“Professor Adler, I am heading back stateside soon. Could you please talk some sense into Phillip? Convince him to take the teaching position and stay at the university?” Professor Adler let out a heavy sigh over the phone. “Freya, what you and his family did back then truly broke that boy.” “Whether he stays or leaves is entirely out of my hands. It is his life.” Freya’s voice trembled, bleeding with desperation. “Professor, I know I messed up. I just want to come back and make things right with Phillip. Please, you have to help me!” Professor Adler looked through the glass window of her office, watching me meticulously prepare test tubes in the lab. She took a moment to steady her breathing. “Freya, a mistake is a mistake. You and Simon intentionally tampered with his food. You poisoned him so Simon could steal his fellowship spot. You nearly killed him.” “Expecting his forgiveness now? You are asking for a miracle.” 1 I was right in the middle of organizing my research data when Professor Adler called me into her office. “Phillip, Freya is flying back from Europe.” I froze for a split second before a bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “She chose Simon. Her coming back has absolutely nothing to do with me.” “I am hardly going to waste my time chasing a ghost.” Professor Adler slid two application folders across her desk. “Freya and your parents have been calling me non-stop. They want me to convince you to accept the faculty position here.” “The choice is yours. Whatever you decide, I will back you.” I looked down at the two folders. Two entirely different futures laid out right in front of me. Without a word, I reached out and pulled the bottom folder toward me. Professor Adler let out a long, quiet breath. “I knew it. I knew you could never just sweep it under the rug.” I grabbed a tissue from her desk, handed it to her, and crouched down beside her chair. “It is not about holding onto grudges, Professor. I just do not want my life entangled with theirs anymore.” “The Defense Institute is secluded. It will be quiet. That is all I want.” Her eyes softened, swimming with a quiet heartbreak. She had watched her favorite student endure an unimaginable betrayal, and she had been powerless to stop it. “Do what your heart tells you, Phillip. I will handle your parents. I will get them off your back.” I took her wrinkled hand in mine, my chest tight with gratitude. “Thank you, Professor. For everything you have done these past few years.” I was just reaching for the doorknob to leave when her voice stopped me. “Phillip. I know there is a lot of anger in you. But your mother is unwell. She has been in and out of the hospital. She really wants you to visit.” I clenched my jaw, my knuckles turning white around the brass handle. “She gave you life, Phillip. Just go see her once before you leave.” I gave a stiff nod. My throat felt like sandpaper when I finally spoke. “Okay.” 2 Standing on the porch of the house I had not visited in years, a storm of messy emotions brewed in my chest. I raised my hand to knock. Before my knuckles even grazed the wood, the door swung open. “Phillip. You actually came. Come in, get out of the cold!” My father ushered me inside. I swapped my boots for slippers and immediately noticed the dining table. It was piled high with fresh fruit, all my favorites. “Your mom has been having dizzy spells. I asked Professor Adler to see if you would come by.” “I bought fresh fruit every single morning. I figured whenever you decided to show up, you would have something good to eat.” My dad stood there, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. I reached out to grab an orange, but the second my fingers touched the rind, a screeching voice echoed in my head. Put that down! We did not raise you to eat our food and talk back to us! I violently jerked my hand back and stood up straight, staring blankly at the walls. Everything was so familiar, yet utterly suffocating. My dad took a step forward, his eyes full of concern. “Phillip? What is wrong?” I swatted his hand away, my voice dropping to an icy chill. “Where is she? I have places to be. Let us get this over with.” His face fell. The forced cheerfulness cracked, replaced by a pathetic begging look. “Could you stay for just a couple of days?” “No.” I spun on my heel, ready to walk right back out. “Phillip!” Two stray tears rolled down my dad’s cheeks. “Your mom is at the hospital. She wants to see you.” “We know we messed up. She wants to apologize to your face. She is your mother, Phillip. Please just go look at her.” My hands balled into tight fists. A blazing, uncontrollable fire shot straight to my brain. “You know you messed up?” I barked. “The only thing you know is that Simon is never coming back from Europe!” “You finally realized he is not going to stick around to spoon-feed you in your old age. So suddenly, you remember you have an actual biological son!” “Where was this energy when you let Simon and Freya poison my food? When I was hooked up to a ventilator, did it cross your minds that I was your real son?” My dad stumbled back as if I had shoved him. His usually rigid posture crumbled, his shoulders sagging in defeat. “It has been years, Phillip. Can you not just give us a chance to make it right?” “Freya is coming back. She promised us that the moment she lands, she will marry you.” I let out a harsh, mocking laugh. “Dr. Brooks, do you honestly believe I would take back someone else’s sloppy seconds?” He choked on his words. The silence stretched out, thick and heavy. “You two still have a history,” he finally mumbled. “She is coming back specifically for you. We all know how much you loved her. Growing up, whatever she wanted, you gave it to her. Whatever she broke, you fixed.” I stared at him with absolute disgust. “So that was your logic? You banked on my love for her to get away with ruining my life?” “No!” He shook his head frantically. “Simon is your cousin. His parents died. We just wanted to help him get a leg up.” A cold smirk played on my lips. “Help him? You wanted me to drop out of the fellowship competition and hand him my spot on a silver platter.” “But why did you let them spike my food? I almost died in that ER!” My dad looked away. He could not meet my eyes. “Simon told us it would just give you a bad stomach bug. We never thought…” I did not let him finish. I walked right out the front door, leaving him with one final thought. “I will go to the hospital. But whatever little family reunion you are plotting, drop it.” 3 Sitting on the subway heading back to campus, I zoned out, staring at the young couple sitting across from me. They were giggling, admiring the matching rings on their fingers. Phillip, you have to wear this all the time. If I ever catch you taking it off, you are dead meat! Freshman year. Freya had bought us matching promise rings. She claimed it made our childhood pact official. After shoving the ring onto my finger, she had held out her right hand, her cheeks flushed pink. Well, dummy? Put it on your fiancée! My hands had been shaking when I slid that silver band onto her ring finger. When I pulled her into my arms that night, I genuinely believed I held the entire universe. The automated voice announcing my stop dragged me back to reality. The moment I unlocked my dorm room, my phone buzzed. Unknown number. I hit decline. Two seconds later, it buzzed again. “Who is this?” Total silence on the other end. Then, a soft intake of breath. “Phillip. My flight lands the day after tomorrow. Will you pick me up at the airport?” My chest seized. Hot anger flared in my throat. “Freya. Are you really this delusional?” “Can you just talk to me like a normal person?” she snapped back, her voice tinged with annoyance. “This is the first time you have answered my call in years, and you immediately start insulting me.” I scoffed. “Is there a problem with that? You ran off with another guy!” “Did you really expect me to roll out the red carpet?” I could hear her taking a deep, exaggerated breath. “I am moving back for good. Professor Adler already told you about the faculty position, right? We can…” I hung up. I blocked the number immediately. I opened my desk drawer and pulled out the folder Professor Adler had given me. It looked like a standard university faculty application, but underneath was a heavily redacted contract. A Level-1 DOD clearance agreement for a ten-year classified communications project. I was on the shortlist. I grabbed a black pen, signed my name on the dotted line, and walked straight to Professor Adler’s office. “You are sure about this?” she asked, looking at the signed pages. “Once I send this up the chain, there is no backing out.” I smiled, feeling lighter than I had in years. “I stopped looking backward a long time ago, Professor.” “Your father called me about your visit,” she mentioned quietly. “He said your temper is worse than ever. He begged me to talk some sense into you.” I rolled my eyes. “The absolute nerve of that man.” She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. I knew what she was thinking. “I will visit the hospital, Professor. I promised you I would. But please, do not ask me to forgive them.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Just go.” 4 First thing the next morning, I bought a fruit basket and a bouquet of cheap flowers and took an Uber to the hospital. I found the room number. The moment I pushed the heavy door open, the bathroom door clicked, and Freya stepped out. “Oh! Phillip, you ruined the surprise!” My mother scrambled to sit up in her hospital bed, her face lighting up. “Phillip! You are here, come sit down!” I completely ignored Freya. I set the flowers and fruit on the bedside table and looked at my mother. “What did the doctor say?” Her eyes instantly glossed over with tears. “Nothing serious. Just high blood pressure. They are giving me fluids, and I should be fine.” I nodded. “Good. Then I am leaving.” I turned around, but Freya grabbed my forearm, her grip tight. “Phillip, your mother is sick in a hospital bed. Would it kill you to stay and keep her company for an hour?” “Let go of me,” I said, my voice dead flat. Freya stared at me, looking genuinely shocked. “I cannot believe you are speaking to me like this!” “How else am I supposed to speak to you?” She took a shaky breath, trying to play the bigger person. “Fine. I know you are still mad at me. But I am back now. I will marry you.” “This is what you always wanted, right? I am giving it to you. Just drop this ridiculous attitude like the whole world owes you something.” I stood there, perfectly still, letting her finish her little speech. “Freya,” I said softly, making sure she heard every single syllable. “You are absolute trash.” She froze. The color drained from her face, and her eyes welled up with angry tears. I did not stick around to watch the meltdown. I walked right out of the ward. Freshman year. Simon’s parents my aunt and uncle had been killed in a massive highway pileup. My parents took him in without a second thought. They ordered Freya and me to tutor him, begging us to help him pull his grades up so he could transfer to our university. He was not exactly sharp, but my parents pulled strings behind the scenes. Somehow, the admissions office lowered the threshold just for him. You guys are the best. I will take care of you when you are old, I swear. My parents ate it up. They bought him a brand-new car on the spot as a college acceptance gift. I had been standing in the living room, ready to ask why I had never gotten a car. Freya had grabbed my sleeve, pulling me back. Do not be jealous, Phillip. If they are giving things to Simon, obviously they will give things to you too. I figured she was right. I was the biological son, after all. Soon, Simon was texting Freya constantly, asking her for private tutoring sessions. My time with her