his mistakes. I went to college to study psychology, knowing full well that wrong parenting methods could ruin a child’s future. Because I didn’t cater to his whims, he frequently threw things at me, leaving me covered in bruises. My brother and sister-in-law never stepped in to correct him; behind closed doors, they even subtly encouraged him. “Using his aunt as a free punching bag for practice. That way, he won’t get bullied when he goes out into the real world!” Chloe calculatingly thought to herself. The year Tyler turned eighteen, the family scraped together every penny to send him to a low-tier private college after he barely scored 400 on his SATs. During his sophomore year, Tyler threw a lit firecracker into the desk of a low-income student in his class. The explosion blinded the student in one eye, leaving him permanently disabled. The family had to pay out two hundred thousand dollars in a settlement. Later, I accidentally discovered that he had started playing banned, incredibly violent and horrific video games, spending hours every day torturing virtual characters. I very seriously confiscated his games and gave him a furious scolding. He looked at me with pure hatred. My brother, sister-in-law, and parents all stepped in to defend him, saying it was in a man’s nature to love video games and that I was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. I didn’t want to meddle either, but watching my brother and his wife ruin Tyler with their toxic parenting meant he might go out into society and harm innocent people. Driven by my professional ethics as a psychologist and basic social responsibility, I couldn’t just stand by. During summer break, Tyler called me, saying he was being bullied and cornered by a group of thugs at an abandoned construction site. I thought he had messed with the wrong crowd. He was my nephew after all; I couldn’t just ignore him, so I rushed to the site. It was an abandoned concrete building on the edge of town, five stories high. When I climbed to the top floor, Tyler suddenly pushed me from behind. He stood on the roof watching me fall, his eyes filled with the thrill of revenge. In that moment, I was just like an NPC he tortured to death in his games. The first person to “discover” my fall was Chloe. After pushing me, Tyler calmly called his mother: “Mom, didn’t you say she wanted to kill me since she was in the womb? Well, I killed her first!” 3 I never expected to wake up again. My phone was ringing constantly. I answered it instinctively. Tyler’s voice came through: “Aunt Maya, I’m cornered by some thugs over by the old concrete building. They’re going to beat me up. Can you come save me?” My blood ran cold. I quickly glanced at the time on my computer—I had actually been reborn back to the exact day I was pushed off the building! Through the phone, Tyler’s voice continued. I suppressed my towering hatred: “Okay, I’ll be right there to save you.” “I’ll wait for you!” Tyler’s plea for help carried an eerie excitement. In my past life, I hadn’t picked up on it at all. Experiencing it a second time, there was no way I was going to let him get away with it! Hanging up the phone, I immediately went to the kitchen and said to Chloe, who was making chicken soup for her son: “Chloe, Tyler says he’s cornered by some people at the concrete building. You need to go check on him, quick.” “What happened? Who dares hurt my son? I’ll kill them!” Upon hearing this, Chloe hurriedly untied her apron. The sun was blazing outside. Before she left, I specifically said: “Chloe, the sun is so strong. You should wear my sun protection jacket. The one that cost sixty bucks. Haven’t you been wanting to try it?” A few years ago, my brother and sister-in-law had to pay out hundreds of thousands to clean up the mess their “good son” made. Now, Chloe’s life was very tight financially. Every time she saw me wearing nice clothes, she would specifically ask how much they cost. Hearing they were sixty or seventy dollars, she would mutter about me wasting money while unavoidably reaching out to feel the fabric. She wished I would dedicate all my money to her husband and son. In her eyes, as an unmarried sister, I should be supporting my brother’s family. Reborn, I saw right through her intentions. Sure enough, hearing the jacket was expensive, she immediately turned back. Muttering that I was finally being sensible, she put on the sun protection jacket I usually wore. I watched her hurry out the door and sneered. If Tyler accidentally pushed his own mother off a building, that would just be karma for the two of them! You reap what you sow; go taste the fruits of your own labor! In this life, I respect this family’s destiny and will absolutely not meddle! Less than half an hour later, a neighbor, Jimmy, ran over from the edge of the neighborhood, yelling: “Bad news! Something happened at the concrete building! Someone fell!” I feigned panic and hurried to the concrete building with a light step. I saw blood seeping from a pile of sand at the base of the building, with a person lying on top of it. I stepped closer, and my pupils dilated in shock! What was going on? The person pushed off the building turned out to be… her? 4 Lying on the sand pile was a teenage girl. Her clothes were covered in blood and dirt, and there was a brutal, disfiguring scar over her right eye. My heart sank. How could this be? Why was she the one who fell? In my past life, I landed directly on the hard concrete and died instantly from ruptured organs, beyond saving. This girl was luckier than me. She landed on the sand pile, the soft sand breaking her fall and saving her life. “Look at her pants. She was probably… you know.” A harsh male voice came from the crowd. I couldn’t find the source, but his comment made me notice that the girl’s pants were pulled halfway down, and there was fresh blood on them. A chill ran down my spine. Had she been assaulted before she fell? I climbed up the sand pile, took off my jacket, and covered her lower half, afraid to move her rashly in case of broken bones. The girl’s eyes were still staring blankly. I didn’t know what I could do for her, so I just raised my hand, gently supported her forehead, and whispered: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” Following her line of sight, I scanned the roof. There was no sign of Tyler, and Chloe was nowhere to be found either. 5 Police cars and ambulances soon arrived. When the paramedics loaded the girl into the ambulance, I followed. The attending doctor asked me while performing emergency first aid: “What’s the victim’s name?” “Lily.” She was the low-income student whose eye Tyler had ruined with a firecracker a year ago. I didn’t know why she was in that building, or why she was pushed off in my place, ending up covered in blood! After waiting outside the ER for three hours, the attending doctor finally came out: “Are you a relative?” “I’m her sister,” I blurted out. The doctor sighed: “Your sister suffered head trauma and ten fractures across her body. She’s out of immediate danger after emergency surgery, but there’s a high probability she will fall into a vegetative state, a coma.” I was thankful she was still alive and asked urgently: “And the blood on her pants?” “I know what you’re worried about. Don’t panic. That blood was from her menstrual cycle. There are no signs of sexual assault on her body.” The doctor looked thoughtful. “If there were, there might be DNA evidence, which could actually help us find the perpetrator. Now that she’s in a coma and can’t testify, finding the culprit will be very difficult.” Just then, a middle-aged man reeking of alcohol barged in, demanding to see his daughter. I instantly recognized him as Lily’s stepfather, Gary. Years ago, when my brother and his wife paid the settlement for Lily’s eye, I looked into her family background. Her mother had remarried this alcoholic and passed away early from illness. Lily was left living with her stepfather, barely scraping by, unable to even afford basic menstrual products. After paying the two hundred thousand dollar settlement, the court also ordered my brother and his wife to pay Lily five hundred dollars a month for living expenses. That was the only reason Tyler didn’t go to jail. Doing the math, it was the beginning of the month, exactly when Tyler was supposed to give Lily the money. Gary, seeing his daughter severely injured and comatose, immediately asked the doctor how much money he could get. The doctor told him the perpetrator was still under investigation and Lily’s medical bills needed to be paid. Hearing that he not only wouldn’t get any money but had to pay the hospital, Gary immediately used his drunkenness as an excuse to leave, grumbling: “She’s not even my flesh and blood, why should I care if she lives or dies!” I asked the doctor what the chances were of Lily waking up. “Given her family’s financial situation, the hospital can only use cheaper medications to maintain her basic vitals, so the chances of her waking up are low. There’s a new drug available overseas specifically for this kind of condition. If we use that new drug, there’s a chance she could wake up within six months,” the doctor said, looking troubled. “But as you saw, her father absolutely cannot afford this.” “Use the new drug on Lily,” I said. “I’ll cover all the medical expenses.” The doctor kindly reminded me: “I must inform you, her medical bills will be roughly ten thousand dollars a month. That’s not a small amount. You should think it over carefully.” “This expense is nothing to me,” I said firmly. “I want Lily to wake up and personally send the person who hurt her to prison.” The attending doctor looked at me. He pulled down his mask, revealing a handsome, youthful face: “Alright, I will pay special attention to this patient. My name is Dr. Evans, Julian Evans.” I smiled faintly: “Hello, Dr. Evans. My name is Maya, Maya Thorne. Hoping for a miracle.” “Please keep the fact that Lily might wake up a secret, Dr. Evans.” Julian didn’t ask too many questions and solemnly agreed. I transferred twenty thousand dollars to the hospital’s account in one lump sum to cover Lily’s medical bills. On the drive home, I thought about a lot of things. I didn’t know if what happened to Lily today was a butterfly effect caused by my rebirth. Because I escaped, did she become the victim in my place? There was that possibility, but I wasn’t stupid enough to blame myself for Lily’s injuries. The real culprit was someone else. As soon as I reached the front door, I heard Tyler and his mom talking: “I didn’t think she’d actually fall! Falling from that high up, blood really does splatter everywhere, just like in the game!” Chloe grabbed Tyler, confirming: “Are you sure you didn’t touch her?” “I didn’t. Her pants were covered in period blood, who would touch that? I thought it was gross! She came looking for me today to get that five hundred bucks. I saw her pants were dirty, so I pulled them down from behind. She got scared, screamed, lost her footing, and fell.” Chloe said self-righteously: “Then she fell on her own! It has nothing to do with us! Not even knowing how to use a pad, this girl isn’t just blind from the firecracker, she must be brain-damaged too, right?” 6 The mother and son seemed to find this hilarious, so much so that when I appeared at the door, they jumped: “When did you get back?” “Just now.” I remained composed, looking at Tyler, who was being shielded by Chloe. “Didn’t you say someone was bullying you? Your mom went over to sort it out for you?” Chloe looked a bit guilty meeting my gaze: “S-sorted it out!” Tyler yelled at me: “I asked you to come save me! Why did you send my mom?!” I sneered: “Your mom is still alive, why should I be the one looking after you?” Chloe got defensive: “Maya, what kind of way is that to speak?” I glanced at her: “Chloe, where’s my sun protection jacket?” Chloe froze for a second: “It’s gone. When I went to save Tyler, it got snatched by those thugs. It’s just a jacket, right? Are you really going to make a fuss over it? I’ll just pay you back!” “Great. That jacket was sixty bucks. Venmo me.” Seeing I was serious, Chloe immediately slapped her thigh and started wailing: “We’re family, and you’re nickel-and-diming me? I’m going to tell your brother tonight and let him see what a stingy bitch his sister is!” Her tantrum brought my mom out. Hearing what happened, my mom first anxiously checked if her precious grandson was hurt, then scolded me for being obsessed with money and making a fuss over a jacket with Chloe! “You have money and a good job now, you should be thinking about helping your brother’s family! You need to focus on your brother buying a house! And Tyler is taking the civil service exam soon. He’s the hope of our family. You need to find a way to get him a position at your agency! Otherwise, you’re just ungrateful!” These words might have worked on me in my past life. Now, listening to her spew this garbage, I really wanted to slap her across the face! But I didn’t show it. I just glanced at Tyler and noticed his watch was missing. “Tyler, where’s your watch?” Tyler immediately covered his wrist: “None of your business!” I casually mentioned: “Tyler, didn’t you say you were at the concrete building? A girl fell off that building. I went to take a look, and it seemed to be your classmate. Didn’t you see anything?” Tyler and his mom exchanged a glance. He rolled his eyes at me brazenly: “I don’t know what you’re barking about! Mom! Didn’t you say you made chicken soup for me? Where is it? I want it right now to calm my nerves!” Chloe and my mom immediately hurried to the kitchen to get the chicken soup. He just pushed someone off a building, leaving them covered in blood, and now he’s in the mood for chicken soup? I coldly stared at Tyler’s back. If I don’t send him to prison to suffer, I would be doing a disservice to my tragic death in my past life! 7 After drinking the soup, Tyler sat in the living room playing his violent video games. My dad, woken up from his nap, came out and said nicely: “Tyler, your exam is only a few months away. We can’t waste time. Why don’t you read a book for a bit and play games later tonight, okay?” Tyler stared intently at the screen, not even glancing at my dad. My dad walked in front of the screen, blocking his view. “Go read a book…” Before he could finish, Tyler threw the game controller right at his grandfather’s forehead. With a dull thud, it instantly drew blood. My dad clutched his forehead in pain, but he couldn’t bear to scold his precious grandson. Instead, he directed his anger at me, sitting on the sofa playing on my phone: “Didn’t you see your father bleeding? Hurry up and get a Band-Aid! Tyler is your nephew! As his aunt, shouldn’t you discipline him?” Discipline? In my past life, I really did put effort into disciplining him, and what did I get in return? Tyler throwing various objects at me, leaving me covered in bruises. Being hit by a game controller was nothing. Once, when I was urging him to do his homework, he threw a vase at me. The shattered pieces cut my cheek, almost leaving a scar. Yet no one in the family stood up to reprimand Tyler. At the dinner table, they even made passive-aggressive comments about how I lacked boundaries and shouldn’t provoke their precious boy. I still remember what my dad said at the time: “Tyler is your nephew. As an elder, you should be tolerant and unconditionally yield to him! That’s the grace and refinement someone highly educated like you should have! Even if your face is scarred, it doesn’t matter. You’re not using your face to seduce men, so what are you afraid of?” In this life, now that the controller hit his head, he finally knows what pain is. I smiled and said to my dad: “Dad, Tyler is your precious grandson. As an elder, you should be tolerant and yield to him. Being hit and bleeding by him is your honor!” I slammed my bedroom door, shutting out their cursing, happy for the peace and quiet. My MMA coach texted me on my phone, saying training could start tonight. After being reborn, I spent a thousand bucks to sign up for a crash course in kickboxing. I had taken some boxing classes in college, so I had a bit of a foundation. Talking back feels good, but against evil people, fighting violence with violence is also a valid strategy!