vanished. Whenever I brought it up, she would just laugh and poke my forehead. He is your cousin, idiot. Are you seriously jealous of family? I felt a gnawing in my gut, but I pushed it down. Simon had a tragic backstory. He struggled in class. My parents told me to step up. So, I started tutoring him too. Then came the night we stayed up late going over his finals. Freya went to the kitchen to cut some fruit. Simon watched her walk away, his eyes glued to the curve of her waist. Man, I am so jealous you have a girl like her. I want one exactly like that. Every alarm bell in my head went off. I glared at him, my voice dangerously low. “Obviously. She is the girl I have been claiming since day one.” I got up to help Freya in the kitchen. I did not see the toxic, venomous glare Simon shot at the back of my head. A few months later, the excuses started. Whenever I had a robotics competition or a lab deadline, they would suddenly have “study breaks” out of town. They started finding weird reasons to get me out of the apartment. I knew something was wrong. So, I lied. I told them I had an overnight seminar out of state. I waited behind the apartment complex. I watched them walk out with overnight bags, laughing, Freya’s arm looped tight through his. They were heading straight for his car. I stepped out from the shadows and stood directly in their path. Freya ripped her hand away from Simon’s arm like she had been burned. “Phillip! I thought you were at the seminar?” I let out a dark chuckle. “Care to explain where you two are going?” Simon opened his mouth, but Freya stepped in front of him. “Phillip, please do not overthink this. I treat Simon like a little brother. That is all it is.” Under her terrified gaze, I grabbed a baseball bat from the garage and smashed the windshield of Simon’s car to pieces. My parents rushed over after getting the panicked phone call. When they heard what happened, my dad got right in my face, veins popping in his neck. “What is wrong with your head? Why are you always making up these psychotic conspiracy theories?” I picked up an orange from the kitchen counter, peeling it slowly. “I trust my own eyes. I trust what I see.” “They are sleeping together. I caught them sneaking off. There is no conspiracy here, just facts.” My dad slapped the orange right out of my hand. “Put that down! We did not raise you to eat our food and talk back to us!” I bent down, picked up a slice of the orange, popped it in my mouth, and chewed slowly. I looked at my parents, then at Simon and Freya. “So you would rather believe their pathetic lies than your own son’s eyes?” My mom stepped forward and smacked my shoulder hard. “What facts? They are just a brother and sister going on a road trip. So what if they linked arms?” “You spend too much time in that lab. It has rotted your brain!” Looking at the four of them, glaring at me like I was the villain, I realized something broke inside me. Words were useless here. “Freya. We are done.” “Excuse me?” she gasped. My dad lunged forward and backhanded me across the face. I rolled my jaw, feeling the sting. “I said, we are over. The engagement is off.” 5 Freya collapsed onto the floor, sobbing while my mother rubbed her back. I walked out of the house with my dad’s screaming echoing down the street. Simon ran out after me, shouting for the neighborhood to hear. “Phillip, wait! It is my fault! I should not have dragged her on a trip with me!” He jogged up beside me. Once he knew the others could not hear him, his face twisted into a nasty grin. “She thinks you are boring, Phillip. She told me I am way more fun.” “She was screaming my name, telling me I was better than you ever were.” “If you are not going to play with a toy this good, I will gladly take your turn.” I swung hard. My fist connected squarely with his jaw, sending him crashing into the pavement. My dad sprinted out of the house and kicked me in the ribs. All three of them surrounded Simon, checking his bloody lip, completely ignoring me. My mother crouched in the dirt, screaming every curse word in the book at me. Freya just looked at me, her makeup smeared. “Why are you doing this, Phillip?” I lay on the pavement, clutching my ribs, looking at her with pure nausea. “Ask him.” My dad practically threw Simon into the car and sped off to the ER. I watched the taillights fade. I slowly pushed myself up off the concrete and limped the three miles back to campus. The next day, my phone rang. Freya. “Phillip. Simon said he was just trying to explain that we were going as friends, and you just lost your mind and assaulted him.” I laughed, a dry, hollow sound. “If that is the story you want to run with, go ahead. You do not need my approval.” Twenty minutes after I hung up, she was banging on my dorm door. “Your parents want you to apologize to him, Phillip.” I leaned against the doorframe, looking down at her. “And do you agree with them?” She bit her lip and nodded. I actually burst out laughing. “You know exactly what you and Simon did behind my back.” “You know exactly why I hit him. And you have the audacity to stand in my hallway and demand I apologize?” “Do you have no shame left at all?” Tears pooled in her eyes. “Stop talking to me like that.” “I only view him as a brother. That one time… you were ignoring me, and I got drunk, and it just happened.” “It was only one time! I am not the trash you think I am!” I took a deep breath, trying to stop my hands from shaking. She kept going. “I promise you, I already told him we can never cross that line again. It is over.” “Get out!” I roared, my voice shaking the walls. Freya flinched, all the blood draining from her face. She backed away, shaking her head in disbelief. “You are telling me to get out?” She nodded rapidly, her face twisting with rage. “Fine. I am leaving. But do not come crawling back when you regret this!” I slid down the doorframe, pulled my knees to my chest, and bit down on my lip until I tasted copper. I never went back to that house again. By my senior year, a rumor started circulating. Simon, a junior who could barely pass standard chemistry, had miraculously finished all his credits early. He was graduating a year ahead of schedule. Just as the campus gossip hit its peak, Professor Adler called me in. “Your parents called in every favor they had to fast-track his graduation. They want him to qualify for the full-ride doctoral fellowship at Oxford.” She handed me an application form. “The committee wanted to hand you the fellowship without an exam based on your lab work.” “But your father lobbied the board. He demanded a fair, competitive exam for all candidates.” I took the form and aggressively signed my name. “It does not matter, Professor. Simon is not a threat to me academically.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “462278”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My sister and I are the twin bosses of a notorious horror game. As everyone knows, twin bosses in horror games always share a unique, bound trait: we must be killed at the exact same time. If even one of us survives, we will infinitely resurrect. So, when my sister fell in love with a player who entered our dungeon, choosing to surrender her boss status and leave the game to live in the real world with him, I didn’t care. After all, if things went south and she died out there, she would simply respawn back home with me. But by the third year of her departure, I noticed myself growing weaker and weaker. It reached a point where even absolute rookies entering the dungeon could easily slaughter me and clear the game. Finally unable to bear it any longer, I forced my way out of the dungeon, determined to see what on earth my sister was doing. Instead, I found her in a hospital room, her body covered in tubes, barely kept alive on life support. Meanwhile, the boyfriend she had abandoned everything to follow was shamelessly using the massive dungeon points she had accumulated to buy rare items, all just to please some cheap, red-lipped woman. Staring at this utterly ridiculous scene, a chilling, distorted smile spread across my face. Since you are too greedy to kill her because of her points, then I will do it myself. 1 When the iron sword pierced my chest, I didn’t even have the strength to fight back. The male player in front of me, clad in cheap, starter-cloth armor, was so terrified that he collapsed onto his backside, letting go of the sword’s hilt entirely. “Did… did I just solo a boss?” He stared at his hands in disbelief, before erupting into an ecstatic scream, spinning around to shout at his distant companions. “Holy crap! Is this really the dungeon boss? She’s pathetic! She just stood there and let me hack her to pieces!” “Awesome job! I thought this dungeon was supposed to be the Rookie Graveyard? Guess those forum posts were just hyping it up!” A group of clueless newbies crowded around, gesturing wildly at my corpse, their eyes gleaming with the greedy satisfaction of an easy kill. I stared coldly at their pathetic celebration as my vision faded to black. What a humiliating way to die. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the core chamber of the dungeon. The weightless disorientation of resurrection hadn’t even cleared before I forced my weakened body upright. The lightning-shaped, ghostly blue sigil at the corner of my eye burned with raw fury. I looked up at the holographic control panel floating in the air. Glaring red warning lights pulsed across the screen. What was once a legendary S-class dungeon, a nightmare to even the top-tier players, now bore a shameful B-class tag. I clenched my fists, fingernails digging deep into my palms until dark crimson blood dripped onto the floor. Too weak. My current power wasn’t even a fraction of what it had been at my peak. As twin bosses of this brutal realm, my older sister, Seraphina, and I shared our life force and power. We rose together, and we fell together. Three years ago, my painfully naive sister surrendered her godlike powers for a player named Marcus. She abandoned the game and crossed into the real world to live what she called a normal life. How had I tried to warn her back then? “Humans are nothing but bottomless pits of greed and deceit, Seraphina. If you go out there completely defenseless, they will strip you to the bone and leave absolutely nothing left!” But she had only smiled, patting my head, her once-regal face filled with a desperate longing for cheap, fleeting warmth. “Val, Marcus is different. He showed me what real warmth feels like. I want to take a chance on him.” Warmth? To hell with that. A sudden, violent cough tore through my chest, and I spat out a mouthful of dark, stagnant blood. Feeling my life force drain away at a terrifying rate, I could almost smell the rot of my own soul. Seraphina was in trouble in the real world, a mortal danger so severe it was dragging me down with her. If she had the decency to just die, it would be fine, she would simply respawn here in the core, and we would rule our domain once more. But if she was kept in some half-dead state, she would drag me down to an eternity of pathetic weakness. Looking at the screen, staring at the absolute system protocol: [Dungeon Entities Strictly Forbidden From Exiting Game], a dark smirk curved my lips. I gripped my bone butterfly knife, channeled every ounce of my remaining power, and slammed the blade directly into the core of the console. “Warning! Unauthorized system tampering detected!” “Warning! Critical system vulnerability detected. Dimensional barrier compromised…” The shrill, mechanical alarm blared through the chamber. The massive backlash of energy instantly tore open the flesh of my hand. Blood dripped down the blade, but I didn’t stop. Instead, I drove the knife even deeper. The indestructible glass shattered, and a dark, jagged tear in space ripped open before me. It was a rift to the mortal realm, filled with chaotic currents that would shred a normal human to pieces. Without so much as flinching, I stepped right into the void. 2 The agonizing tearing sensation felt like it was ripping my soul to shreds. By the time my feet hit solid ground, my surroundings had completely changed. The sharp, clinical stench of bleach and rubbing alcohol hit me instantly. A private hospital in the mortal world. The localized reality protocols kicked in immediately, suppressing my already shattered power down to the level of a frail human. I clung to the cold wall, panting heavily, looking up as I followed the faint, agonizingly fragile tether of our twin bond. At the end of the corridor was a tightly closed intensive care room. My twin senses screamed that Seraphina was on the other side of that door. Peering through the small glass window on the door, the horrific scene inside finally met my eyes. On the bed lay a woman who was nothing but skin and bones. Her cheeks were hollow, her skin a ghastly, translucent grey, and her once-glorious dark hair was a matted, dry mess scattered across the pillow. A dirty, oversized hospital gown hung loosely off her skeletal frame, soaked through with some strange chemical fluid. If it weren’t for the residual thrum of our bloodline, I would never have believed this pathetic husk was my older sister, the legendary boss who had once slaughtered countless elite players without mercy. Dozens of thick medical tubes clung to her skin like bloated leeches, draining her veins. A heavy monitor beside the bed beeped rhythmically, actively harvesting her accumulated dungeon points and pumping them out. I watched her through the glass. I felt no pity, only a deep, burning contempt for her sheer stupidity. No wonder I couldn’t even beat a rookie back in the dungeon. I spun my blood-stained butterfly knife with practiced ease. There was no room for hesitation. I had to kill her. The moment she drew her last breath, the twin-reset protocol would trigger. We would shed these fragile, pathetic mortal shells and respawn at full strength back in our domain. My hand gripped the cold brass handle. But just as I prepared to step in and slit her throat, voices drifted through the crack in the door. “Marcus, baby, how many points does this monster have left anyway? I saw these gorgeous S-class glowing vanity wings in the shop yesterday, and I’m still short thirty thousand points.” A woman in a skin-tight, scarlet leather dress leaned against the bed. She twirled a strand of her dyed burgundy waves with bright red-lacquered nails, her eyes dripping with smug condescension. Beside her stood a man in a tailored designer suit, pushing up a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Marcus, the pathetic worm who had coaxed Seraphina out of her kingdom. Marcus offered a sleek, greedy smile. “Don’t worry, Raven. That stupid bitch is a walking goldmine. As long as we keep her on life support, the points will keep rolling in.” Raven giggled, casting a disgusted look at Seraphina’s limp body. “God, she’s repulsive. If it weren’t for the free points, I wouldn’t spend a single second in this smelly room looking at her pathetic face.” “Just bear with it a little longer,” Marcus chuckled, pinching Raven’s chin. His voice was filled with sheer mockery. “If I hadn’t played the devoted boyfriend and fed her a few cheap lies about warmth, she would have never surrendered her core crest. A literal monster thinking she could live a normal life with humans? It’s hilariously pathetic.” “Oh, Marcus, you’re absolutely wicked.” Raven giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling down his expensive silk tie. Marcus pinned her against the edge of the mattress. To the steady, mechanical beeping of Seraphina’s life support, they began to make out, tearing at each other’s clothes right in front of my dying sister. Listening from the hallway, my stomach churned with pure disgust. I knew my sister was blind, but I didn’t realize she had crawled into bed with garbage. Trading her divinity for this cheap piece of trash, reducing herself to a living battery. It was pathetic. I gripped my butterfly knife tight, the blue sigil on my temple throbbing with sheer hatred. I couldn’t stand the sound of their breath for another second. Inside, the rustling of clothes indicated they were finishing up. I took a half-step back, raising my leg to kick the door open and slaughter them both. But before my boot could make contact, the brass handle clicked, and the door swung open from the inside. 3 The moment the door opened, I found myself face-to-face with Marcus. He was casually adjusting his tie while Raven stood behind him, smoothing out her tight red dress. When his eyes landed on my face, he froze, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. “Seraphina?” Raven shrieked, her manicured finger trembling as she pointed at me. “How is that possible? The brain-dead bitch is literally still hooked to the machines inside!” Marcus, however, was quick to recover. The shock in his eyes melted into a chilling wave of pure greed. “She’s not Seraphina,” he whispered, his eyes scanning me like I was a mountain of gold. “She’s the twin boss… Valerie!” I didn’t waste time on words. Reversing my grip on my bone butterfly knife, I lunged, aiming directly for his carotid artery. But as the blade cut through the air, my limbs felt incredibly heavy. Seraphina’s dying state, combined with the crushing reality suppression of this realm, had reduced my physical capabilities to practically nothing. I was weaker than an average human. My once-lethal strike was a joke to him. He stepped aside easily, slipping a gold-glowing card from his jacket. “High-tier item: Absolute Stasis.” A blinding flash erupted, and translucent, heavy chains materialized out of thin air, binding my wrists and ankles. I hit the floor with a dull thud. The bone butterfly knife slipped from my grasp, clattering into a dark corner. “Oh, Marcus, you’re amazing!” Raven cheered. She strutted over, slamming her sharp heel right onto the back of my hand, grinding it into the floor. “Talk about a buy-one-get-one-free deal! Hook her up to the harvester too! I’ll get my wings in no time!” Marcus grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling my head back with a cruel laugh. “Patience, Raven. The twin boss system is complex. We need to figure out how to siphon both of them without triggering a system override. Take her to the basement.” This private clinic was Marcus’s personal playground, and he had a fully equipped dungeon of his own beneath the floorboards. I was dragged down into the pitch-black basement and suspended from the ceiling by heavy titanium cuffs. “Tell me,” Marcus snarled, holding a crackling high-voltage whip. “Where is the link to the twin core? How do we drain your point reserves?” The whip lashed across my chest. Blinding blue electricity surged through my skin, sending agonizing shocks straight to my nerves. I bit my lip until it bled, letting out a weak, raspy chuckle. I stared at him with eyes that promised his absolute death. “Think you’re tough?” Raven sneered, stepping forward with a vial of corrosive acid she had bought from the system shop. She grabbed my jaw, her face twisted with bitter jealousy. “This pretty little face of yours is just as annoying as your sister’s.” She tipped the vial, pouring the acid directly over my shoulder. My flesh bubbled and hissed, the agonizing chemical burn eating through skin and muscle to the bone. I entire body convulsed. Cold sweat soaked my clothes, but I refused to give them the satisfaction of a scream. They took turns torturing me, using every cruel item in their inventory. Soon, there wasn’t a single patch of uninjured skin left on my body. My blood dripped steadily from my toes, pooling on the concrete floor. But my mind remained razor-sharp. With every strike, I mapped out a hundred different ways to tear them apart. Pain was nothing. As long as I kept breathing, I would carve this debt into their very souls. “Marcus, the bitch is about to pass out, and she still won’t talk,” Raven huffed, wiping blood from her hands. Marcus frowned, reaching for a more brutal tool, when the system tracker on his wrist began to beep frantically with a loud countdown. 4 The shrill countdown echoed through the damp basement. Marcus’s face darkened, and he ripped off his tie in frustration. “Damn it. The mandatory dungeon queue is pulling us in.” Raven pointed a blood-stained finger at me. “What about her? We just leave her here?” “We have to. If we ignore a mandatory summon, the system will delete us,” Marcus growled. He tapped the wall panel, tightening the cuffs around my wrists until they cut off my circulation. “Leave her alive. We’ll finish her off when we get back. It’s just a low-tier B-class run anyway. We’ll be back in a few hours.” “Lucky bitch,” Raven spat, kicking dust in my direction. Two flashes of light enveloped them, and they vanished into thin air. The basement plunged into a heavy, suffocating silence. I stared at the heavy titanium bands around my wrists. The high-tier magic keeping them locked was incredibly strong, but my physical body was already numb from the torture. A bloody, chilling grin stretched across my lips. With a sudden, violent wrench of my left hand, I slammed my wrist against the sharp edge of the cuff, deliberately shattering my own thumb and wrist bones. The loud pop of cracking bone filled the quiet room. Without blinking, I dragged my mangled, bloody hand out of the metal ring, leaving a trail of skin and flesh behind. With one arm freed, the weight pulled me down, and I crashed onto the hard concrete. My internal organs screamed in protest. Coughing up a glob of dark blood, I used my good right arm to drag my broken legs across the floor, inch by painful inch. In the dim light of the corridor, my bone butterfly knife lay waiting. I grabbed the hilt, and the familiar cold texture made my blood boil with adrenaline. Step by step, I dragged myself up the dark, narrow stairs, leaving a thick trail of dark blood behind me. I clawed my way back to the top floor, right back to the intensive care unit. I pushed the door open. Seraphina lay there, looking more like a rotting corpse than a living being, the monitor still pulsing with that weak, mechanical beep. Clinging to the bedside frame, I forced myself upright. I looked down at her gaunt, ruined face, feeling nothing but a cold, hard resolve. “Sera, this pathetic nightmare is over.” Without another word, I raised the knife and drove it straight into her heart. The blade sank deep. Warm blood splashed across my face, and the monitor emitted a long, shrill, continuous tone as the green line went completely flat. At that exact moment, in the dead forest of the B-class dungeon, Marcus stepped out of the portal, his arm wrapped around Raven’s waist. “Marcus, it’s so creepy here… I’m scared,” Raven whimpered, clinging to his chest. “Don’t be,” Marcus said, adjusting his glasses and kissing her forehead. His voice was oozing with arrogance. “It’s just a low-tier run. With the legendary armor I just bought, we could clear this with our eyes closed. Just think of it as a vacation.” But as the words left his mouth, a massive, jagged crimson tear ripped open the dark sky above them. The ground beneath them began to violent shake, and then, the cold, mechanical voice of the system, a voice that struck terror into the hearts of every elite player, boomed across the sky: “CRITICAL WARNING!” “REAL-WORLD TWIN CORE RESYNCHRONIZATION DETECTED. DEATH-RESET MECHANISM SUCCESSFULLY ACTIVATED.” “CURRENT REALM UNDERGOING FORCED STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION… RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE.” “THIS REGIONAL B-CLASS DUNGEON HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO: SUPER S-CLASS!”