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422565”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I was reborn the day before my best friend burned down my apartment. She had a fight with her boyfriend and wanted to crash at my place for a couple of days. Little did I know, the very next day, while I was out grocery shopping, she set my apartment on fire. She walked away without a scratch, leaving me buried in millions of dollars of debt. On the exact day I finally paid off the last cent of that debt, I was hit by a car and killed instantly. 1 I opened my eyes and immediately saw my apartment, perfectly intact and not yet reduced to charcoal. I pinched my arm hard. It hurt. This wasn’t a dream. I checked the calendar on my phone. It was exactly the day before the fire. Since God gave me a second chance at life, I was going to make sure I lived it well this time. The custom ringtone for my best friend, Chloe, had been ringing for ten straight minutes before I finally answered. If I didn’t pick up, she was fully capable of just showing up at my door, and I absolutely could not let her in. “Maya, Liam wants to break up with me. He told me to move out of his place,” my “best friend” Chloe whined and cried through the phone. Hearing her voice brought back memories of my past life. Back then, afraid she’d be left on the street, I let her stay at my place temporarily. The first day, she seemed perfectly fine. The second day, she went completely psychotic, locked herself in my apartment, and burned the whole place down with her inside. From then on, my life consisted only of endless suffering and insurmountable debt. “Chloe, do you have any money on you?” I asked, feigning anxiety. In reality, I knew she had given her debit card to her boyfriend; she barely had a dime. “I don’t. And I don’t have my ID either. Can I crash at your place for a bit?” She cried, sounding wronged and a little resentful. “What? He took your ID too? No way, we have to call the police. He’s getting worse and worse,” I gasped. Letting her stay with me was absolutely out of the question. “Don’t! He’ll hit me,” Chloe said, her voice trembling with fear. “Don’t worry, the police will protect you. Besides, without an ID, you can’t even check into a hotel,” I said, pretending to be distressed. “Can I just stay at your place? Just for two days. I’ll make up with Liam, I promise.” She asked again. Absolutely not. I wasn’t about to spend decades of this life paying off debt again. Thank goodness Chloe still thought I was just renting this apartment. “Chloe, my landlord explicitly said I can’t have guests over. Let me think of something else,” I politely declined. “Can’t you just ask him to make an exception? I really have nowhere else to go.” She was still whimpering. I hung up on her immediately, dialed 911, and tearfully told the dispatcher that my best friend was being held against her will by her boyfriend and that he had confiscated her ID. After giving them her address, I put my phone on airplane mode, ready to start my new life. I quickly texted my manager to request ten days of PTO, packed my bags, and prepared for an impromptu vacation. I asked my friendly neighbor, Sarah, to keep an eye out for me. If anyone came looking, she was to say I was away on a business trip. It pays to be on good terms with your neighbors; Sarah smiled and readily agreed. As for where I was going, I hadn’t decided yet. I figured I’d just head to the airport and buy a ticket to wherever. But one thing was certain: I was absolutely not turning off airplane mode today. 2 It was a beautiful spring day, the ocean breeze was gentle, and life was good. I was wearing a swimsuit and sunglasses, lounging on a beach chair in Miami, soaking up the sun and enjoying life. I had been scrolling through the news all day, but unfortunately, there was no sign of Chloe. Ring, ring. My custom ringtone went off. Given the time, shouldn’t she be engulfed in flames by now? The persistent ringing caught the attention of the guy in sunglasses lounging on the chair next to me. Being slightly introverted, I quickly hit answer. “Maya Thorne, didn’t I tell you not to call the cops?!” Chloe’s voice was borderline hysterical. “Chloe, I did it for your own good. Why don’t you understand?” I took a sip of coconut water, letting my voice sound hurt. “Do you know you ruined Liam?! He said he wanted to break up. Because of you, Liam broke up with me! Just wait, I’m coming to find you right now.” I could hear wind in the background on Chloe’s end; she was probably on the road. “As your absolute best friend, what’s the big deal if I stay at your place for two days? Did you have to make such a huge scene…” She was still screaming into the wind, but I didn’t care. I hung up the phone and blocked her number. It would be a miracle if she could find me today. The guy in sunglasses next to me was still looking at me. I offered him a slight smile and gave him a quick once-over. He wasn’t bad looking—a handsome guy with shoulders as broad as a refrigerator. Looking down a bit… ahem, getting a little carried away. In my past life, I hadn’t even touched a man. Talk about a raw deal. Maybe in this life, I could test the waters. But before I could test any waters, my neighbor Sarah texted me some juicy gossip. Today, Chloe first went to my office looking for me. The receptionist told her I wasn’t there. She threw a massive fit, and the security guards literally had to throw her out. Then she went to my apartment. After knocking for ages with no answer, she called a locksmith. Just as the locksmith was about to pick the lock, Sarah, who had just returned from shopping, saw them and demanded to know why they were breaking into someone else’s apartment. Chloe said she couldn’t reach me and was afraid something had happened to me inside. Sarah told her I was on a business trip and told her to leave. Chloe refused to believe it and insisted on picking the lock. Sarah lost her temper and called the cops, reporting a break-in. The locksmith realized it wasn’t Chloe’s apartment, cursed his bad luck, and bailed with his tools. And Chloe got treated to another free ride in a police cruiser. What happened next is anyone’s guess. I thanked Sarah profusely. She said it was no problem, just to keep an eye out for a good guy to set her up with. I was grinding my teeth in anger. Chloe was truly psychotic; she never considered the consequences of her actions. I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if she had successfully gotten into my apartment today. Would she have burned it down just like in my past life? Our family backgrounds were worlds apart. She grew up wealthy, the apple of her family’s eye, never knowing hardship. I was raised by my grandmother, who picked up recycling to make ends meet. After my younger brother was born, my parents left to find work out of state and never even came back for the holidays. My grandma was uneducated, but she wanted me to study hard, leave our poor, rural town, and see the world. As a top student, I got a full ride to a prestigious private high school, complete with a scholarship. Meeting Chloe was an accident. During our sophomore year, she was being bullied by some mean girls. Seeing her crying her eyes out, I couldn’t just walk by. I stepped in and helped her. From then on, I gained a nickname: Chloe’s shadow. Chloe always told me I was her best friend and that I shouldn’t listen to what others said about us. Aside from studying, all I did was try to make money. Whenever I felt miserable and helpless, Chloe would keep me company and carefully talk me through it. At that time, I truly saw her as my one and only best friend in life. In college, Chloe started dating Liam. When her parents objected, she went on a hunger strike. Eventually, for some unknown reason, her parents begrudgingly accepted him and even bought her a condo. Liam was a punk. He never took college seriously, constantly got into fights, and skipped class to party. I tried to warn her multiple times that Liam was bad news. She turned right around and told Liam that I said he was a bad person. I had wanted to give up on our friendship for a long time, but Chloe was incredibly clingy. She’d call and text me every day, saying it wasn’t safe for me to be alone and that she worried about me. I didn’t have many friends; she was the person I interacted with the most. Except for her absolute blindness when it came to Liam, she wasn’t terrible to me, so our friendship maintained this lukewarm status quo. As for her new condo, to give Liam “face,” she secretly stole her birth certificate, eloped with him, and gifted the condo to him. Now, only Liam’s name was on the deed. Regarding Chloe’s toxic codependency, I knew I couldn’t talk her out of it, and I didn’t want to try anymore. Laying on the plush hotel bed, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. I needed to figure out how to stay far, far away from Chloe, that ticking time bomb, once I got back. 3 Because my PTO was last-minute, my tasks couldn’t easily be reassigned. By the fifth day, my manager called me back to work. The struggle of corporate life—who else gets it? Before boarding my flight, I texted Chloe’s parents about everything that had happened with her recently, asking them to talk some sense into her. I absolutely could not let that psycho come to my office and harass me. In my past life, the fire didn’t just claim my apartment and Chloe’s life; it also damaged the neighboring units. Millions of dollars in damages all fell on my shoulders. Chloe’s parents didn’t help me pay a single cent. They insisted it was impossible for Chloe to have committed suicide. They claimed it must have been an accidental fire in my apartment and that Chloe couldn’t escape in time. Their daughter was perfectly fine; why would she want to die? It had to be my fault. I took her in out of the goodness of my heart, and in the end, it was my fault? In this life, I decided that family could stay the hell away from me. I needed to live a good life. Half a month after returning to work, I saw Chloe and Liam at the main entrance right after I clocked out. “Maya, long time no see! It was my fault last time,” Chloe said with a bright smile, stepping forward to link arms with me, acting like we were the best of friends. “Liam and I are here to apologize today. Let’s get dinner?” I glanced at Liam, who was forcing a smile. This guy was a master manipulator; I couldn’t afford to mess with him. “Chloe, I was impulsive last time, but you were at fault too. You said Liam took your ID, and I panicked…” As I said this with a wronged expression, Liam’s face instantly darkened, looking incredibly dangerous. Dinner tonight? Dinner my foot. It was 90% likely a trap. I wasn’t going. “Ah, I didn’t explain clearly last time. But how did you just happen to be on a business trip?” Chloe gripped my arm tightly, her nails digging in. “It was a company assignment,” I said, feigning regret. “Chloe, it’s really bad timing. Our company has a team-building dinner tonight. I’ll treat you guys next time.” I quickly pulled my arm out of her grip and grabbed the nearest person standing idly by the entrance. “Maya, is this a guy… Are you seeing someone?” Chloe looked shocked, glaring viciously at the arm I was holding. “How can you be seeing someone?” I looked up. Yep, it was a guy. I was so focused on grabbing a sleeve that I didn’t even check the gender. Does this guy not have a job? Why is he wearing a pink dress shirt? But this arm… nice muscle tone. More importantly, who the hell had I grabbed? I didn’t even know him. Whatever. Escaping these two plagues was the priority. “A good friend from work. We’re heading out now. I’ll treat you next time,” I said, dragging the guy away like a pack of rabid dogs was chasing me. Chloe stomped her foot in frustration and got into her car with a stony-faced Liam. Only when I saw them drive away did I let out a sigh of relief and quickly pull my hand back. “What, use me and lose me?” the man’s gentle voice carried a hint of amusement. “Uh, sorry about that. If it’s meant to be, I’ll buy you dinner sometime. I gotta run,” I said, not waiting for him to reply before slipping away. “It’s fine. I’ll make sure you get that chance,” the man murmured. I ran too fast and didn’t catch his last sentence. Not that it mattered anyway. I was pretty shaken up today. I didn’t dare risk Chloe, that psycho, waiting for me at my apartment complex. I checked into a hotel near my office to rest. 4 Chloe and Liam were a match made in hell. Liam manipulated her, and she loved every second of it. In the middle of the night, I was woken up by my phone ringing. It was an unknown number. I declined it, but they called right back. Calling repeatedly in the middle of the night? They must be crazy. I just turned my phone off to avoid any risks. The next day, as soon as I turned my phone on, Chloe’s mom called. “Mrs. Vance, what’s wrong?” I answered. “Maya, what is going on with you and Chloe? She said she went to find you, but you wouldn’t open the door. Then, some wicked person called the cops and got her thrown in jail.” The woman on the other end sounded full of resentment. Who else could have called the cops but my beautiful, kind-hearted neighbor, Sarah? Chloe really never learned her lesson. Did she not know there were security cameras in the hallway? “Mrs. Vance, I was working on a proposal last night. A last-minute deadline. I didn’t go home,” I explained in a low, wronged voice, while secretly gloating. “Then why didn’t you answer when she called you? Your phone was off! Liam had to go bail her out himself!” Mrs. Vance was imposing. So the middle-of-the-night calls were from Chloe. Thank god I turned my phone off; who