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I was the campus golden boy’s biggest simp. I would practically grovel at his feet, sending desperate late-night texts just to get his attention. [Hey, you still awake?] On the other end: [Yeah.] Even that single, freezing reply was enough to make my heart skip a beat. But a second later, a bizarre status notification popped up at the top of the chat window: The user mocked you and shared your pathetic chat history with the entire dorm. I froze. Dumbfounded, I tapped on the profile of his roommate, the terrifying campus bad boy who supposedly despised me and was notoriously homophobic. The user’s mouth curved up by exactly three pixels. Baby texted me. Smells so good. The user is re-reading your message and unzipping his pants. I went completely numb. What on earth was going on? 01 The chat window was acting incredibly weird. If I didn’t figure out the truth tonight, there was no way I would sleep. When I walked into Asher’s dorm room, he was holding his phone out, showing it to the guys. The second his eyes landed on me, his expression turned stiff. My chest tightened. Could those status prompts actually be real? I took a step closer, trying to sneak a peek at his screen. “Hey, Asher. What are you guys looking at?” Asher’s thumb quickly swiped, and he held up a gaming screenshot. His roommate chimed in. “Man, you should have seen it. Asher just pulled off a twelve-kill streak. Absolutely insane!” I let out a quiet breath. Of course. How could I even believe those weird pop-ups? I placed the carton of milk I had bought for him on his desk. “Remember to drink this, Asher. I will save you a seat for lectures tomorrow morning.” Asher gave a careless shrug of agreement. Just as I turned to leave, the bathroom door swung open. Ryder stepped out in a hurry, completely shirtless. I nearly crashed straight into his chest. He leaned against the doorframe, looking down at me. Droplets of water glistened on his pale, defined abs, slowly tracing the lines down. Thinking back to the filthy prompts on his chat status, my ears began to burn. “Ryder,” I mumbled. “What?” he asked. As he spoke, his gaze flicked to the desk. Everyone in the room had a carton of milk on their desk. But Asher had two, while everyone else only had one. I could not exactly ask Ryder about the crude messages on my phone screen. Losing his patience, Ryder brushed past me, his shoulder hitting mine. “If you don’t have anything else, get out.” So hostile. On my walk back to my dorm, I kept my eyes glued to the screen, where the status updates were still rolling. Asher: The user is enjoying a massive ego boost. Ryder: Smells so sweet. What laundry detergent does baby use? So frustrating. I am going to lose my mind. What was this absolute nonsense? Annoyed, I reported the app for a system glitch. 02 I woke up early just to secure a prime spot for Asher in the lecture hall. I waited and waited until he finally walked through the door. He looked tired from pulling an all-nighter, his hair slightly messy, but he still looked effortlessly handsome. Excited, I waved my hand. “Asher! Over here!” Immediately, heads turned. People started whispering. I tried to ignore them, but Asher instantly looked uncomfortable. “Hey, Asher! Sit over here!” a girl called out from a few rows down. Asher hesitated for a fraction of a second before walking past me to sit right next to her. My face burned with embarrassment. I should not have yelled his name in front of everyone. The whole campus knew I was gay. But Asher had not accepted me yet. He hated being associated with me too closely in public. As I sat there wallowing in regret, someone suddenly loomed over my desk. “Is this seat taken?” Ryder had walked in right behind Asher, witnessing the entire painful scene. I shook my head, and Ryder slid into the seat next to me. He was wearing a black hoodie, his hands pale and clean. He reached into the desk compartment and pulled out the breakfast sandwich I had bought for Asher. “Can I eat this?” Well, Asher was not going to eat it anyway. I nodded quietly. Without another word, Ryder tore open the wrapper. I was still sulking, staring blankly at the blackboard. Beneath the desk, Ryder gave my sleeve a gentle tug. “Still upset?” “No.” Ryder let out a low chuckle. “I am not eating your food for free. I will Venmo you.” I wanted to refuse. We were not close enough for me to buy him breakfast, and I had only added his number to keep tabs on Asher’s whereabouts. But I did not stop him. The moment class ended, Ryder’s long legs carried him out of the room ahead of me. My phone buzzed. Ryder sent you $52.00. I hated rich people. A pastry and a carton of milk were nowhere near worth fifty-two bucks. Annoyed but unable to resist free money, I accepted the transfer and glanced at his status. The user’s mood is skyrocketing. 03 Asher rarely initiated conversations. So when he texted me asking if I wanted to play basketball with him, I practically flew to the courts. But when I arrived, my heart sank. It was not just Asher. He had only invited me because they were short a player to make even numbers. Still, when they split into teams, I immediately joined Asher’s side. Ryder was there too, playing for the opposing team. He seemed to be in a terrible mood today. Every time I brushed past him during a play, his brow was furrowed in a tight, dark line. 04 During halftime, I volunteered to grab drinks. I set a heavy plastic bag of cold bottles on the grass, opened one, and handed it directly to Asher. The other guys on the court, who had warmed up to me after a game, started teasing. “Damn, Toby, you really know how to take care of a guy. Asher, man, just give in and date him already.” “Yeah! Thanks for the drinks, sweet cheeks!” I smiled at Asher, and he smiled back as he took the bottle. Everyone scrambled to grab a drink, leaving Ryder standing at the very back. I picked up the last bottle and held it out to him. “Here.” Ryder glared at the bottle, scowling, then turned on his heel to buy his own from the vending machine. I had heard he had a nasty temper. Brushing it off, I unscrewed my own drink and took a sip. When I unlocked my phone to check my messages, I saw the chat status had updated again. Asher: Ego fully stroked. Feeling a massive rush of secret satisfaction. Meanwhile, Ryder’s chat was loading frantically, scrolling with endless updates: Why did he open the bottle for him? He’s smiling again. He smiles so sweetly. Stop smiling at him. So jealous. I want to lock him away so no one else can look at him. I felt a burning gaze on me. I looked up and locked eyes with Ryder. His stare was raw, intense, and predatory. The chat status could not possibly be real. But then why was Ryder looking at me like that? Did I do something to piss him off? 05 When the second half started, Ryder played with a terrifying intensity. Single-handedly, he completely dominated the scoreboard, crushing our team. Someone on our side groaned in frustration. “Is Ryder trying to get scouted for the NBA or what?” “Seriously. It’s not like there are girls watching. Who is he playing so hard for?” Asher’s face grew incredibly tense. He gritted his teeth and tried to keep up. Gradually, my stamina gave out, and my movements slowed. Drenched in sweat, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up to wipe my face. My pale, slender waist was fully exposed in the bright sunlight. Just as Ryder dribbled past me, he suddenly grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand down. The referee instantly blew the whistle, calling a foul on him. I pulled my shirt down, staring at him in utter confusion. But Ryder just stood there, a faint, unbothered smirk playing on his lips. 06 Accidents are bound to happen on the court. As I was trying to block a player, someone slid into me, sending me crashing hard onto the concrete. “Ah!” I gasped, struggling to get back up. My knee was badly scraped and already starting to swell. Even with someone supporting me, I could not put any weight on it. “Damn, Mason, you hit him like a truck! Look what you did to his leg!” “Get him to the clinic. That’s going to get infected if we don’t clean it.” I tried to limp, but a sharp, blinding pain shot up my leg. “Don’t move, Toby. Someone needs to carry you.” Everyone turned their eyes to Asher. They all assumed Asher was the closest to me and would be the one to take me. But right then, the campus bell rang, and crowds of students began flooding onto the pathways nearby. Asher hesitated. The silence grew heavy and incredibly awkward. I was about to tell them it was fine, that I could hop there myself. But suddenly, a firm hand gripped my arm, and a broad back blocked my view. “Get on.” Short and commanding. It was Ryder. 07 He was tall, and his shoulders were incredibly broad. The campus paths were lined with blooming jacaranda trees, their purple petals drifting down around us. I looked up at the sky. Ryder carried me in silence before suddenly speaking up, his voice low. “What do you guys talk about?” “Huh?” Ryder’s voice softened even more. “I am not good at talking. You always have so much to say to him. Can you talk to me like that too?” I was trying to pursue Asher. The sweet, heart-fluttering things I wrote to my crush were not exactly things I could share with a guy I barely knew. So, I stayed silent. As we walked, Ryder suddenly gave me a slight jolt, tossing me higher on his back. Startled, I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. “What are you doing?!” Ryder let out a soft laugh, his large hands securing his grip under my thighs. “Nothing. My hands just slipped.” He gently set me down on the examination table in the clinic, standing by as the nurse began disinfecting my scraped knee. I winced, hissing through my teeth. Maybe trying to distract me from the pain, Ryder suddenly asked, “What do you even like about Asher?” I looked down. During our freshman year, someone had found out about my sexuality and posted about it on the anonymous school forum. The thread stayed pinned at the top for three agonizing days. I was dissected, judged, and ridiculed by the entire campus. I felt like my world was ending. I had crawled into a dark corner behind the old bleachers to cry by myself. Then, Asher had appeared. He walked up to me, handed me a bottle of peach milk, and told me to stop crying. That same night, the forum thread was hacked and permanently deleted. Someone told me they saw Asher leaving the computer lab. From that moment on, I decided Asher was my hero. Gradually, I began following him around like a shadow. Even though he never gave me a straight answer, the rare smiles he threw my way were enough to keep me going for months. The sharp sting of the alcohol prep pad made me flinch, tears welling up in my eyes. When I looked up at Ryder, my nose pink and eyes watery, I must have looked incredibly pathetic. “Ryder, I won’t be able to get around much for a while. Can you do me a favor?” Ryder knelt down in front of me, his gaze surprisingly gentle. “What do you need?” “Help me win Asher over.” I heard his knuckles pop as his hands clenched into tight fists. I flinched. Ryder had a reputation as a ruthless bad boy. Was he going to hit me? “It’s fine if you don’t want to!” I stammered, my voice trembling. Ryder’s eyes looked slightly bloodshot. “I’ll do it. But you have to promise me one condition.” 08 Early the next morning, Ryder knocked on my dorm door. I handed him the breakfast bag I had packed for Asher. He didn’t take it. Instead, he stared down at me with a blank, unreadable face. “So, do we hug first?” He took a step closer, pulling me firmly against his chest. My face pressed directly into the warm, solid muscle of his torso. I went completely stiff. Before I could even process what was happening, Ryder snatched the breakfast bag from my hand. He turned and walked away. The door slammed shut behind him. How terrifying. The condition I had agreed to back in the clinic was simple: I had to teach Ryder how to date. He claimed he had been single his entire life, and though he had a crush on someone, he was too terrified to make a move. He wanted me to teach him the ropes. My heart was still hammering against my ribs from how natural his embrace had felt. Assuming the breakfast had been delivered to Asher by now, I pulled out my phone and texted him. [Did you like the breakfast?] [It was decent. The banana milk was really sweet.] Huh? I had packed peach milk. Did I grab the wrong carton? I opened my chat with Ryder to ask him about it. But the moment his chat window loaded, his status caught my eye: The user is so embarrassed they want to kick a wall. They want to grab you and kiss you senseless. How alarming. I decided it was safer not to poke the bear. 09 Ryder started coming to my room more and more. Sometimes we practiced holding hands; sometimes we practiced hugging. Even my roommate got used to his constant presence, teasing us one afternoon. “Honestly, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you two were dating. You’re practically glued to each other.” I watched as Ryder’s lips curved into a faint, satisfied smirk. The audacity! My roommate had no idea he was joking with the campus bad boy. Ryder was only getting dating experience from me to use on his actual crush. Did he want to get killed? I quickly glared at my roommate to shut him up. Then, I turned a flattering smile on Ryder. Ryder’s expression instantly turned icy. He snatched the box of chocolates I had bought for Asher and walked out. The door slammed so hard the walls vibrated. After I showered, I received a rare, unsolicited message from Asher: [That was really sweet of you. Those chocolates are expensive.] His status read: Touched. I was a bit surprised. They were only about twenty dollars. That wasn’t really expensive. [By the way, my birthday party is next Friday. You should come.] Asher was actually inviting me. Overjoyed, I exited the chat, my eyes naturally drifting to Ryder’s status. Because I had been asking him to deliver things to Asher for me, I ended up texting him far more than I ever texted Asher. His status at that moment read: A little overwhelmed by the sweetness, but loving every second of it. 10 On the day of Asher’s birthday party, the weather was miserable. The moment I stepped outside, the sky opened up. I had an umbrella, but to protect the carefully wrapped gift in my arms, I let myself get completely drenched. By the time I finally reached the lounge bar, I realized Asher hadn’t sent me the room number. I called and texted him, but got no reply. His status read: Drunk and having a blast. A cold gust of wind made me shiver. I stopped a server, gave them Asher’s name, and was guided down a dim hallway to a private VIP room. I smoothed down my wet clothes, trying to look presentable, and prepared to knock. But then, through the heavy door, I heard my own name. The atmosphere inside was nothing like I had imagined. The heavy, suffocating stench of alcohol and vape smoke leaked through the gap. The harsh, neon purple lights cast ugly shadows on everyone inside. “Yo, Asher lost the round! Truth or dare, man. What’s the deal with that gay kid who follows you around like a lost puppy? Are you actually going to date him?” Asher’s voice sounded slurred, distorted. “No way in hell. I like girls. I just think he’s hilarious. It’s fun to play along.” “Oh, damn!” The room erupted into loud, mocking laughter. My heart felt like it had been violently squeezed. “Keep going, keep going!” “Asher lost again! This time, it’s a dare! Call your little simp, put it on speaker, and tell him you love him! We want to hear his reaction!” Everyone in the room cheered, their faces twisted with cruel excitement. “Yeah! Let’s see how fast he loses his mind.” Asher looked a bit uncomfortable. But with his friends egging him on, he pulled out his phone. A second later, my screen lit up with Asher’s incoming call.

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My father’s first love and my mother’s boy toy showed up at our door looking for a fight. At first, I figured it had nothing to do with me. Until Dad’s first love narrowed her eyes and pointed straight at me. “Why does she get to spend your money studying overseas? Your money is mine. That woman’s daughter has no right to touch it.” Then Mom’s boy toy actually whined at her. “Babe, we’ll have kids of our own someday. The daughter you had with that old man doesn’t deserve your money.” I laughed from pure disbelief. I was the heir my grandfather had trained himself. And these two thought they could come after what was mine? 01 Sometimes, no matter how capable you are, you still have to do things you don’t want to do. Like now. On a bright, lazy afternoon I could have spent doing absolutely anything else, I was sitting here drinking tea with a room full of idiots. The tea was just the right temperature. I took a slow sip. Grandpa was getting old. His health had been failing these past few years, and lately all he wanted was to see the family at least pretending to get along. For that one small wish of his, I had agreed to live with my parents for a while before leaving the country. A little show of fatherly kindness and filial devotion. Something to put an old man’s heart at ease. I just hadn’t expected them to be this stupid. Two leeches raising two more leeches, and now they wanted to challenge me. I didn’t even lift my eyes. “Marissa, at your age, the whole delicate little mistress act is a bad look.” Her face stiffened. “And besides, Grandpa kicked my dad out of the company’s core management ten years ago. What exactly are you showing off for?” My father, Victor Whitmore, and his first love, Marissa Vale, both went pale. My mother was just about to laugh at them when my next sentence wiped the smirk right off her face. “And Mom, this little boyfriend of yours is really not it. He looks like boiled chicken. Pale, soft, one stiff breeze away from passing out. Kidney deficiency vibes, honestly.” I tilted my head. “And kids? Does he not know you’ve already gone through menopause?” “You brat!” My father straightened up in front of the woman he loved, suddenly brave. “We are your elders! Is that how you speak to your elders?” “Exactly! Menopause? What menopause? You’re making things up!” My mother, Lauren, snapped too. “Briar, we finally sit down together for tea, and you have to make it this ugly?” I picked up a napkin and dabbed at the corner of my mouth. Honestly, after living with Grandpa at the old estate all these years, I’d almost forgotten what kind of people they were. My parents had been a classic business-marriage disaster. After I was born, they each went off to play their own games. Their concern for me was basically nonexistent. When I was little and living in this villa, they spent all day partying outside and didn’t come home for more than a year. I was abused by the live-in nanny until I was nearly starved to death. If Grandpa hadn’t returned early from a project in Europe, I would have died in this house. After that, Grandpa was furious. He froze my father’s trust for three years, kicked him out of the company, and took me back to the old estate to raise me himself. Without my parents’ care, I finally had a peaceful childhood. After college, I planned to study abroad and expand our overseas markets along the way. But Grandpa was getting older. He hoped my parents and I could repair things, so he asked me to live with them for a while before I left. A chance to reconnect, he said. Now it seemed there was no need. Bringing their lovers home to provoke me. What was this supposed to be, a lesson in parental authority? Only idiots like my parents could come up with something this ridiculous. I looked at them and smiled. The next second, I flipped the table. After what happened with the nanny, I had learned kickboxing for self-defense. Marissa reacted fast and dodged. Mom’s boy toy shielded her, so she was fine too. Dad wasn’t so lucky. Scalding tea splashed all over him. He opened his mouth to curse, but I cut him off with one cold look. “Mom. Dad. You don’t have the ability to act like elders, so don’t try to pull rank with me.” I dusted off my clothes. “What, did age take your brains with it?” I had no interest in wasting more breath on them. “Briar! I’m your father!” Dad finally lost it. “Is this how you talk to your own father?” Mom couldn’t hold back either. “Briar! I carried you for ten months!” “Do you know I nearly died on the operating table giving birth to you? And this is how you treat your mother?” They usually lived their own separate messy lives, but when it came to dealing with me, they were impressively in sync. “I know all that,” I said, smiling as I pulled a stack of documents from my bag. “That’s why I brought you gifts today.” “Dad, did you know Marissa has a son? Motherly love really is powerful. For her own kid, she can even tolerate someone as old and ugly as you.” “And Mom, your puppy here has been using your money to date more than a dozen girls at school. He’s all over the campus gossip page. You should take a look.” The scene instantly turned brutal. Screams, shrieks, accusations, all tangled together. I blinked, picked up my bag, and walked out. Honestly. They couldn’t even recognize the people sleeping beside them, and they wanted to fight me? 02 After handling some work that evening, I went back to the old estate to see Grandpa. The moment I stepped through the door, the butler came forward. “Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore arrived this afternoon. They’ve been keeping the old gentleman company.” I raised an eyebrow, not surprised. When I entered the living room, sure enough, the three of them were on the sofa. Victor was bent forward, carefully offering Grandpa a cup of freshly brewed pu-erh tea. Lauren sat on the other side, gently massaging Grandpa’s shoulders. Grandpa leaned back against the sofa, smiling. The moment he saw me, he lifted a hand and beckoned, his voice growing stronger. “Briar’s back? Come here, sweetheart.” The harmonious atmosphere in the room froze instantly. Dad’s hand paused in midair, the smile on his face almost cracking. Mom’s hands stopped moving too. The corners of her mouth visibly dropped. Grandpa acted as if he didn’t see their expressions. He waved a hand. “All right. You’ve both kept me company all afternoon. Go home. I have some things to discuss with my granddaughter alone.” “Dad, we…” Mom tried to speak, but Grandpa swept one glance over her, and she shut up immediately. Dad didn’t dare defy him. He could only stand up through gritted teeth. As he passed me, he shot me a vicious glare. Mom followed behind him and rolled her eyes when she walked past me. Once they were gone, the living room fell quiet. “Come. Let’s go to the study. Play a game of chess with me.” Grandpa braced himself on the armrest and slowly stood. I hurried forward to support his arm. His body had gotten worse year after year. The man who once carried me running through the courtyard now had to catch his breath after only a few steps. Even when he placed a chess piece on the board, his hand trembled faintly beyond his control. We hadn’t walked far when Grandpa spoke first, his voice calm. “I heard about what happened at the house today.” “Your parents have always been foolish. You know that.” My hand paused around the chess piece. I said nothing. “These years, you’ve done very well. You learned the company from me. You’re much stronger than either of them.” “In the blink of an eye, that tiny girl grew up.” His voice thickened. “I still remember when you were born. Such a small little thing. I named you Briar. People said a girl couldn’t carry a name that strong.” “I wasn’t happy about that at all.” He tapped the chessboard. “My granddaughter can carry any name in the world.” He looked at me. “And you proved it. You handle the company cleanly, decisively. I knew it. My granddaughter was born to stand above the crowd.” Tears suddenly rolled down his face. “But I still worry about you. A sharp mind can cut the person who carries it. You understood too much too early. You’re sensitive, and those parents of yours are unreliable.” “When I’m gone, what will you do alone?” “Grandpa,” I said, sniffling, “I’m not alone. I still have you with me. I’ll be fine.” Grandpa shook his head and patted the back of my hand. “Put studying abroad on hold for now.” His eyes were tired. “I’ve already given instructions. Starting tomorrow, you will act in my place as chair of the board.” He paused. “But you must promise me one thing. No matter what foolish thing your father does in the future…” “Make sure he never lacks food or shelter.” 03 I became so busy at the company that I barely had time to breathe. Everyone was waiting to laugh at me, waiting to see how a young woman like me could possibly sit firmly in the chairmanship. The first person to come looking for me was Dad. He didn’t even get to see my face before security escorted him out of the building. After all, he wasn’t even a shareholder anymore. Just a spoiled trust-fund failure living off family money. But I hadn’t expected Grant Blackwell to come back to the country. He was the grandson of my grandfather’s closest friend. Born into a military family, broad shoulders, narrow waist, handsome features. Exactly the kind of man most girls would find attractive. My parents had arranged the engagement themselves. Their plan was simple. They hoped I would fall head over heels for that pretty face, lose myself in romance, become as brainless as them, and then let them coax the Whitmore shares right out of my hands. Unfortunately for them, they miscalculated. Since I started learning company business from Grandpa at fifteen, I had seen plenty of men with beautiful faces and rotten intentions underneath. Over the years, I had always been lukewarm toward Grant. He, too, only came looking for me when he remembered I existed. “Briar.” Grant walked up to my desk, his voice carrying just the right amount of concern. “I heard everything. Your grandfather handed the whole group over to you.” “You’re a young woman, suddenly taking on a business this big. The pressure must be enormous. How can your body hold up like this?” He leaned forward slightly, his tone growing gentler. “I’ve already taken a leave from school. I’m back for good this time.” “Briar, you don’t have to carry this alone. I’ll help you.” “I studied financial management overseas. And we’re engaged. It’s only right that I help you manage the company.” Listening to him, I nearly laughed out loud. For a moment, I couldn’t decide whether Grant had no brain, or whether he thought I didn’t. Men were born with this absurd confidence. They always believed that if they were handsome enough and said a few pretty words, women would fall madly in love and hand over everything they owned. I raised an eyebrow, just about to respond, when a powerful male voice rang from the doorway. “Who said my niece can’t handle it?” I looked up and saw my uncle, Raymond Caldwell, standing at the door. This uncle of mine was much smarter than my love-obsessed mother. At least he never directly provoked me the way my parents did. “Where did this pretty boy come from?” Raymond strode over to Grant. “Trying to live off a woman and still making it sound noble?” “My niece needs your help? She grew up learning from the old man himself. Since when does an outsider get to point fingers here?” Grant had thick skin. Even being mocked in public didn’t anger him. He smiled. “I’m Briar’s fiancé.” “It’s perfectly natural for me to share her burden.” “Fiancé?” Raymond rolled his eyes. “And I’m her actual uncle.” Then he turned to me, his face full of smiles. “Briar, let your uncle make the call today. Dump this guy.” “I’ll introduce you to a whole stack of better men. Every single one stronger than this freeloader.” I couldn’t help laughing, though I knew exactly what was at stake. The Blackwell family’s military connections were crucial to the overseas security project I planned to push forward. So on the surface, at least, I couldn’t tear this engagement apart yet. I stood and looked at Grant apologetically. “Grant, I’m sorry. My uncle has always been blunt. He doesn’t mean any harm. Don’t take it personally.” “You should go first. I’ll come find you later.” Grant glanced sideways at Raymond, then looked back at me with a smile. “Briar, I’ll wait for you tonight at the InterContinental for dinner.” Then he left. Only Raymond and I remained