wants their sleep disturbed? And if her daughter gets in trouble, who else is supposed to bail her out but her husband? “Mrs. Vance, please talk some sense into Chloe and Liam. Tell them not to fight so much. It’s not good for a marriage,” I said earnestly. Then I hung up. So annoying. Chloe’s mom was still a bit prideful; she didn’t call back. The little butterfly effect I created was causing a storm. Unable to handle my distance, Chloe started ambushing me at my office. Thankfully, I had given the security guard a heads-up. If he saw her at the entrance, he’d call me. I didn’t know how she had so much free time. After graduating, we rarely saw each other, mostly just texting. Now, she was staking out my office two or three times a week. To avoid her, I had to work late every day, sometimes even sleeping in the little breakroom attached to my boss’s office. I remembered that Chloe’s family company had business ties with mine. In my past life, it was because of pressure from her parents that I was forced to resign. In this life, Chloe was too busy trying to catch me to think about setting fires, but I couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t do something else extreme. If I didn’t want to get burned, I had to solve the problem at the source and completely cut ties with her. And I definitely didn’t want to go through being forced to resign again. After a lot of mental debate, I knocked on my manager’s door. “Come in,” a mature female voice said, carrying a hint of coldness. “Ms. Yang, I… I’d like to submit my resignation.” I finally mustered the courage to say it. “Maya, you’re a very reliable employee. Why the sudden…” My manager, Ms. Yang, twirled a fancy pen in her hand, her sharp gaze fixed on me. “My parents both fell ill at the same time. I need to go home and take care of them.” I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. You never took care of me; let me just use you as an excuse this one time. “I just submitted a request to upper management for you to be my deputy. It’s a shame you’re leaving now.” Sigh. In my past life, that deputy position didn’t go to me anyway. The Vance family just pulled some strings and put their own person in. I never had a chance. “Ms. Yang, I want to spend more time with my parents,” I declined politely. The position wouldn’t be mine in the end, regardless. “That’s true. Older folks need company,” Ms. Yang said slowly. “Approved. Go write your resignation letter, and I’ll sign it.” I didn’t expect my boss to be so accommodating. Employees who resigned under her had often been yelled at until they cried. I was pretty lucky. After spending a week handing over my projects, I submitted my formal resignation to Ms. Yang. “Alright. Tonight, the team is taking you out for a farewell dinner. My treat,” Ms. Yang said after signing the paper and handing it back. “I’ll handle HR for you. Go home and focus on taking care of your parents.” “I couldn’t possibly ask you to pay,” I said. To sign it so easily and then offer to pay for dinner out of her own pocket? I didn’t realize the usually strict Ms. Yang was such a softie. “It’s fine. I had security kick your ‘friend’ out today, so you can just walk right out the front door this afternoon,” Ms. Yang smiled slyly. She had everything under control. 5 Things don’t always go as planned. While we were at karaoke after dinner, Chloe yanked open the door to our private room, her expression somewhat contorted. “Maya, long time no see. Why haven’t you been answering my texts lately? I was so worried about you.” She reigned in her emotions, stepped forward, and linked her arm with mine, sounding overly affectionate. “Your company is so nice, always doing team-building events.” “Let’s talk outside.” I signaled my colleague, who had paused singing, to continue, and pulled Chloe out of the room. I led her to the busy main lobby and sat down on a sofa. Chloe immediately started in. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been hiding from me lately. Did I do something wrong? You never go home either, and that tigress next door keeps calling the cops on me,” Chloe complained, her voice full of grievance. Didn’t you deserve to have the cops called on you? I was just trying to avoid inheriting millions in debt. I had already prepared my excuse for when she eventually tracked me down. “Chloe, my parents are sick. We need a lot of money. I’ve been working overtime on proposals. I’m exhausted.” I rubbed my temples, looking incredibly drained. When money is brought up, even the closest friendships lose their appeal. “Didn’t you say they never cared about you?” Chloe deflected, making sure not to touch the topic of money. “Why don’t you just ignore them?” “They’re my biological parents. I can’t just ignore them. Chloe, could you maybe lend me thirty thousand dollars for an emergency?” I pleaded, using a placating tone. “All my money is with Liam. Can you stop being so blindly loyal to them?” Chloe rubbed her nose naturally—her telltale sign that she was lying. “Chloe, do you just not want to help me?” I lowered my eyes. “No, it’s not that. How about this: a friend of mine is hiring waitstaff at a nightclub. Do you want to apply?” Chloe actually offered me this “great” idea. “I’m not working at a place like that. Didn’t you say we were best friends? Chloe, you won’t help me?” I raised an eyebrow, letting a bit of anger show. If she could manipulate me, I could do it right back. “Well… Liam is getting off work soon. I have to go home. Maya, I’ll try to think of something else regarding your parents,” Chloe said, grabbing her Chanel bag and leaving without a second glance. If I recall correctly, that bag alone cost more than thirty thousand dollars. So this is why she was being so stingy. Years ago, her parents had blamed me for her mistakes to avoid paying damages. Today, by asking for thirty grand, I ensured she wouldn’t bother me again. Nice. But Chloe… what you owe me from our past life is worth far more than just money. Once Chloe was gone, I went to the front desk to settle the bill. I couldn’t let Ms. Yang pay for this. The dinner earlier had already cost her over a thousand dollars. “Did you get rid of your friend?” a colleague asked, her face flushed from drinking. “Yeah, she’s gone. Let’s have a good time,” I smiled faintly. Thirty thousand dollars to buy my way out of that friendship? What a steal. After making sure everyone got home safe, I bowed deeply to Ms. Yang, thanking her for her help. “Family is the most important thing. Don’t leave any regrets,” Ms. Yang said before getting into a cab. This chapter was finally closed. After quitting, the next problem was my apartment. I definitely couldn’t live there anymore. I decided to find a big, muscular guy to rent it to. Chloe was terrified of guys like that. I posted the listing, and the very next day, a guy who called himself “Tough Guy” added me on WhatsApp. I tapped his profile picture. Hmm, nice biceps. Me: [Interested in renting?] Tough Guy: [I just wanted to ask, is your place haunted?] Me: [?] Tough Guy: [It’s 30% cheaper than other places in the same building, and the hard requirement is that the tenant has to be a tall, muscular man. You can’t blame a guy for overthinking.] Me: [So, are you renting? There’s a bonus.] Me: [My neighbor is a beautiful, single woman.] Tough Guy: [Perfect, I’m single too. I’ll rent it even if it’s haunted. I’ll come over later to sign the lease.] Wow. Was this guy really just thinking with his lower half? Tsk, tsk. He arrived quickly. He was wearing a t-shirt, had a full sleeve tattoo on his left arm, and was ripped. He didn’t look like someone you’d want to mess with. He’d definitely be able to handle Chloe. While we were talking in the hallway, Sarah, my neighbor, opened her door, gripping a baseball bat. Seeing us chatting happily, she gave an awkward smile and closed the door. “That girl is cute. Mind if I take a look at the place?” Tough Guy was a man of few words and quick action. He looked around and immediately signed a one-year lease. He even gave me an extra eight hundred bucks to make up for the discounted rent. Such a straightforward guy, with muscles like that—he could definitely keep my apartment safe. After signing the lease, I took him to meet the property manager and explained the real reason for the cheap rent. He didn’t care at all, waving it off as no big deal. He even carried my luggage down and walked me out of the complex. Chloe didn’t change numbers to harass me for the next few days. However, I did get an unknown WhatsApp message transferring thirty thousand dollars to me. I asked who it was, but the message bounced back. The person had blocked me right after sending the money? I checked the transfer details. The last letter of the name was ‘m’. I didn’t know anyone whose name ended in ‘m’. Was this a scam? I blocked the account immediately. As long as I didn’t accept the transfer, the money would automatically be returned in 24 hours. No problem. 6 Now I had two choices: go back to the country and stay with my grandma, or move to a different city and find a new job. The allure of the city was too strong. Young people should hustle, not just settle down. Naturally, I chose to stay in a city. For the next few days, I was busy sending resumes to over a dozen companies in the neighboring city, completely forgetting about Chloe. A few days later, an unknown number kept trying to add me on WhatsApp. I thought it was an interview invite, so I accepted. [Maya, are you really hiding from me? [I went to your place but couldn’t find you. Your company said you quit. [I got ten thousand from Liam. Do you still need it?] A barrage of questions hit me. I didn’t even have to guess; it was Chloe. I don’t know how she got so many different WhatsApp and phone numbers. [Unemployed. Sold a kidney to get the money. Don’t need it, thanks.] One sentence to answer all her questions. Chloe’s focus was always different from normal people’s. [Where do you sell kidneys for that much?] [Chloe, is your family’s company hiring? Can I come on as a planning supervisor? It’s a small favor, you can help me with that, right?] Seriously. She barely stopped bothering me, and now she’s starting again. [Maya, what are you talking about? I’m just a low-level clerk. How could I just hire a supervisor?] Her reply was quick. I guess she forgot the time she threw a massive tantrum, threatening suicide, just to force her family to hire Liam as a supervisor? [Chloe, you won’t even do this little favor for me?] I sent a crying emoji. [Wash your face and go to bed. You can have anything in your dreams.] After sending that, Chloe stopped replying. This was the “best friend” who promised she’d get me a job at her family’s company if I couldn’t find one? Good thing I never took her seriously. But using her own toxic magic against her? That felt really good. The companies I applied to replied quickly. I eventually decided to interview at a small-to-medium-sized company that offered room and board and had strict dorm security. I had checked beforehand; this new company had no business ties with Chloe’s family, so I didn’t have to worry about being forced out again. The interview went smoothly. HR asked me to start the next day and told me to spend the afternoon setting up my dorm room. The dorm was close to the office, and there were two security guards with batons stationed outside. The security was indeed good. HR informed me that, aside from internal employees, no guests were allowed in the dorms. That rule alone would stop Chloe from trying to crash at my place. My new life was officially beginning. 7 Similar roles in the same industry don’t vary much. I quickly integrated into my new job. Amidst the busy schedule, my neighbor Sarah, whom I hadn’t spoken to in a while, sent me a ten-minute video. The video had a lot going on, and Sarah even thoughtfully edited it and added text commentary for me. Chloe had brought Liam to my old apartment and knocked on the door. Tough Guy answered. Chloe looked Tough Guy up and down and said my tastes were extreme, that she didn’t expect me to like guys like him. Hearing that, Liam’s face turned black as thunder. Tough Guy told them to get lost, saying it was his apartment and to stop making a scene. Chloe didn’t believe him and tried to force her way in. Tough Guy just grabbed her by her ponytail and dragged her out into the hallway, ignoring her as she banged on the door. The video then fast-forwarded. The police arrived. Chloe had called them. The police sure visited my place a lot these past few months. Chloe claimed Tough Guy had broken into my apartment and that she thought I was being held hostage, demanding the police rescue me. Tough Guy opened the door, handed the lease agreement to the police, and then Chloe and Liam got a stern lecture from the officers in the hallway before slinking away. Even through the video, I could feel the police officers’ exhaustion. Every time, they were called out for some petty nonsense. Sarah also complimented the Tough Guy next door, saying he was very manly and that she wanted to ask him out. I replied: Go out more often, use your charms on him. Sarah replied with an “OK” emoji. At the new company, the colleagues were very friendly. I started from the bottom, soaking up new knowledge like a sponge, and my coworkers were happy to help. See, Chloe? I’m doing so much better without you. Unable to find me, Chloe somehow managed to get my parents’ phone number. She called them, asking what illness they had and if they were cured. That phone call almost gave my heartless parents a heart attack. My mom called me and cursed me out for a solid hour, without stopping to take a breath. I turned the volume all the way down, focused on my planning documents, and offered a noncommittal “uh-huh” every now and then. Seeming to sense my indifference, she actually cursed me to die alone and childless. I replied, Don’t curse yourselves, I’m your flesh and blood. The other end finally went quiet, and she hung up. Seriously. You ignored me my whole life, and the one time I use you as a tiny excuse, you can’t wait to call and scream at me? All they care about is their precious son. If I hadn’t moved my residency registration when I went to college, I’d be stuck as a modern-day Cinderella, sacrificing everything for my brother. In my past life, when they found out my house burned down, their first question wasn’t if I was okay. They asked when I bought the house and why I didn’t put it in my brother’s name. They said if it was in his name, they would have hired a lawyer and sued Chloe’s family for every penny they were worth. If the property was in my name, any compensation would just go to me and my future husband, and “a married daughter is like spilled water”—they’d never see a dime of it. They even told me not to commit suicide. They told me to pay off the debt first before doing anything rash, so I wouldn’t drag them down. What a joke of a family. If I didn’t look somewhat like them, I’d seriously think I was adopted.

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I spent twenty-five years completing a quest for Arthur Sterling, and he finally proposed. On our wedding day, his “One That Got Away” crashed the ceremony. “Arthur, you won! I’m divorcing him. Don’t marry her…” I begged Arthur not to go, but he left anyway. “Quest failed. The target will now be terminated.” The next second, Arthur died in the arms of his first love. 01 Before the wedding, I asked Arthur a question as a joke: “If Seraphina showed up today and asked you to leave with her, would you go?” Arthur touched my hair with a faint, unreadable smile. “Don’t worry. She won’t come.” That answer sounded more like he was convincing himself than me. I didn’t stop. “But what if she actually did?” A flicker of hope flashed across his face for a split second, but he quickly masked it with his usual gentle tone. “Don’t be silly, Clara. Stop overthinking.” He knew that every time he softened his voice, I would surrender. But this time, I didn’t stay quiet. “Arthur, I’m begging you. No matter what happens today, can we just finish the ceremony? Please.” Arthur’s brow furrowed. “Clara, enough. Seraphina is married. She isn’t coming to crash a wedding. Get it through your head.” 02 I didn’t want to be this pathetic. I just wanted to live. I am a “Task-Taker.” My first mission was to win over Arthur Sterling and get him to marry me. The task wasn’t actually that hard. It didn’t even require him to love me—it just required us to be legally married before he turned thirty. To complete this, I transmigrated into this world when Arthur was five. Back then, he wasn’t the powerful CEO he is now. He was just the son of a live-in housekeeper, living in the basement of the Vance estate. To stay close to him, I had the System arrange for me to be the daughter of another servant. I grew up with him. I walked through the awkwardness of puberty by his side. We met at 5:00 AM every morning to study, pushing and encouraging each other. We both wore twenty-dollar sneakers and shared one-dollar hot dogs from the street corner. We were poor, but we weren’t insecure. Because we were each other’s backbone. At twenty, we were both accepted into the best university in the country with top scores. On the day we got our acceptance letters, the sun was hanging low on the horizon. The golden hour glowed over the campus track. Arthur turned red and finally took my hand. “Clara, I’m so glad you’re in my world.” 03 Back then, I was glad too. I thought my target was a fearless, loyal boy. Until Seraphina Vance came back from abroad. Everything changed. Seraphina’s father donated a building to our university, and she became our classmate overnight. She was radiant, loud, and free—the ultimate “it-girl.” Among the crowd of boys who fell for her, Arthur was the only one who didn’t look. So, on her first day, Seraphina decided to hunt him. If Arthur was ice, Seraphina was a wildfire. She was determined to melt him. At first, Arthur hated her. He saw her as a spoiled brat who knew nothing of the real world. He told her many times that he loved me, that I was the anchor of his life. But Seraphina didn’t care about rules. She was like a stubborn little heifer, slowly plowing her way into Arthur’s heart. 04 Every day, Seraphina brainwashed Arthur, telling him that what he felt for me was just “friendship.” “You and Clara are just a habit,” she’d say. “That childhood sweetheart stuff is just comfort. Real love is a craving, a fire, a disaster.” “When you two hold hands, it’s probably like your left hand holding your right.” I tried to stop it. But after a decade of companionship, our chemistry was so natural that it lacked the “spark” Seraphina kept talking about. The more I tried to prove her wrong, the more I seemed to prove her right. Arthur and I were both too afraid to break the status quo. Finally, Seraphina forced his hand. At the university’s anniversary gala, she grabbed a guy who had just confessed to her and kissed him right in front of Arthur. That night, the volcano in Arthur finally erupted. I saw him pin Seraphina against a wall in the shadows, desperately devouring her lips. Seraphina got what she wanted. Arthur and I went back to being “just friends.” 05 Later, Seraphina brought Arthur home to the Vance estate. That was the first time I saw the refined Mr. Vance lose his temper. It was also the first time I saw insecurity in Arthur’s eyes. Mr. Vance’s disapproval didn’t pull them apart; it made them cling tighter. So, Mr. Vance cut off Seraphina’s trust fund. In just one month, Arthur’s life savings from his part-time jobs were gone. He borrowed money from me several times. He even did something he never did before: he asked his mother for nearly three thousand dollars. You have to understand, we had been supporting ourselves on scholarships since high school. His mother called me in secret, asking if Arthur was in trouble. I could only lie and say he was starting a tech business and needed capital. In reality, I knew that entire “war fund” was spent because Seraphina wanted a vintage Chanel bag. When they finally broke up, it was ugly. Seraphina couldn’t understand why Arthur gave her such an attitude over an eight-thousand-dollar pair of heels. After all, she used to wear eighteen-thousand-dollar ones. Arthur grit his teeth and said nothing. I knew that he didn’t stop loving her; he just felt he wasn’t “worthy” of owning her anymore. 06 Five years ago, the Vance family’s empire began to sink. But Arthur’s tech startup was beginning to shine. The Vances put out word that they were looking for a strategic marriage alliance. Arthur went there with high hopes, only to be slapped by reality again. Even as a sinking ship, the Vance family was still higher than Arthur could reach. In the end, Seraphina married the second son of the Blackwell family—an old-money dynasty. Arthur started drinking every night. He lived like a hollow shell of a man. I handled the mess at his company during the day and picked him up from bars at night. Every time he was drunk, his face flushed, I would remember the boy under the sunset. It hurt. Back then, he must have truly thought we were enough. 07 Two months before Arthur’s thirtieth birthday. I had given up on the quest. News broke that Seraphina and the Blackwell heir were having a messy divorce. I said goodbye to my mother, planning to travel the world. But Arthur dropped to one knee and proposed to me. After so many years of waiting, getting what I wanted should have made me happy. But I couldn’t tell anymore if I was happy to live, or happy to be with him. Before the wedding, I asked him again and again if he really wanted to marry me. He was always certain. Except when I asked about Seraphina. He couldn’t even manage a lie then. But I didn’t care anymore. As long as the wedding happened, my task was complete. 08 Throughout the ceremony, my heart was in my throat, terrified of a glitch. Arthur was also distracted, as if he were waiting for something. Finally, during the exchange of rings, Seraphina appeared. It was like the butcher’s knife finally falling. I felt a strange sense of relief. “Arthur, you won! I’m leaving him. Don’t get married…” To stay alive, I made one last move. I grabbed the edge of Arthur’s sleeve. “Arthur, please don’t go. Remember what you promised me?” I was so close. Just a few more minutes and I would have lived. Arthur looked at me with an apologetic face, but he brushed my hand away and walked toward his obsession. “I’m sorry, Clara.” “The truth is, I only agreed to this wedding because Seraphina said she wasn’t worthy of me now that she’s a divorcee. I wanted to spite her…” “I thought if I was also a ‘second-timer,’ she wouldn’t feel so insecure.” “I thought about it, and you were the only friend I could ask for a favor this big…” I looked coldly at the man who had been my world for twenty-five years. I didn’t want to say another word. “System, I forfeit the quest.” System: [Are you sure?] “Confirmed.” System: [Quest failed. The target will now be terminated.] Me: “?” Arthur: “Wait—” 09 The moment the System’s notification rang in my head, my mind went blank. Before I could even process it, Arthur’s eyes lost focus. He collapsed right into Seraphina’s arms. Seraphina didn’t realize he was dead yet. She hugged him like a peacock that had won its mate, her voice full of triumph: “Arthur, I knew it. I knew if I turned around, you’d be right here waiting.” She leaned in to kiss him. Her dark eyes looked straight past Arthur at me—full of disdain and provocation. I knew she was smug. In her mind, Arthur was her dog, and I was Arthur’s. For years, she had looked down on me with a natural sense of superiority. But Seraphina, you’re kissing a corpse… 10 At that moment, the only table of guests—Arthur’s “friends”—started whistling and cheering. Some even popped confetti cannons. Bang! Bang! Arthur had probably anticipated the crash, and because Seraphina was still legally married, he had only invited a few close confidants. People who knew all about their messy history. I hadn’t invited my mother. I was afraid something would go wrong, and I didn’t want her to see me die at my own wedding. The only person I invited was my lawyer. He was currently holding his phone, recording this “touching” scene. My original plan was that if the quest failed and I died on stage, my lawyer would immediately leak the footage to the media. I even had the headline ready: “Married Socialite Crashes Wedding; Groom and Mistress Team Up to Kill Bride with Heartbreak.” But I didn’t expect… Arthur to be the one who died! 11 Seraphina kissed him for a long time before she finally noticed the grey, deathly pallor on Arthur’s face. Panic seized her. She pushed him away instinctively. Thud! Arthur fell back stiffly, his head hitting the marble floor of the hotel with a sickening crack. Blood began to pool around him… The System’s cold voice rang out again: [Now he’s definitely dead.] As soon as the words fell, I saw Arthur’s soul slowly drift out of his body. He looked at the corpse on the floor in utter disbelief… And then at Seraphina, who was currently bent over, projectile vomiting in horror. 12 Chaos erupted. Someone called 911, and someone else started CPR on Arthur. I stood there in my wedding dress, calm as a statue, standing by Arthur’s body. Arthur’s ghost floated near me. Seeing that I wasn’t shedding a single tear, his face turned livid. “Clara, I’m dying, and you won’t even cry?” He let out a cold scoff. “Twenty-five years, and your feelings are this cheap? When I wake up, we are through. Not even friends.” I continued to act as if I couldn’t see or hear him. I just sat there, expressionless. Meanwhile, Seraphina finally stopped vomiting and caught her breath. Tears began to stream down her face, one by one. She looked like a broken doll. Seeing her cry, Arthur’s angry expression softened instantly. He murmured, “Seraphina must be devastated…” “If I’m gone, how will she survive?” 13 Ring! Ring! An abrasive ringtone pierced the air. Seraphina’s hand was shaking as she answered the phone. A powerful male voice drifted from the speaker: “I thought we were doing the divorce papers? I’m at the courthouse…” Seraphina’s pale face flashed with panic. She took a few steps away from the crowd. Arthur froze. His ghost reflexively reached out to grab her hand. He grabbed thin air. Seraphina suppressed her sobs and whispered into the phone, “Victor, I’m sorry! I don’t want the divorce anymore…” “The divorce thing was just to make you jealous. I wanted to see if you cared.” Arthur, hearing this, stared at the woman he worshiped like a god. How could those words come out of her mouth? No, she must have a reason. She’s being forced, he thought. He tried to stop her as she walked away, but he passed through her body over and over again. “Seraphina, please don’t go. Look at me… I’m dying…” When he couldn’t stop her, he tried to follow her out of the building, but an invisible barrier blocked him. Arthur’s soul was tethered to me! In the end, he could only watch as Seraphina fled the hotel in a hurry. 14 The hotel Arthur chose was quite remote. It took the ambulance twenty minutes to arrive. When Arthur’s body was loaded into the ambulance, his “friends” immediately made excuses about urgent business and refused to go to the hospital. “Hey, Chloe, call us if you need anything at the hospital. We’re all brothers here.” That was Arthur’s “best friend.” When I didn’t respond, he sheepishly closed the ambulance doors. On the way to the hospital, Arthur’s soul sat silently in the corner. I suppose even he didn’t expect his loyal band of brothers to be so cold-hearted. I closed my eyes and summoned the System in my head. “System, why was it Arthur who got terminated?” “The System’s name is: Blame Others, Not Yourself.” “You worked hard for 25 years and couldn’t win him over. That’s clearly his fault. So, we delete the problem.” I grit my teeth. “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?” System: “You didn’t ask.” “Your name is very accurate…” 15 At the hospital, after a series of failed resuscitation attempts, Arthur was pronounced dead. His soul was still trying to climb back into his body. He screamed, he cried, he threw a tantrum for a long time before he finally accepted the reality of his death. I took the body to the funeral home. I sent out the obituaries to a few close contacts, notifying them of the funeral tomorrow. After finishing the arrangements, I called my mother. “Mom, I want to visit Mrs. Sterling today. Are you coming?” My mom sounded confused. “It’s only the 10th. You usually go on the 15th.” Arthur’s ghost froze. “Clara, you visit my mom every month?” I stayed silent for a moment. “Mom, there’s something I need to tell you. Get ready… Arthur is dead.”