in the office. His eyes shifted, and he rubbed his hands together with a smile. “Briar, I heard… you’re chair of the Whitmore Group now?” I understood immediately. So this was what he had come for. I pulled out a chair, sat down, poured him tea, and smiled. “Uncle Ray, we’re family. No need to circle around.” “If you have something to say, just say it.” “My niece really is straightforward!” His eyes lit up, and he immediately followed the opening. “Here’s the thing. Your uncle has a project recently. Guaranteed profit, no loss. It just needs a little startup capital.” “You’re chair now. Could you invest a little in your uncle’s project? Not much. Just a hundred million.” My smile didn’t change. I agreed instantly. “Of course, Uncle.” “As your niece, I have to support your career.” “Have your assistant send over the project materials later. I’ll ask finance to start the process.” Raymond hadn’t expected me to agree so quickly. His eyes brightened. Then he added, “Also, Briar, your cousin just graduated from college this year. Could you let him come to your company and help you out? Let him learn from you.” My uncle and aunt only had one daughter, Iris, who was studying abroad. The “cousin” he meant, Liam, was his illegitimate son. I had heard Mom mention him a few times. Raymond treasured that secret son of his. But my aunt had a fierce temper and tolerated no betrayal. As luck would have it, Raymond had been able to sit comfortably as chairman of the Caldwell family business all these years partly because my mother loved helping her younger brother, but mostly because of his wife. So he didn’t dare let her know the illegitimate son existed. I kept smiling and nodded. “No problem. Once Liam graduates, have him report to HR. I’ll have a vice president mentor him personally.” Raymond was overjoyed and left happily. The office finally quieted down. The smile slowly faded from my face. If there had only been one dog, I might have had a problem. But now there were two. All I had to do was wait for the show. 04 Grandpa’s death came suddenly. That day, I was out of town negotiating a project when I received the butler’s call. I rushed back overnight. Dad had already arranged the funeral. The funeral home was cold. Low music drifted through the air. In the center of the memorial hall hung Grandpa’s black-and-white portrait. Before the coffin, Dad knelt on a cushion, sobbing like his heart had been ripped out. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he was the most devoted son in the world. Beside him, a woman held a swaddled baby and gently soothed it. I recognized her vaguely. One of Dad’s mistresses. “Dad! Open your eyes and look!” Dad cried, pounding the coffin heavily. His voice was hoarse. “You finally have a grandson! I gave you a grandson!” “Why couldn’t you wait to see him? Why did you leave?” I stood there as my stomach churned. Just then, my mother stormed in. The moment her eyes landed on the baby in the woman’s arms, she exploded like a firecracker and lunged forward to snatch it. “Victor Whitmore, you filthy stud! You dare bring your bastard child to the old man’s funeral? I’ll smash this little curse to death today!” The woman screamed and dodged back. Dad immediately stood and shielded her. The two of them began fighting in an instant. A proper memorial hall became a circus within seconds. I only stood quietly and looked at Grandpa, as if all the noise had nothing to do with me. My nose suddenly stung. Tears gathered in my eyes, but I held them back with everything I had. Only when the lawyer entered the hall did the chaos finally quiet down. He carried a document envelope in his hand. Grandpa’s will. The lawyer cleared his throat, bowed deeply to Grandpa’s portrait, then opened the will and read it word by word. Most of the real estate would be split equally among my parents and me. Grandpa’s lifetime collection of paintings, antiques, cars, and scattered investment and trust income all went to me. And then came the most important part. The shares of the Whitmore Group. The forty percent of shares Grandpa held during his life would be divided equally between me and my father, Victor Whitmore. Each of us would inherit twenty percent. I stood frozen as half the blood in my body seemed to turn cold. I already held the ten percent Grandpa had transferred to me years earlier. With this inherited twenty percent, I had thirty percent total. Enough to stand firmly in the company. Not enough to fully control the Whitmore Group. And Dad, a useless playboy Grandpa had kicked out of core management ten years ago, a man who wasn’t even a shareholder yesterday, had gained twenty percent overnight. That meant he now had the capital to fight me head-on. I frowned. I knew Grandpa had arranged this out of fatherly love. But he had overestimated my father. Grandpa could give him shares. Dad could not hold on to them. Dad froze for a few seconds, then burst into irrepressible laughter. “I knew it! Dad still cared about me, his son!” He glanced at me smugly. “So what if the old man trained you as heir? I’m not only your father. I’m his only son.” As he spoke, he touched the baby’s cheek. “Briar, you’d better be careful. A girl running a company? That kind of glory never lasts.” I lowered my eyes, expressionless. “Dad, whether my glory lasts or not, we’ll see.” “But it’s true that you’re a poor judge of people. Marissa fooled you for so long. This time, try not to get fooled again.” “I already threw that woman out!” Dad snarled, clearly stabbed in a sore spot. “Just wait until your brother and I replace you.” With that, he wrapped an arm around the woman, held the newborn baby, and walked out of the memorial hall without looking back. Mom was so angry her face turned green. Pointing at his back, she cursed and chased after him in her heels, shouting that she was going to settle this properly. The memorial hall, noisy moments ago, emptied in an instant. Only I remained. Me, and Grandpa lying in the coffin. I stood there for a very long time. So long my legs went numb and lost all feeling. Only then did I brace myself against the cold funeral home wall and move outside one step at a time. From the memorial hall to the parking lot was only a few hundred yards. Holding the wall, I walked for half an hour. That was enough time to think through many things. I suddenly remembered years ago, when Grandpa first brought me back to the old estate. He had stroked my head and said, “Briar, if no one helps you walk, then lean on the wall and walk by yourself. Go slowly. You’ll get out eventually.” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I covered my face and cried without a sound.

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My master is the immortal final boss of the Eldritch Realm. And I am just the flower-selling NPC at his manor gate. Until one day, both the players and I saw the floating stream chats. [Want to kill the final boss? It’s simple. Just attack that flower girl NPC.] [Who would’ve thought an eldritch boss could be so innocent? He washes off his blood, dresses up cleanly, buys flowers, and blushes just talking to her.] [Lol, but the flower girl has severe face blindness. She hasn’t recognized him once.] 01 Late at night, I was tapping away on my calculator. This month, I had been caught in the crossfire of players challenging the final boss a total of five times. Three times my stand was flipped, and twice my flowers were trampled. Yet, every single morning, my little stall would miraculously restore itself, with fresh flowers arranged neatly as if nothing had ever happened. Meanwhile, the taco stand next to me, which suffered the same collateral damage, remained a total disaster. The taco vendor looked at me with deep envy. “Daisy, are you sure you didn’t hire some anomaly to clean up for you?” he asked. “You’re so pretty and sweet, maybe some secret admirer skeleton is quietly doing it?” I shook my head, offering a shy smile. “No way.” I have severe face blindness. During my worst years, I couldn’t even recognize my own mother, once crying and begging to go with an anomaly human-trafficker. The trafficker, having never seen a kid like me, was so terrified she jumped into her van and sped away. Because I was decent-looking, I received plenty of love letters from anomalies growing up, but since I could never tell who was who, I never replied. Consequently, I didn’t have close friends. My only real bestie was a skeleton spirit, but she felt walking around as bare bones was too exposing and recently underwent a full-body skin-graft surgery. Now, I couldn’t even recognize my best friend. But when God closes a door, He opens a window. I was incredibly lucky. Six months ago, I managed to score a vacant, unclaimed stall right outside the highly coveted Ashenvale Manor, the residence of the ultimate boss, and began selling flowers to make a living. The neighboring vendors affectionately called me “Daisy.” I thought my days would pass quietly like this. Until recently. Someone among the players placed a massive bounty on the boss’s head. Countless reckless players began swarming the place. 02 Late at night, I finished calculating my accounts for the month and counted the remaining stock. Just as I was about to pull down the metal shutter to go home, a hand firmly caught it. “Wait.” The shutter slowly rose, revealing a man in a well-tailored trench coat with a pale, strikingly handsome face. “Can I still order flowers?” the man asked, his voice gentle. “I want to buy a bouquet for the girl I like.” I was slightly dazed by his looks. “Of course. What kind of flowers would you like? Eyeball lilies? Finger blossoms? Our heart-shaped roses are selling well lately, though they’re pricier since player drops have been low.” “What about you?” Under the warm yellow light, the tips of the man’s ears turned a deep crimson. “What kind of flowers do you like?” Compared to the eyeballs and hearts popular in our world, I preferred the normal seeds brought over by the players. I walked into the back room and brought out a bundle of ignored yellow roses. “I like yellow roses.” The man looked thoughtful. “Yellow roses it is then. I think she’ll like them too.” Before leaving, holding the large bouquet, he asked, “Can I come back tomorrow to order more?” No one turns down easy money. I nodded. “Of course.” As he turned to leave, I noticed a trail of bloody footprints behind him, as if he had been gravely injured. No wonder he looked so pale. Even after being hurt like that, he didn’t forget to buy flowers for the girl he liked. I didn’t think much of the encounter. The next morning, I was still the first to open my stall. A crowd of players was loitering around the manor gates. I recognized the emblem on their clothes instantly, a black scythe. These people were here to kill the boss again. 