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I won a $50 million lottery jackpot, and I begged my best friend not to tell my family. She smiled and promised she wouldn’t, but the second I turned my back, she told my older brother. My brother demanded I give him the money to buy a house and get a wife. When I refused, my family emotionally blackmailed me and used a live stream to whip up a cyberbullying mob against me. They locked me in a room, starved me to death, and then bricked my body into the walls of their newly built house. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day the winning numbers were drawn. My best friend smiled at me and asked, “Harper, did you win?” 01 Madison walked toward me, holding her lottery ticket. I narrowed my eyes at her. In my past life, we had been out shopping when I suggested we buy a couple of lottery tickets just for fun. I never expected to actually win the $50 million Mega Millions jackpot. At the time, we were just about to graduate college. My family had cut off all my financial support after I started school, and I was stressing over how to afford rent. That money was a literal lifesaver. After claiming the prize and paying taxes, I donated a portion, leaving me with about $35 million. Because Madison was my best friend, I even gave her $2 million. I begged her over and over not to pick up my brother’s calls and absolutely not to tell my family. She promised she wouldn’t. But when my brother called me at work demanding money and I told him I was broke, she blurted out: “Harper won $50 million! She even donated 5 million of it. She has plenty of money!” When my brother heard that, his eyes turned bloodshot. He choked me, threatening to kill me if I didn’t give him $35 million to buy a luxury house and a wife. I told him all my money was locked in long-term certificates of deposit and couldn’t be withdrawn. But he kept showing up constantly, harassing me and threatening me to go to the bank. I finally quit my job and fled out of state. But my family started doing live streams, crying to the internet that I was an ungrateful, unfilial daughter who struck it rich and abandoned her family. They played the victims perfectly, winning the internet’s sympathy. Their followers doxxed my address. They sent me funeral wreaths. They Photoshopped my face onto obituaries. They mailed me dolls covered in fake blood. My family eventually tracked me down and physically forced me to transfer all the money to my brother. And after they got what they wanted, they locked me in a house and starved me to death. Ultimately, my brother bought a mansion in the city and married Madison. With my money, the two of them lived a life of absolute luxury. Meanwhile, my parents tore down our old family home to build a new one, and my corpse was bricked directly into the foundation walls. I would never be found. So, in my past life, Madison did it on purpose. And in this life, I am going to make every single one of them pay the ultimate price! 02 Watching her walk closer, I pretended to be busy packing my luggage. “The odds are one in a billion. How could I possibly win?” She stopped and stared at me intensely for a few seconds. “Oh, really?” I finished packing my things, looked up, and met her eyes directly. “Yeah.” “Then where’s your ticket? You haven’t taken it out.” I had forgotten. In my past life, it was Madison who dragged me over, dug the ticket out of my bag, and checked the numbers one by one. When we realized I won, she looked even more excited than I was. But her smile vanished almost immediately, replaced by a dark murmur: “I’m so jealous. I wish I had picked that ticket.” It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to walk into that gas station. We both just asked for random Quick Picks. When the clerk handed the tickets over, Madison grabbed hers first. She specifically picked the one with an ‘8’ in the sequence, telling me it was a lucky number. Then she shoved the other ticket into my hand. In my past life, I had laughed and said that if I won five bucks to cover the cost of the ticket, I’d be happy. Neither of us expected it to be the $50 million jackpot. I think… the moment Madison’s smile vanished in my past life, the moment she realized I had the winning ticket, was the exact moment she started plotting against me. How could she possibly be satisfied with just the $2 million I gave her? In her eyes, she was only one choice away from holding that ticket herself. Therefore, she believed all that money rightfully belonged to her. So, facing her interrogation now… I generously pointed toward the door. “I threw it in the dumpster outside. Do you want to go dig it out and check?” 03 Madison didn’t go. The next day, we packed up our dorm to go our separate ways. In my past life, because I won the jackpot, Madison insisted we live together. Thinking it would be nice to have my best friend around, I generously rented a massive luxury apartment and paid a full year’s rent upfront for both of us. But this time, facing her invitation to room together… I rejected it outright. “I found a cheap hostel. It’s only $50 a night, and I can pay day-by-day. Do you want to come?” Madison shot me a suspicious look. “Harper, why do I feel like you’ve been acting weird since yesterday? Did you actually win the lottery?” My heart skipped a beat. Then, I laughed out loud. “If I won the lottery, would I be miserable enough to live in a $50 hostel? But since you brought it up, want to go buy another ticket? Who knows, maybe it’ll change our destiny!” Madison gave an awkward, strained laugh and linked her arm through mine. “Oh, stop. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… you never showed me the numbers, so I feel like I don’t have closure.” “Stop overthinking it. Your family is local, right? Why would you even need to rent a place?” Madison leaned her head on my shoulder. “Because I want to live with you, duh.” I sneered internally: You just want to stick around to find out if I actually won. But I didn’t call out her hypocrisy. Instead, I pulled out my phone and called my older brother, Jackson. “Hey, Jackson. My college roommate actually has a huge crush on you.” “Yeah, Madison! The one you met before. But don’t tell her I told you. She’s super shy.” 04 Using the hostel as a cover, I went completely incognito to claim my prize. This time, I donated $10 million to charity. After taxes, I had exactly $30 million left in my bank account. I split the money into several different bank accounts for security. Then, I deliberately flaked on signing the employment contract for the job I had lined up, and started preparing my applications for grad school. But to my surprise, Madison still tracked me down. “Harper, I heard from the professor that you broke your employment contract. Why?” I was sitting in the hostel lounge, reading a textbook. I answered her casually, “I just decided I want to go to grad school.” “Are you sure you didn’t win the lottery and decide to retire?” I put the book down. “Look at my family. Do you really think I can afford to retire?” “Right. Has your brother been harassing you lately?” In my past life, Madison knew my family situation better than anyone. She knew I had wildly sexist parents who favored boys, and a useless, deadbeat brother who leeched off them and fully intended to leech off me. And yet, while constantly telling me how “sorry” she felt for me, she pushed me directly into the fire. I shook my head, grabbed Madison’s hand, and patted it. “My brother changed! He got a job at a massive tech company in Silicon Valley. I heard his starting salary is like $150k a year, and he has tons of girls chasing him.” Madison gasped, clearly not believing it. I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. She scrolled through. Jackson’s Instagram feed was suddenly full of photos of him working in a sleek office, and pictures of him posing next to a luxury car. I watched as she tapped to enlarge the car photo. I leaned in. “What kind of car is that? I don’t recognize the logo.” Madison pursed her lips. “That’s a Porsche. It costs over a hundred grand.” I quickly snatched the phone back. “That’s terrifying! If his salary is only $150k, how can he afford a car that expensive?” Madison looked thoughtful. “Do you think he suddenly came into some money?” Then she turned her head, looking at me with a faint, probing smile. “Harper, I saw a banner outside the gas station where we bought our tickets. It said someone won the $50 million jackpot. Who do you think it was?” I picked my book back up and chuckled. “How should I know? Hundreds of people buy tickets there every day.” But Madison suddenly leaned in close, making my skin crawl. “Harper, I went to the gas station. I asked the owner for the physical description of the winner.” My heart gave a violent jolt. Did she actually figure it out? 05 “Harper, what are you so afraid of?” Madison stared at me, a fake, chilling smile on her face. Maybe the trauma of my past life—giving her $2 million only for her to orchestrate my brutal murder—was too fresh. The memory of being slowly starved to death, the pure despair and helplessness, made my whole body tremble. For a split second, I genuinely thought she had been reborn alongside me. Otherwise, why was she so obsessively fixated on whether I won or not? I could have just taken my money and vanished, but then… what about them? They wouldn’t face any punishment. They wouldn’t get their karma. That wasn’t fair. I was going to take every ounce of agony I suffered and return it to them tenfold! Thinking of this, I stood up and looked her dead in the eye. “Madison, honestly… I lied to you.” In my past life, I begged her not to tell my family, and she betrayed me, leading to my agonizing death. This time, not only was I going to tell her, but I was going to redirect the target entirely. “Are you saying your brother took the money?” I nodded. I watched as Madison’s face cycled through a spectrum of colors. “He threatened me not to tell anyone, not even my parents. But you’re my best friend. I couldn’t bear to lie to you.” “But your brother’s credit is ruined. How could he even open a bank account to deposit it?” Madison was suspicious. She pretended to comfort me, but I saw the unmistakable glint of pure greed flashing in her eyes. “That’s the other secret. The money… is actually in my bank account.” “WHAT?!” Madison shrieked, losing her composure. There were too many people in the hostel lounge looking at us, so I pulled her out onto the balcony. I watched her expression morph into pure, giddy excitement. “Harper, we’re best friends forever, right?” I didn’t call out her disgusting hypocrisy. I just pretended to look heartbroken. “Of course! I was even thinking earlier, if I actually had access to the money, I would definitely give you 2 million dollars!” Madison looked at me with wild expectation. She probably didn’t even realize she was gripping my hand so hard it actually hurt. Just as she was at the peak of her excitement, I delivered the fatal blow: “But my brother took the debit card. You know what he’s like. He’s a deadbeat. If he has all that money, he’s just going to blow it all.” I faked a heavy sigh. Madison, breaking from her usual sympathetic act, asked urgently: “Can I look at his Instagram again?” I nodded and handed the phone over. She looked at it, quickly memorized Jackson’s username, and then practically ran out of the hostel. Her next move was glaringly obvious: she was going to seduce my brother. Which was exactly what I wanted. I dialed a number. “Mom, my classmate gave me some extra money. I’m transferring it to you. Give it to Jackson. We can’t let the only son in our family suffer, right?” 06 Madison didn’t contact me for the next few days, but I could tell from her social media that she and Jackson were definitely hitting it off. That night, Jackson showed up at my hostel. I secretly turned on my phone’s camera to record. Before I even got close, he raised his hand to slap me. I dodged it effortlessly. “Jackson, what are you doing?” “You little bitch, I’m out of cash!” I had previously advised him that chasing a rich city girl required spending big money. But where was that money going to come from? Predatory payday loans, obviously. I even generously provided him with a list of shady websites that approved loans instantly with just an ID. But given his atrocious credit score, he couldn’t borrow much. So if he wanted to keep playing the rich billionaire for Madison, he desperately needed more cash. “But I don’t have any money either!” I made my voice sound as pitiful and weak as possible. “If you don’t have money, go sell yourself! You’re in your twenties, you could make a fortune! Are you still a virgin?” My blood boiled. I wanted nothing more than to slap him across his smug face, but I held it back. “Jackson, how could you say something like that?!” He took a step forward and tried to drag me away. But there were people walking around, and Jackson didn’t dare cause a massive scene. I shook off his hand. “Fine, I’ll send you the $500 Madison just transferred to me.” “She gave you money?” Jackson narrowed his eyes at me. He was aggressively average-looking, but he was tall. Since we were kids, while I was malnourished, my parents stuffed him with the best food, so he grew into a towering, intimidating brute. I opened my banking app and transferred the money. “Madison is really nice. She helps me out financially all the time.” As he turned to leave, I called out to him and shoved a business card into his hand. “Jackson, there’s a contact on here. You can borrow $10,000, and the daily interest is only $10!” Jackson’s eyes lit up. He scoffed at me and walked away. 07 Madison asked me to go shopping for clothes. It was only then I remembered our college reunion was coming up. She was absolutely glowing. I smiled. Good. The fish took the bait. I walked over. “Madison, your skin looks amazing lately.” “Oh, really? It’s probably just the glow of being in a happy relationship.” I feigned shock. “You’re dating someone?! Since when?” Madison smiled mysteriously. “I’m going to announce it at the reunion! It’ll be a massive surprise! Now hurry up and help me pick out an outfit.” Watching her walk ahead, I sneered. Madison, the real show is just getting started. In my past life, after I claimed the jackpot, she dragged me to ultra-high-end luxury boutiques, telling me I had suffered for so long and deserved to treat myself. Following her advice, I bought a $1,500 pair of shoes, a $4,000 dress, and an $8,000 designer handbag. But that shopping spree ended up costing me my life. When Jackson came to extort me for money and started digging through my things, she conveniently blurted out: “Careful! Don’t ruin Harper’s $8,000 bag!” Jackson took the bag and immediately pawned it for cash. That was how they realized I could afford an $8,000 bag. She had been digging my grave from the very beginning. So this time, I deliberately took her to a high-end designer store and encouraged her to try things on. Clothes really do make the person. I relentlessly praised how incredible she looked, but when she checked the price tag—$8,000—she visibly flinched. It actually hurt her to look at it. I pretended to look devastated. “If only I had money. I would swipe my card and buy this for my best friend without blinking an eye.” “Never mind, Madison. Let’s just go to the outlet mall downtown.” Hearing the words “outlet mall,” Madison frowned in disgust. Seeing her still hesitating, I put on a pathetic face and turned to the sales associate. “Excuse me, this dress…” Before I could finish, Madison interrupted me loudly: “I’ll take it.” “Madison! You…” She patted my hand dismissively. I knew exactly what she was thinking. It was pure, unadulterated vanity. After all, you have to spend money to make money, right? I immediately snapped a photo and texted it to my parents: [An $8,000 dress, and she bought it without blinking! What kind of crazy rich family is she from?!] 08 At the college reunion, Madison’s arrival instantly stole the spotlight. I deliberately dressed as plainly as possible, making her look even more radiant and glamorous by comparison. In my past life, I could never understand why she was so hellbent on destroying me. Later, I finally understood. She never saw me as a friend. I was just an accessory. By keeping me around as her inferior, she fed her own ego. At her core, she was vain and money-hungry. She desperately craved validation from others. She just used the wrong methods to get it. Sure enough, everyone was whispering: “I just looked up Madison’s dress online. It’s $8,000!” “Oh my god. I thought her family was just middle-class. How can she afford that?” “Who knows? Maybe she bagged a sugar daddy.” Just as they were gossiping, Jackson appeared at the entrance of the restaurant. I pretended to be shocked. “Jackson, what are you doing here?!” But Madison beat me to it. She walked over, grabbed Jackson’s hand, and introduced him to the room: “Everyone, this is my boyfriend. You don’t mind if I brought a plus-one, right?” No one had any objections. I looked Jackson up and down. He must have maxed out those loan shark contacts. He was wearing head-to-toe designer logos, his hair was styled, and standing there, he actually looked the part of a wealthy tech bro. Someone in the crowd said, “Madison, you and Harper were already best friends, and now you’re literally family!” Madison loved the sound of that. So, she made Jackson foot the bill for the entire reunion dinner. When the party ended, Jackson invited some classmates who lived nearby to ride home in his rented Porsche. A few classmates eagerly accepted. The entire ride, they endlessly flattered the two of them. I sat in the back seat, watching Madison’s irrepressible smirk in the rearview mirror, and the corners of my own mouth curled up. The higher you fly, the harder you crash. I wondered what state she would be in when she finally learned the truth. 09 To watch a good show, you obviously need a safe, comfortable seat. I booked a suite at a five-star hotel. But I didn’t check out of the hostel. I went back every day, so if anyone asked, I could say I was pulling all-nighters at the library studying for grad school. So, when Jackson finally called me, his voice was explosive with rage: “You little bitch! Get your ass out here!” I guessed he had already caused a scene with the hostel security. And since he couldn’t find me, he was losing his mind. “Brother, what’s wrong?” “Madison told me you won $50 million and you gave it all to me!” My heart skipped a beat. So she finally asked him. I knew it. Madison’s motives for approaching Jackson were entirely impure. She wouldn’t ask him directly at first. But seeing him spend all that money on her, building this illusion of wealth built entirely on predatory loans, cemented her suspicions. Once their relationship felt stable, she definitely started dropping hints. I deflected the question. “I was just joking with her! She was acting obsessed with the lottery for days, so I just said it to calm her down. Besides, isn’t her family super rich?” “She dumped me!” Jackson snarled viciously. “But I didn’t let her go easy. I never wore protection once.” I was speechless. I guess it’s true what they say: it takes a monster to destroy a monster. Madison had been ignoring my texts. Jackson dragged me straight to Madison’s office building to confront her. She refused to come down, so Jackson started causing a massive scene in the lobby. Her boss eventually told her to handle her personal drama before returning to work, leaving her no choice but to come down and face us. In my past life, this was exactly how it happened. Jackson showed up at my office demanding money. But how did he know where I worked? Madison told him, obviously. When Jackson hit me, cursed at me, and threatened to kill me for the money… Madison pretended to comfort me, but every word was a hidden dagger. Especially that one line: “Harper won $50 million, and she even donated 10 million of it! She has plenty of money!” That completely pushed Jackson over the edge. And her? She stood next to me, looking like a flawless, innocent victim, saying, “Harper, don’t worry, I support whatever decision you make.” This time, I was going to let her taste the blade of betrayal. Seeing me, Madison’s facade finally broke, revealing her true, venomous face. “Harper Vance! Why did you lie to me?!” I blinked innocently, tears welling in my eyes. “Madison, I was doing it for your own good! You were obsessing over it every single day! It was a white lie! But wait… did you only date my brother for his money?” Madison’s face flushed a violent red, then went pale. Jackson lunged forward to grab her, but Madison sneered and dodged him. “Heh! Money? It was all borrowed! You broke, pathetic loser! Stay away from me! You disgust me!” Being humiliated like that, Jackson slapped her hard across the face. In the past, he used to beat me at home all the time. He took all his anger out on me. If he wasn’t banking on selling me off to a rich guy for a dowry, he probably would have beaten me to death. But now, the person getting beaten was Madison. Her eyes filled with tears. She scrambled up and tried to run. I quickly grabbed her arm. How could I possibly let her walk away so easily? I was going to make her stay and enjoy the agonizing humiliation I suffered in my past life! So, I held her wrist with one hand and pushed my brother with the other. “Jackson, you can’t hit people! I’m calling the cops!” Jackson was massive. He could lift me with one hand. He glared at me menacingly. I immediately shielded Madison. “Back off! Madison’s dress cost $8,000! Don’t you dare get blood on it!” Hearing “$8,000,” Jackson’s eyes turned blood red. He lunged past me, grabbed Madison by the throat, and roared, “You bitch! I gave you my money, and you spent it on an $8,000 dress?! And you have the nerve to call me broke?!” The truth was, she bought the dress with her own money, but he didn’t care. Madison’s face turned purple from being choked. I pretended to panic and ran forward. “Let her go! How can you say that to her? If she was only after your money, she never would have dated you in the first place!” That sentence silenced Madison entirely. She was too ashamed to explain the truth, especially with the crowd growing larger by the second, many of them pulling out their phones to record. She didn’t dare admit her intentions were impure, so she had no choice but to swallow the grievance. She even had to beg me: “Harper, save me.” Save you? Of course I’ll save you. Otherwise, how do we play the next round? I stepped back from the crowd and dialed 911. “Hello, police? There’s a violent assault happening here.” Then, I casually sent a text to my parents: [Jackson got arrested!] Taking advantage of the hours it would take them to commute from our hometown to the city, I had security cameras installed in my parents’ house.

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Spring break was just around the corner, and since the research project I’d been leading had finally cleared its final hurdle, I decided to take a week off. My first priority was finalizing the memorial arrangements for my late mentor, Professor Diane Halloway, before heading back to my hometown for some much-needed rest. Diane had been everything to me. She was a woman who had given her entire life to science, never marrying, never having children of her own. When she passed away after a long illness, I stepped up and took full responsibility for her final arrangements. I wanted her to have the dignity in death that she had earned ten times over in life. But when I arrived at the cemetery, the headstone at the premium plot I’d purchased didn’t bear her name. Instead, I was staring at a name I didn’t recognize at all. Confused, I hurried to the administrative office. The woman behind the desk didn’t even look up; she just kept clicking her mouse with an aggressive, rhythmic snap, her face twisted in a mask of bored disdain. “I checked the system,” she said, her voice flat. “Diane Halloway is up on the North Ridge. Row four, plot four.” “North Ridge?” I frowned. “I purchased a private plot in the South Gardens. Plot 6-6.” She finally looked up, her eyes raking over me with a sneer. “Look, honey, the Ridge is for the budget-conscious. Some people share the cost of a plot to keep it cheap. We call it ‘communal resting.’ It’s for the people who lived small and died smaller.” She let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “I don’t know who you’re trying to impress, but that South Garden plot? That belongs to the mother-in-law of Elliott Thorne—the CEO of Thorne Industries.” I felt the world tilt on its axis. My breath hitched, caught in a throat that had suddenly gone bone-dry. Elliott. That was my husband. 1 The news hit me like a physical blow, leaving me breathless. The clerk turned back to her computer, resuming a Netflix show she’d paused. “Is there anything else? If not, I have work to do.” I stood there, paralyzed, my voice trembling as I forced the words out. “I’m sorry… what exactly is a… ‘communal plot’?” She rolled her eyes, the epitome of suburban malice. “It’s for the poor folks who can’t afford a real stone. They chip in and pile in together. One stone, six names. Efficiency at its finest.” She looked me up and down, taking in my tailored coat and designer bag. “You look like you’ve got money. It’s pretty cold to let your family rot in a shared grave. They didn’t have much in life, I guess, and now they’re cramped in death.” I took a deep breath, clutching my purse so hard my knuckles turned white. “Check the records again. Please. I am certain that South Garden, Plot 6-6, was reserved for Professor Diane Halloway.” The woman sighed, pivoted her monitor toward me, and tapped the screen. “Can you read? It says right here: Owner: Martha Jenkins. Paid for by: Elliott Thorne.” And there it was. His name. The man I had shared a bed with for nearly a decade. I walked toward the North Ridge, the bouquet of white lilies in my arms crushed against my chest. My mind was a static-filled void. When I finally reached the row and saw the photo on the small, crowded headstone, the tears I’d been holding back finally broke. It was a tiny square of granite. Six photos were plastered onto it like a cheap collage. Diane—the woman who had briefed presidents and pioneered breakthroughs that saved lives—was squeezed into the bottom corner. Dust and dried mud clung to the porcelain of her elegant, familiar face. It was real. The man I loved had taken the woman I revered and stuffed her into a bargain-bin grave. A group of teenagers with neon-dyed hair were standing around the plot. They had left empty soda cans and beer bottles on the grass. They were laughing, talking to one of the other names on the stone. “Hey man, happy holidays,” one of them said, cracking a fresh can. “We’re still saving up. Couple more years and we’ll get you out of this sardine can, I swear. We’ll get you that big house you always wanted.” I looked at the photo they were talking to—a boy with blue hair, barely twenty. He was Diane’s neighbor in death. The red-haired kid noticed me and gave a small, awkward wave. I didn’t say a word. I just stepped forward, knelt in the dirt, and used my silk handkerchief to wipe the grime off Diane’s face. “Are you with the lady in the corner?” the red-haired kid asked, surprised. “First time anyone’s come for her. We thought she didn’t have anyone left.” My heart twisted. Because of my research, I rarely took time off, but I had always trusted Elliott to handle the local details. Every holiday, every anniversary, he would tell me he’d visited her. He’d tell me the flowers were beautiful, that the site was peaceful. “You know this is a shared plot?” I asked, my voice thick. “That your friend is buried with strangers?” They looked at each other, confused. “Yeah, obviously. A plot down in the valley costs more than a house. We’re broke, lady.” I dug my nails into my palms. “How much did this… ‘share’ cost?” “Five grand,” the kid said. I stopped breathing. The plot in the South Garden—the one with the view of the lake—had cost me eight hundred thousand dollars. I said a quiet goodbye to the boys and walked back toward the front of the cemetery, my soul feeling like it had been hollowed out. As I approached Plot 6-6, I saw a woman standing there. She was tall, slender, and dressed in a way that screamed ‘new money.’ I stepped up behind her, my shadow falling across the polished marble. “Martha Jenkins,” I read the name aloud. My voice was a cold edge. “What is she to Elliott?” 2 The woman spun around. Her makeup was flawless, her outfit a curated collection of high-end labels. She looked me over with a sharp, territorial glare. “Who are you? And why are you hovering over my mother’s grave?” I stared at the black-and-white photo of the stranger on the stone, then back at her. “South Garden, Plot 6-6. I bought this land. I paid for this stone.” She blinked, then let out a sharp, jagged laugh. “You’re delusional. I’ve seen people fight over inheritance, but I’ve never seen a crazy person try to steal a grave.” I fought back the rage, my chest heaving. “I bought this plot in March of last year for my mentor, Diane Halloway. I don’t know why your mother is under this grass, but I intend to find out.” “Find out?” She stepped closer, her perfume cloying and expensive. “Go ahead. Elliott Thorne bought this for my mother. Personally. The contracts, the payments, the deed—it’s all in his name. Do you even know who Elliott Thorne is?” I remained silent. She leaned in, her voice a predatory whisper. “He’s the CEO of Thorne Industries. He’s also my boyfriend. He spent nearly a million dollars on this spot without blinking. He did it for me. So, I’ll ask again: who the hell are you?” The last shred of hope I’d been clinging to dissolved. I looked her dead in the eye. “I was Diane’s student,” I said, my voice dropping an octave. “And I’m Elliott’s—” “Oh, Diane!” she interrupted, snapping her fingers. “I remember now. Elliott mentioned some old lady who died. One of his wife’s coworkers or something? He said he did the ‘charitable thing’ and found her a spot in the back. That was you? The charity case?” She looked at my crumpled flowers and the dirt on my knees. “Makes sense. You look like you belong on the North Ridge. Don’t come down here trying to grift. It’s pathetic.” Her words were like acid, but it was the betrayal that truly burned. I grew up without parents; Diane was my north star, my family, my everything. When I married Elliott, he had taken my hand in front of Diane and promised to cherish me. He told her, “Don’t worry, Professor. I’ll take care of her forever.” He promised to treat Diane like his own mother. Everything he had said was a lie. “What’s the problem here?” The clerk from the office had walked over, her expression shifting from bored to sycophantic the moment she saw the other woman. “Miss Elwinn! So good to see you. Are you here for your mother?” Elwinn. Melanie Elwinn. Melanie gestured toward me with a manicured hand. “This woman is claiming she bought the plot. Can you believe the nerve? You might want to call security; I think she’s off her meds.” The clerk turned to me, her face hardening. “You again? I told you, your person is in the back. Row four. Move along before I have you escorted out for harassment.” I gestured to the headstone, my voice shaking with suppressed fury. “I have the wire transfer records. I have the receipts. I can prove—” “Nobody cares about your ‘records,’” the clerk snapped. “Mr. Thorne was here himself when Mrs. Jenkins was laid to rest. He handled everything. We all saw him. Who are you compared to a man like that?” A security guard drifted over, nodding in agreement. “I remember that day. Mr. Thorne was very specific. He wanted the best view, said the old lady hadn’t had much luxury in life and he wanted her to go out in style. He was a real gentleman. Very devoted.” Melanie smirked, tapping her chin. “Hear that? Now, run along back to the pauper’s hills. That’s where people like you belong.” I didn’t move. I just looked at her. “Melanie Elwinn,” I said softly. “You used to be his assistant, didn’t you?” Melanie froze, her smirk faltering. “How do you know that? Who are you?” “Why don’t you call your ‘boyfriend’?” I replied, my voice devoid of emotion. “Ask him exactly who I am.” 3 Melanie stared at me for a long beat, her suspicion warring with her arrogance. I knew her, of course. Back when I was pulling eighteen-hour shifts in the lab, forgetting to eat, Elliott used to drive out to bring me dinner. Later, as his company grew, he started sending his assistant to drop off the bags of takeout. That assistant had been Melanie. The clerk shifted uncomfortably, whispering, “Miss Elwinn, maybe you should call him? Just in case…” “I’m not calling him,” Melanie snapped, though the bravado was leaking out of her voice. “Elliott is in the middle of a merger. He doesn’t have time for this trash. I know everyone in his circle—investors, partners, friends. I’ve never seen this woman in my life.” She looked at my plain clothes again—the sensible shoes and the lack of flashy jewelry. “Look at her. Elliott doesn’t associate with people who look like they shop at a clearance rack.” I looked at her designer labels and then down at my own functional attire. It was true that among my peers, Elliott’s background had been the least impressive. My colleagues had subtly suggested I could do better, but I had fallen for his sincerity. He used to sit outside my lab for hours just to catch a glimpse of me. After we married, Diane had mentored him, opening doors and handing him high-level contacts so I wouldn’t have to worry about our finances. She gave him the world so he could build his empire. I looked at the name on the stone: Martha Jenkins. A woman I didn’t know, whose daughter had been sleeping with my husband for years. A woman whose ashes were occupying the ground I had bought for my mother-figure. Diane had died believing in us. Her last words to me were, “Joanna, you’re the best thing I ever taught. I’ve had a good life.” She trusted me. And I had failed her so completely that I couldn’t even protect her final resting place. I pinched the bridge of my nose, forcing the grief back into a cold, hard knot in my chest. I looked at Melanie. “Are you sure you’ve met everyone in his life?” She scoffed. “Positive.” “Then have you met the woman on his marriage license?” The air in the clearing seemed to vanish. The color drained from Melanie’s face. “What… what are you talking about? Elliott is my boyfriend. We’ve been together for three years…” Three years. Even though I knew the betrayal was deep, that number felt like a knife to the ribs. Three years of my life, my money, and my professional resources poured into a man who was building a second life with my own assistant. I remembered the nights he’d come home late, smelling of expensive bourbon, hugging me tight and whispering, “Joanna, I don’t deserve you.” I thought it was love. It was guilt. “He said he loved me,” I whispered to the empty air. He’d said it in front of Diane. He’d said it every night before we went to sleep. He’d promised to be there for every sunset. It was all a performance. The sound of a high-performance engine cut through the silence of the cemetery. Melanie’s head snapped toward the entrance. I followed her gaze. A black Bentley rolled to a stop at the edge of the South Garden. The door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out. I felt a bitter smile touch my lips. “Finally. He’s here. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” 4 Elliott stepped out of the car, looking every bit the powerful executive in his tailored suit and polished Oxfords. “Joanna? What are you doing here?” He hurried toward us, reaching out to take my hand, but I stepped back as if he were a leper. He turned to Melanie, his brow furrowing in frustration. “Melanie, what is this? I told you not to come today.” Melanie’s eyes immediately filled with tears—well-practiced, manipulative tears. “It’s the anniversary of her passing, Elliott! I wanted to see my mom! Why is this woman harrassing me?” Elliott froze. He looked at the headstone, then back at me, a flash of genuine panic crossing his face. “Joanna, listen. This is… it’s a misunderstanding. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back today?” I took another step back, my voice trembling with a cold, sharp fury. “If I’d told you, I wouldn’t have caught the show, would I? Elliott, I don’t even care about the affair anymore. That’s between you and your conscience. I want to know why the eight hundred thousand dollars I gave you for Diane’s burial bought a plot for her mother. I want to know why my mentor is shoved in a communal grave on the North Ridge while you told me everything was ‘taken care of’!” Elliott’s face hardened. The mask of the doting husband slipped, revealing something ugly and impatient. “It’s just a piece of dirt, Joanna. Don’t be dramatic.” He looked at me with an annoying condescension. “Diane wasn’t even your mother. She was just a teacher. She’s dead. What does it matter where she’s buried? She was always so ‘above it all’ anyway. Maybe she’ll enjoy the company of the common folk up there.” I clenched my fists so hard my nails drew blood. “What did you just say?” “I said, get over it,” he stepped closer, trying to loom over me. “Look at yourself, Joanna. Have you even been a wife to me these last few years? You live in that lab. You come home maybe three times a month. I’ve spent every holiday alone while you played with your test tubes. Your ‘projects’ were always more important than me, more important than anything!” He reached out and pulled Melanie into his side, a blatant act of defiance. “I’m the CEO of Thorne Industries. People respect me. And what do I have at home? A cold house and a wife who isn’t there. I found someone who actually sees me. I’m not apologizing for that.” “And Diane? She gave me those contracts because I was her student’s husband. It was her duty. I took the plot because it was practical. Why waste a prime spot on a dead academic when Melanie’s mother needed it?” I stared at him. “That plot was paid for with my money.” He laughed, a harsh, dismissive sound. “Your money? Joanna, your money is my money. We’re married. Your grants, your stipends, your bonuses—you handed them all to me. Who do you think managed your life while you were busy being a genius? Without me, you wouldn’t even know how to pay a light bill.” I felt like I’d been kicked in the heart. So that was it. That was what he really thought of me. “I want a divorce,” I said, my voice steady. “But before that, you are moving her. You are giving Diane her spot back.” He snorted. “How? By digging her up? Don’t be ridiculous. Martha has been there for a year. I’m not causing a scandal because you’re having a tantrum. Think about my reputation.” He softened his tone then, slipping back into that manipulative ‘loving’ voice. “Joanna, you’re just a researcher. You have a modest salary. Your mentor is gone; you have no one left to protect you. Don’t throw away being Mrs. Thorne over a grave. You’ll have nothing.” I looked into his eyes and realized I didn’t recognize the man I had married. The boy who had waited outside the lab with daisies was long dead, replaced by this hollow, greedy stranger. “You’re going to regret this, Elliott,” I said quietly. In the distance, the roar of multiple engines approached. A line of black government-issue SUVs began to file into the cemetery gates. The doors opened in unison, and a dozen men in dark suits stepped out. At the head of the group was an older man with a shock of silver hair. He stood by the lead car, his eyes scanning the crowd until they landed on me. The color left Elliott’s face. He recognized the man. Everyone in the country did. He was the kind of man who only appeared on the evening news during major national events.