03 “Hey shopkeeper, how’s business lately?” A few players approached my stall. The one bringing up the rear looked thoroughly bored, lazily flicking a lighter open and closed. Before I could answer, another player sneered, “Why are you asking a brainless NPC? Didn’t you check the guild archives? She’s just a D-rank flower girl with unknown attack power. She’s got a pretty face, but she’s clearly nothing special.” The player who asked scratched his head. “I wasn’t the one asking, it was him…” Snap. The bored player closed his lighter. The rest of the group immediately fell silent. He stepped forward, stopping right in front of my stand. “I’m Jude,” he said. “I wanted to ask if there’s been any unusual activity around the manor lately?” So this was Jude. Just as players kept files on us, anomalies had a leaderboard for players. Jude was a rising star who had climbed to the very top of the danger rankings at an alarming speed. I lowered my head, adjusting an eyeball lily. “No.” Actually, there was. Last night, our local forums had exploded with rumors that the boss had been ambushed, gravely injured, and was now unconscious. But as an anomaly, I wasn’t about to tell the truth to players. Before Jude could speak, the others grew impatient. “No way! Jude, don’t listen to her!” “I saw it with my own eyes. The Guild Master risked his life to corner the boss. We were so close, but the bastard managed to escape.” “Now that our Guild Master is wounded, the boss must be hiding in the manor to heal. Jude, you’re the only one who can…” “Are you buying flowers?” I interrupted, picking up the bouquet of eyeball lilies. “If not, please step aside.” I was clearly showing them the door. To my surprise, Jude pulled out a thick stack of local currency. “I’ll buy them.” “Since I bought your flowers, can you tell me a bit more about what you’ve seen these past few days?” “Sure.” I took the money without hesitation. Jude hadn’t specified that I couldn’t lie. So, I started talking about my ruined stall and ended with the yellow roses I sold yesterday, glossing over every important detail. Jude remained calm, but the players behind him were losing their patience. Just as one of them was about to cut me off, lines of glowing text suddenly floated in the air above us. [This is agonizing to watch. Want to kill the final boss? It’s simple. Just attack that flower girl NPC.] [They gave the boss such high defense and attack stats, so he had to have a weakness. Who would have guessed the boss’s weakness is the flower girl at the gate?] [Who would’ve thought an eldritch boss could be so innocent? He washes off his blood, dresses up cleanly, buys flowers, and blushes just talking to her.] [Not going to name names, but someone was sniffing those yellow roses like a lovesick fool last night.] [Too bad the flower girl is face-blind. She hasn’t recognized him once.] … I slowly raised my head. Suddenly, the eyes of every player in the square locked onto me. [System Notification: You have reached the end of the free preview. Please unlock the next chapter to reveal Daisy’s fate and the dark secrets of Ashenvale Manor.] My back was instantly drenched in a cold sweat. My skin prickled with danger, but I didn’t dare take a single step back. Regardless of whatever nonsense these floating texts were spouting, if the players believed it, the more aggressive ones would attack me immediately to force the boss out. Under the circumstances, I decided to play dumb. I pretended I couldn’t see the text. “Is there anything else you want to ask? Blocking my stall affects my business,” I said, pushing the eyeball lilies toward Jude. The next second, the air whistled as a dagger flew straight toward the space between my eyes. The eyeball lilies were knocked out of my hand, scattering across the ground. It was too fast. At this distance, I couldn’t dodge. But at the critical moment, the dagger was deflected. It grazed my ear, slicing off a lock of my hair. The strand twirled in the air before drifting slowly to the ground. “Jude, are you insane?!” A player wearing glasses held his bruised wrist, his eyes wide with fury. “Didn’t you see that? Attacking this NPC will draw the boss out!” “He’s heavily injured right now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! If we kill him, this nightmare realm will collapse, and you…” Jude’s expression was freezing. “This is the anomaly world. Are you sure you want to trust random floating text?” “Besides.” Jude’s eyes swept over the crowd of anomalies gathering around us, drawn by the commotion. “If the boss actually shows up now, do you think any of us are walking out of here alive?” The players looked at one another, and no one dared to speak. “My apologies. I won’t be taking the flowers,” Jude said, leaving double the payment on the counter. He turned and walked away, but some of the players still weren’t ready to let it go. The guy with the glasses was breathing heavily, glaring at me with raw resentment. A kind-hearted player pulled his arm. “Let’s go. Jude already left.” I gathered the scattered eyeball lilies from the ground. With a little dusting, they could still be sold. One batch of flowers, three payments. With that happy thought, I offered the glasses-wearing player a friendly smile. He froze, his eyes filling with sudden terror, and his entire body began to shake. Without waiting for his companion to urge him again, he spun around and bolted, running as if a demon were snapping at his heels. Huh? I looked behind me. There was no one there. Was my face really that terrifying? 04 Once the players left, the curious anomalies dispersed. Over the years, anomalies and players had maintained a tense but mostly peaceful coexistence outside of active trials. The taco vendor next door kindly helped me set up the potted plant the players had knocked over. “Those players are losing their minds,” he muttered. “Broad daylight, and they just start attacking you?” As he spoke, lines of text kept floating past, but the vendor didn’t seem to notice. It seemed only the players and I could see them. Being special is rarely a good thing. I had long outgrown the age of thinking I was the chosen protagonist of some grand story. I just wanted to run my shop peacefully, save up a fortune, and retire early. [Jude’s strategic retreat is brilliant. He pretends to argue and leave, but he’s actually watching from the shadows.] [If the boss comes to buy flowers tonight, he’s walking straight into a trap.] [What if the boss doesn’t show up?] [Trust me, that lovesick fool would crawl here like a caterpillar even if he lost all his limbs.] … I looked back at the yellow roses in my storage. Whether the rumors of his crush were true or not, the yellow roses were a hard sell, and I was close to losing money on them. So, I decided to pitch yellow roses to every anomaly who stopped by. Which one of them was the boss anyway? The rest of the day passed without incident. Night fell, and a light drizzle began to patter against the pavement. I organized my stock and cleaned up, preparing to head home early. The moment I reached for the light switch, the text in the air suddenly spiked in volume. I instinctively looked outside. “Can I still order flowers?” A man stood under an umbrella, tilting his head slightly to look at me. He really was remarkably handsome. “Of course! I have a special offer on eyeball lilies today. They’re visually stunning and edible, our best seller. Want to take a look?” He paused, his ears turning slightly red. “No, thank you.” “I would like a bouquet of yellow roses, please. Do you have any left?” The text was scrolling at lightning speed now. [Is the boss really injured? He looks completely fine.] [What if it’s bait? Maybe he leaked the injury rumor just to wipe out the top players in one go.] [Should we test him?] [If he isn’t hurt, anyone who tries to test him will be wiped out instantly.] … The sound of rustling leaves came from the trees nearby. Several players dropped down from the branches. Jude looked toward the flower shop with a complicated expression. “Jude, should we…” “Fall back for now.” I brought out a bundle of yellow roses from the back. As I arranged them, I couldn’t help but think how handsome this customer was. Wait, what did he look like again? I quietly sneaked another glance at him. Seeing this, the boss stood a little straighter. [If I counted correctly, that’s the seventeenth time she’s sneaked a peek at him. She gets starstruck every time, then immediately forgets his face.] [Look at him, his face is completely red. He’ll probably claim it’s just warm out.] [He’s probably already picked out names for their future children.] … I wrapped the roses and handed them over. “The girl I like is very fond of yellow roses,” he said, looking into my eyes. “I bought a bouquet yesterday too. Do you remember?” I shook my head. He seemed slightly disappointed, his eyelids drooping, casting long shadows with his lashes. “Silas. That is my name. Next time, will you remember it?” The customer is always right. I agreed. “I will.” As the strongest entity in this realm, I supposed I should technically call Silas my master. Before he left, I decided to offer a small warning. “Um, please be careful lately.” Silas’s eyes lit up instantly. “I will.” Once the transaction was over, I closed the shutter and caught the last train home. Back at the flower shop, the dark mist slowly coalesced into a human figure. Silas stood in the shadows, staring in the direction my train had gone. He pressed a hand to his chest, a trickle of dark blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Hearing a faint rustle in the dark, he raised his hand, and countless black tentacles erupted from his shadow. The player who had been tailing him from the trees was dragged out. Before he could even scream, his neck was snapped.

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1 In my fifth year driving nights for a ride-hail service, I finally saved enough for a home down payment with my boyfriend. Near dawn after my last fare, a young woman got in and immediately burst into tears. “Don’t go home. Just drive anywhere.” She then sent me twenty thousand dollars on Venmo. “Sorry if I scared you. I just feel pathetic. Consider it payment for some peace and quiet. Just drive.” Staring at the screen, my eyes burned. I nodded. With this money, Nathan wouldn’t have to work himself to death or live on plain noodles anymore. From the back seat, she sobbed, “Three years together, and he’s always been perfect. But I found a note in his phone. He bought a river-view penthouse under a stranger’s name. When I asked, he dodged. Is he hiding another woman?” My heart clenched, but before I could speak, her phone rang. A man’s gentle voice answered, “Baby, stop the tantrum. It’s under my assistant’s name, decorated in French style for your proposal surprise next month. Didn’t expect you to find out early. It’s snowing; send your location, I’m coming.” I slammed the brakes. Ice flooded my veins. The voice belonged to my boyfriend of seven years. Half an hour ago, he’d texted: [Something came up at work. Don’t wait up.] After the call ended, the girl in the back seat clearly calmed down. She pulled out two tissues, wiped her tears, sniffled, and her voice already carried the spoiled softness of someone used to being cherished. “I really made a fool of myself just now.” “He’s always like this. He’s obviously preparing a surprise, but he refuses to say a word and scares me half to death.” My hands were slick with sweat around the steering wheel. I could not have mistaken that voice. Seven years. Even if Nathan only said a few words, I would know him instantly. And just thirty minutes earlier, he had told me a project had suddenly gone wrong and that he had to stay at the office all night. I had even worried he would ruin his health from overworking and replied: [Don’t keep eating instant noodles. I’ll bring you porridge tomorrow.] Thinking about it now, I felt like a joke. The girl in the back seat lowered her head and played with her phone, continuing on her own. “I’ve felt like something was off with him lately. He wouldn’t let me see his phone, and he was acting all mysterious. I really thought he was keeping someone on the side.” She laughed at herself. “Thank God it was a misunderstanding. Otherwise, I’d go insane.” My throat tightened. After a long while, I forced out a soft, “Mm.” As if making casual conversation, she suddenly asked, “Driver, are you still out this late to support your family?” I stared at the road ahead and said quietly, “I’m saving for my wedding.” She paused, then her tone gained a trace of unconscious superiority. “Your boyfriend is way too relaxed about you. He actually lets you drive alone this late?” “If I go out at night by myself, mine gets so nervous. Like tonight, I ran out on my own and he almost blew up my phone. There’s no way he’d let me work outside this late.” The more she spoke, the stiffer my hands became. For five years, I worked at a bakery during the day and drove at night. At my busiest, I slept only three or four hours a day. I took orders during storms. I drove through snow. I was harassed by drunk passengers, reported unfairly, and cheated out of fares. Once, at two in the morning, after my last ride, two drunk men followed me down an alley. I was terrified and called Nathan. He only said, “Call the police first. Be careful. I can’t leave right now.” Another time, I fell off my e-bike rushing to an order. My knee was covered in blood. I sent him a photo, and he replied, “Go to a pharmacy and clean it up. Don’t make me worry.” Back then, I still made excuses for him. He was busy. He couldn’t get away. That was normal. I even felt bad for him. Men had pressure too. I shouldn’t trouble him with everything. So I worked harder, took more orders, earned more money, and poured most of my income into our life. Rent, utilities, the expenses he said were caused by “tight cash flow on the project.” If I could help, I helped. I always thought we were enduring hardship together. It turned out I was the only one enduring it. The car was quiet for a while. Then the girl in the back seat smiled, sounding much lighter. “But he really is good to me.” “He’s busy with work, sure. But when it comes to me, I’m always his first priority.” I said