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The apology from the customer service representative left me breaking out in a cold sweat. As it turned out, the man I had living in my house wasn’t a “Romantic-Class” incubus at all. He was a “Domestic-Class” model—designed strictly for housekeeping, cooking, and organization. He wasn’t even programmed to provide those kinds of services. The representative’s voice had been frantic, repeatedly warning me that forcing a Domestic model into intimacy wasn’t just a violation of the user agreement; it could trigger a “systemic collapse” or a “frenzy mechanism.” Basically, I was lucky he hadn’t killed me in my sleep. Terrified, I immediately hauled Hudson’s bedding out of my master suite and into the guest room, desperate to rectify my mistake before something catastrophic happened. But my sudden change in behavior seemed to trigger something else in him. It wasn’t long before there was a rhythmic, heavy knock on my bedroom door. His voice came through the wood, carrying a repressed, gravelly edge that made my skin prickle. He asked if I no longer required his… company. Thinking back to how I’d spent the last few months practically throwing myself at him, begging for affection, I felt like a colossal, suicidal idiot. 1. “That’s… that’s right,” I stammered, my eyes darting around the room as a wave of heat climbed up my neck. I struggled to find a plausible lie. “I just… I haven’t been sleeping well. I think I need my own space for a while.” Hudson stared at me for a long beat. His features were striking—a sharp, cinematic jawline and eyes that seemed to hold a permanent, brooding storm. He frowned slightly, his brow furrowing, but he didn’t argue. He simply turned and walked toward the guest room. Watching him go so easily brought a wave of relief, but beneath it, a sharp, unexpected pang of rejection. The truth was, I’d always felt a certain resistance from Hudson. He never initiated touch. He’d shot down my more “adventurous” suggestions time and time again. The only reason he’d been sleeping in my bed at all was because I’d been a shameless brat, threatening to replace him with a newer model if he didn’t. He’d moved in with a dark expression, looking like he was marching toward a firing squad. Even then, he kept his distance. He’d spend the night curled on the very edge of the mattress, his back to me like a stone wall. I’d spent months telling myself I’d just lucked into a “slow-burn” personality type—that I just needed to win him over with patience and charm. How wrong I was. He wasn’t “slow-burn.” He was a domestic professional with a strict “no-touch” policy, and he clearly found my advances exhausting. My face burned with shame. For months, I’d been the sexual predator in a rom-com that wasn’t actually a romance. Just then, my phone buzzed with another message from the agency. [Customer Service]: We are so incredibly sorry for the mix-up, Maddie! Please, please don’t leave us a one-star review. o(╥﹏╥)o [Customer Service]: Can we offer you a full refund for the Domestic model? “No need,” I typed back, feeling a strange sense of loss. “Even if he can’t be a… partner, he’s incredible at everything else.” It was true. Hudson was a domestic god. He knew exactly how to bake artisanal sourdough that stayed fluffy for days; he kept my linens smelling like lavender and expensive sunshine; he even knew the precise temperature to wash my hair so the ends wouldn’t split. I was already addicted to the life he provided. [Customer Service]: Understood! In that case, as a gesture of goodwill, we’re shipping you a Romantic-Class incubus free of charge! •̆₃•̑ My heart did a traitorous little skip. I’d wanted a companion from the start. That was the whole point of this expensive endeavor. If Hudson couldn’t provide that connection, surely there was no harm in finding it elsewhere? I quickly messaged back: “OK.” The bitterness in my chest eased, replaced by a flicker of anticipation. 2. The next morning, I instinctively reached out to the other side of the bed, my hand hitting cold, empty sheets. It took my brain a few seconds to reboot. When it did, a hollow ache settled in my stomach. I’d grown so used to the heavy, silent weight of Hudson’s presence nearby. Without it, the room felt cavernous. I forced myself up, showered, and headed to the kitchen. Hudson was already there, hovering over the stove. He was wearing the pale pink apron I’d bought him as a joke—the strings tied loosely around his lean waist. He looked devastatingly handsome, his profile clean and sharp against the morning light. I spat out my toothpaste foam and cursed the manufacturers in my head. Why would you make a housekeeping unit look like a literal dark fantasy? It was a waste of perfectly good aesthetics. I sat at the breakfast nook, waiting for my eggs. To my shock, Hudson didn’t put the plate on the table. Instead, he walked over, hooked an arm under my knees, and lifted me effortlessly into his lap. “Wait—what are you doing?” I gasped, my hands flying up to his chest to create some distance. Hudson’s grip on my waist tightened. He caught my wrist, forcing me to look up into his eyes. They were dark, unreadable, and intensely focused. “Aren’t I supposed to feed you?” he asked, his voice low. In the past, frustrated by his coldness, I’d assigned him “intimacy chores” to force a bond. One of those chores was feeding me breakfast while I sat on his lap. He’d hated it at first. His body would be stiff as a board, his jaw clenched. But I’d been a tyrant—I’d told him if he didn’t feed me, I wouldn’t eat. Eventually, he’d succumbed. It had become part of our routine. But now? Now that I knew I was basically harassing a service worker? I couldn’t do it. I scrambled out of his lap, nearly tripping over my own feet. “No, no. That’s fine. I can eat by myself from now on.” Hudson watched me for several seconds, his gaze unwavering. Then, he turned his head away, his voice flattening. “Right. I suppose it’s time you learned some independence.” I winced. He’d clearly been waiting for the day he didn’t have to deal with my clinginess. I’d been so blind. After breakfast, Hudson moved with his usual efficiency, clearing my plate and grabbing the keys to the Vespa. He held out my helmet, ready to drop me off at the office. I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the awkwardness thicken. This was another thing I’d forced on him. I loved riding behind him, using the excuse of “safety” to wrap my arms around his waist and feel his abs through his shirt. A ten-minute commute usually took twenty because I’d find ways to distract him. I used to live for those twenty minutes. Now, I couldn’t bear the thought of making him uncomfortable for a second longer. I snatched the helmet from his hand. “Actually… you don’t need to drive me anymore. I’ll just take an Uber. Or walk. I need the steps.” Hudson froze. His hand stayed extended in the air for a beat too long. Before he could say anything, I ducked my head and bolted out the door. I was giving him his freedom. No more forced touching, no more awkward intimacy. He had to be thrilled, right? 3. I’d only been at my desk for half an hour when my phone chimed with a shipping notification. [Customer Service]: Your Romantic-Class companion is on his way! Check out his profile below and make sure to have his essentials ready. ლ(°◕‵ƹ′◕ლ) I clicked the file. Name: Benji. Height: 5’10”. Weight: 170 lbs. Owner: Maddie Thorne. He was significantly smaller than Hudson. Hudson was a wall of muscle; Benji sounded… manageable. I realized Hudson’s clothes wouldn’t fit him at all. He’d look like a kid playing dress-up in his father’s closet. I added “Shopping” to my to-do list. After work, I hit the mall with a few girls from the office. We got distracted by happy hour and window shopping, and by the time I pulled into my driveway, I realized I had five missed calls. All from Hudson. That was weird. A Domestic model shouldn’t be tracking my location, right? He’d never done that before. The front door swung open before I could even reach for my keys. Hudson stood there, his shadow stretching across the porch. His eyes swept over me, dark and scrutinizing. “Maddie. Where were you? Why didn’t you answer your phone?” “I was shopping,” I said, frowning as I stepped past him. “Since when do I have a curfew?” He didn’t look happy, but his expression softened slightly when he saw the bags in my hands. He caught a glimpse of a plaid button-down sticking out of one of them. A small, almost imperceptible smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He knelt to help me step out of my heels, then gathered the shopping bags to take them to the bedroom. A moment later, he walked back out, looking… awkward. He’d tried on the plaid shirt. It was two sizes too small. The fabric was strained to the breaking point across his chest, the buttons clinging for dear life. It made him look rugged, slightly indecent, and entirely too masculine. “It’s a bit snug,” he said, his voice dropping an octave. “But I can wear it open.” Oh god. This was a disaster. I used to buy him clothes all the time—mostly sheer fabrics or things with far too many straps. He’d always refused to wear them, sticking to his two sets of “normal” clothes. Seeing him try so hard to please me with this shirt made my heart ache. I cleared my throat, trying to fix the misunderstanding. “It’s too small because… well, don’t wear it. I’ll get you something else.” “No,” Hudson said, and there was a strange warmth in his tone. “I like this one.” “But it wasn’t for you,” I whispered. The air in the room seemed to vanish. Hudson’s eyes went dark, his entire posture turning predatory. He stepped closer, looming over me. “Then who,” he asked, his voice a low vibration in the air, “were you planning on giving it to?” 4. I felt a surge of guilt, like I’d been caught cheating on a husband I didn’t even have. But then, the unfairness of it hit me. Why was I the one feeling guilty? I was just a girl who wanted a little affection. I’d spent months being rejected by Hudson, only to find out I’d been bordering on a criminal offense. He’d led me on! He kept saying “maybe another time” or “not tonight” instead of just telling me he wasn’t programmed for it. “That’s really none of your business,” I said, my voice cold. “Just stick to your chores and stop asking questions.” Hudson flinched. The look of shock on his face was almost painful to witness. “…Fine. I understand.” He stripped the shirt off with efficient, jerky movements, folded it perfectly, and placed it back in my hands. I breathed a sigh of relief, but my mood was ruined. In the past, I was the one chasing him, the one apologizing. Now that I was being firm, he’d probably retreat into being a cold, emotionless robot. Which was for the best. We couldn’t have “vibes.” It was dangerous. However, that night, Hudson knocked on my door again. He was holding a spare duvet, and on his head… he was wearing a pair of clip-on wolf ears I’d bought him months ago. Below that? He slowly hooked a finger into his waistband, pulling it down just enough to reveal a delicate silver hip-chain—one I’d left on his dresser as a hint a long time ago. As he moved, a tiny bell at the end of the chain let out a soft, crystalline chime. My soul nearly left my body. Hudson’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked away, his face flushing a deep, bruised red. “This… this was definitely for me, wasn’t it?” I was seconds away from losing all resolve. But then I remembered what the rep said. Domestic models don’t understand the meaning of these things. To him, this was just another “task” he thought I wanted. He was wearing wolf ears and a hip-chain out of a sense of duty, not desire. The thought made me feel pathetic. I waved him away, exhausted. “Just go back to your room, Hudson. Like I said yesterday—I don’t need you in here anymore.” The wolf ears drooped. His expression didn’t change, but his voice sounded hollow. “…Fine.” “Great.” He turned to leave, but I called out to him at the last second. He looked back, his sharp profile softening, a spark of hope in his eyes. “Make a couple of extra dishes for lunch tomorrow,” I said. Hudson’s gaze turned sharp. “Are you expecting company?” “Yeah,” I mumbled, avoiding his eyes. He didn’t need to know that Benji was arriving tomorrow. 5. Still, Hudson was the type of guy who got possessive over a plaid shirt. I was genuinely worried about how he’d react to another incubus in the house. I hopped back onto the customer service chat. “If I have two of them in the house, will they fight?” [Customer Service]: Generally, no! They have different functions, so there’s no overlap. I wasn’t convinced. “In what scenario would they fight?” [Customer Service]: Well, if you had a High-Level model, they tend to have strong territorial instincts. They can get jealous, envious, or even… fall in love with their owners. ~* That settled it. I looked at Hudson’s behavior—there was no way he was in love. He looked relieved every time I stopped touching him. [Customer Service]: We recommend giving the new model extra attention at first to help him settle in. We’re sure you’ll all be one big happy family! I took the advice to heart. The next day was Saturday. I stayed home and watched Hudson irritably write out a menu. After breakfast, he insisted on taking me grocery shopping. The Vespa ride was different this time. I sat as far back as possible, gripping the metal rail instead of his waist. I made sure there was a respectable six inches of daylight between us. “Hold onto me,” Hudson’s voice drifted back, crisp and low. “The road gets bumpy ahead.” “I’m fine,” I said. I’d traveled this road a thousand times; it was smooth as glass. Naturally, the second I said that, Hudson hit a massive pothole. My chest slammed into his back, my nose burying into the firm muscle of his spine. It hurt so bad I thought I’d cry. I gave in and gripped the fabric of his jacket, but I still refused to wrap my arms around him properly. Hudson didn’t say another word for the rest of the trip, but the air around him felt dark, suffocating. He drove faster than usual, leaning into the turns with an aggression that felt like a silent tantrum. God, was he really that annoyed just because I touched him by accident? The supermarket was packed with a weekend sale. Hudson carried all the heavy bags in one hand, using his other arm to create a protective barrier around me so people wouldn’t bump into us. He was attentive, but I hated being there with him. Every time we went, the cashier would make some comment about what a “stunning couple” we were. I used to soak those comments up, preening because Hudson never bothered to deny them. But now, knowing he didn’t feel the same, I just felt like a fraud. Worse, I felt like I was low-key harrassing him by letting people think we were together. So, when the cashier smiled and said, “You two look so sweet together,” I blurted it out. “He’s not my boyfriend!” The cashier blinked, startled. Hudson went dead still. A long, tense silence followed. Then, Hudson spoke through gritted teeth. “Right. I’m not.” I nodded vigorously. See? He’s been dying to clarify that. I’d been delusional. I’d been reading “love” into his “professionalism.” Hudson walked fast on the way home, his long legs eating up the distance until I was trailing yards behind him. I didn’t ask him to wait. I didn’t ask him to carry my purse. When we reached the house, the front door was slightly ajar. Hudson’s brow furrowed. He knew he’d locked it. He stepped in front of me, shielding me as he kicked the door open. Then, his entire body stiffened. There was a stranger in our living room. He was wearing the plaid shirt I’d bought yesterday, and when he saw me, he flashed a pair of adorable dimples. “Master! Thank you for the shirt. I love it!”

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