nothing. Before long, a black luxury car stopped by the road. The girl’s eyes lit up. She immediately opened the door, ran over, and threw herself into the man’s arms. The man caught her, then wrapped her inside his coat, lowering his head to tuck her scarf properly around her neck. His movements were natural. Familiar. As if he had done it countless times. Through the rearview mirror, I saw him clearly. That face belonged to Nathan. I had been with him for seven years. We lived in the cheapest shared apartment, ate the cheapest takeout, and only went to the movies on discount days. But I had never seen him wear a coat that expensive. I had never seen him drive a car like that. He always said he was just starting out. Always said the project was tight. Always said, “Someday.” But now, under the streetlamp, he held another woman, shielded her from the wind, opened the car door for her, and even his eyes looked softer than they had ever looked at me. That was the kind of preference I had waited seven years for and never received. Before Olivia Hart got into the car, she came back and tapped on my window. I rolled it down. She smiled and waved her phone. “Thanks for tonight. I was in a bad mood and made you drive around for so long. Take this as a thank-you.” The payment notification rang a second later. It was a huge amount. Her mood had clearly improved. Even her voice sounded light. “Oh, by the way, that apartment is almost done. Once we officially move in, I’m definitely replacing the whole floor-to-ceiling window wall with the style I like. At night, with warm lights on and the river view outside, it’ll be so cozy.” My head buzzed. Because just last week, Nathan had leaned against my old sofa and told me, “When we can finally afford a place, it has to have a river view, floor-to-ceiling windows, and warm lights you like.” At the time, I had leaned against him and seriously imagined that future. So it was never our future. Olivia waved goodbye with a smile and got into the car. When Nathan closed the door for her, he finally looked up at me. The moment our eyes met, brief shock flashed through his gaze. But the next second, he acted as if he didn’t know me. Calmly, he walked around to the driver’s side, got in, and drove away. My phone lit up soon after. A message from Nathan. [Don’t make a scene.] [And don’t show up in front of her.] [We’ll talk about this later.] I stared at those three lines and felt cold all over. After I caught everything, his first reaction was not to explain. Not to feel guilty. It was to tell me not to make a scene. Not to frighten another woman. I was just about to start the car and leave when someone knocked on my window again. I looked up. Nathan had come back. He opened the passenger door and got in without asking. The first thing he said after sitting down was not an explanation. He looked at me, frowning. “Why did you get this ride tonight?” My heart sank all the way down. I had thought that at a moment like this, he would at least feel guilty for a second. Maybe say sorry. But reality was that he cared more about whether the situation had slipped out of his control. I looked at him, my voice hoarse. “That’s what you’re asking me?” “I’m asking you,” he said in a low voice. “How did you get her ride?” I laughed. “The app assigned it. Was I supposed to get your approval first?” “Nathan, how long have you been lying to me?” He was silent for a few seconds, as if calculating. Then he finally stopped pretending. “Ava, there are things I didn’t plan to let you know this early.” “So it’s all true.” I stared at him. “The apartment is real. The car is real. That woman is real.” “Yes.” He answered cleanly. That single yes shattered the last bit of hope I had left. “You stopped being the ordinary office worker I thought you were a long time ago, didn’t you?” He leaned back in the seat, face unreadable. “Several years ago. I used the Hart family’s resources to enter a new circle. My projects changed. My life changed.” My eyes reddened. “If you stopped planning a future with me that long ago, why drag me along? Why watch me save every dollar for a down payment?” He lowered his eyes, his tone calm. “I didn’t plan for things to become like this.” “What does that mean?” “You’ve always been stable. Easy.” He said, “You don’t cause trouble, and you don’t force me to make decisions. I just hadn’t figured out how to deal with it yet.” I stared at him as if I hadn’t understood. “Deal with me?” He looked at me and added one more sentence. “Anyway, you’ve always been willing to wait.” Willing to wait. Those words pierced right through me. So all the delays, all the neglect, all the promises had never been because he couldn’t bear to let me go. It was because I was too easy to fool. “Then what am I?” I asked. Nathan was silent for a moment, then answered directly. “At this point in my life, I can’t give up everything in front of me. Olivia can give me resources, status, and respectability. You can’t.” “So the answer was decided long ago.” I stared at him, trembling all over. “What about our seven years?” He looked ahead, his voice faint. “Love has never been the only standard for making decisions.” When he said that, I suddenly understood. In his heart, those seven years were worthless. All my companionship, my patience, the hard days I survived, all of it was just an unpresentable past to him. And he hadn’t returned to my car to apologize. He came to clean up the mess. Sure enough, he spoke again the next second. “Ava, I won’t mistreat you.” “I can give you money. I can arrange another place for you to live. You won’t have to work this hard anymore. You can do whatever you want.” Then he turned to look at me. “The condition is that you behave. Don’t make trouble in front of Olivia.” Listening to him, I suddenly laughed. So he wanted to buy off my seven years with money. I raised my hand and slapped him hard. The sound cracked through the car. His face turned to the side. A few seconds later, he looked back at me, his expression fully darkened. “Calm down.” “Calm down?” I stared at him. “Nathan, you lied to me for seven years, and now you want me to calm down?” He suppressed his anger. “Making this bigger helps no one. Online or in real life, nobody will stand with you.” I reached for my phone, wanting to record what he was saying. Nathan noticed and snatched it from my hand, slamming it hard against the car. The screen cracked. Something inside me sank with it. I asked him, “Does Olivia know about me?” His eyes flickered. Then he only said, “She doesn’t need to.” I shoved open the car door and got out. Nathan followed and grabbed me. “Where are you going?” “Let go of me!” During the struggle, everything in my bag spilled into the snow. My savings book. Receipts. Account ledgers. Utility bills. Densely written across them was every dollar I had saved over five years. Nathan looked down and saw them. For a moment, his face finally paused. But just then, his phone rang. The screen flashed Olivia. Without hesitation, he let go of me and turned to answer. “I’m here.” “It’s okay. I’ll be right back.” “It’s cold outside. Get in the car first.” His back was to me. His voice was gentle and patient. He sounded like a different person from the cold, calculating man who had just tried to pay me off. Standing in the snow, I suddenly couldn’t cry at all. I crouched and picked up the receipts one by one, the paper already wet from the snow. Not long after, someone in the driver group chat posted a link. The title read: Late-night female driver harasses wealthy boyfriend, loses control emotionally. I opened it, and my face went pale inch by inch. In the video, there was only footage of me rushing toward Nathan, grabbing him, breaking down and questioning him. All the parts where he admitted lying, told me not to make a scene, and tried to pay me off had been cut. The secretly filmed clip spread fast. By the time I returned to my rental room, my phone had not stopped buzzing. People were talking in the driver group chat. Private messages kept coming. Unknown numbers kept calling. Just the few lines showing in my notification bar were already filthy enough. [Are designated drivers all this messy?] [She doesn’t look like a decent woman.] [Failed at climbing the social ladder, huh?] Before long, Olivia posted an update too. The picture was a photo of her and Nathan together. The caption was short. [Sometimes kindness only teaches people to push further.] She didn’t name me. But everyone knew who she meant. Olivia already had plenty of followers, and soon the public opinion turned completely against me. My driver account was exposed. My ride history was dug up. Even the bakery where I worked during the day was identified. More and more hatred surged toward me. I called Nathan. Once. Twice. Three times. He never picked up. I sent him messages. [Come out and tell the truth.] [Tell them you lied to me.] After a long time, he finally replied. [Endure it for now. Don’t escalate the conflict.] That was all. Looking at those words, I gave up completely. He would not clarify anything for me. He would only let me bear it all, so another woman’s dignity could remain intact. At that exact moment, my mother called. Her voice was shaking as soon as she spoke. “Ava, what is going on online? Are you someone’s mistress?” “No!” I shot to my feet. “Mom, I’m not. I’m the one who was lied to.” But she couldn’t listen. She only cried and said, “Your father saw those things and got so angry his chest hurt. He’s been taken to the hospital!” My mind went blank. When I rushed to the hospital, Dad was already lying in a bed. The doctor said his emotions had fluctuated too violently and his heart couldn’t take it. I had just reached the door when Mom turned, saw me, and slapped me across the face. “Your father’s health was already bad. How could you cause something like this?” “We cared about our reputation our whole lives. I never thought we’d grow old and still be pointed at because of you.” Holding my face, I burst into tears. All these years, I had been afraid they would worry, so I never dared tell them how hard my life really was. They complained that I had dated so many years without marrying, but behind my back, they still lived frugally and secretly gave me money. They were afraid I would suffer outside. But in the end, what I brought them was this kind of humiliation. I was about to explain when hurried footsteps came from the end of the corridor. Nathan had arrived. After entering, he didn’t look at my father in the hospital bed. He grabbed me and dragged me out of the room. In the corridor, he lowered his voice and demanded, “Why do you have to make this bigger?” I stared at him, finding it absurd. Even now, all he cared about was the impact. “I made this bigger?” I sneered. “Wasn’t the secret video posted by someone on your side? Didn’t Olivia’s post confirm everything against me? My dad is lying in there now, and you’re asking me why I made this bigger?” Nathan frowned. “Olivia is in a terrible state because of last night. If you keep provoking her, things will only get worse.” “She’s in a terrible state?” I asked. “Then what is my dad?” His face darkened little by little. “The Hart family has many partnerships with this hospital. Your father’s follow-up specialists, medication channels, hospitalization arrangements, none of that is something you can solve just because you want to.” “Ava, don’t be stubborn. If you insist on fighting head-on now, your family will be the ones who suffer.” My whole body stiffened. At that moment, my mother also came out of the room. She had clearly heard the latter half. Her face turned pale. She grabbed my hand, her voice trembling. “Ava, don’t be stubborn… save your father first…” At that moment, the last thing holding me upright was torn open. With red eyes, I looked at Nathan. “What exactly do you want me to do?” He said only one sentence. “Apologize.” I thought he meant privately. Only when I was taken there did I realize I had still thought too well of them. It wasn’t a hospital room. It wasn’t an ordinary lounge. It was a rest hall temporarily arranged like an interview set. Lights, cameras, livestream equipment. Everything had been prepared in advance. Olivia sat in the center. The moment she saw me, her eyes reddened. “Miss Reed, why do you have to do this?” “Nathan and I have been together for three years. Our relationship has always been stable. You knew we were about to get engaged, so why did you deliberately cause trouble in front of me?” The moment she opened her mouth, she placed herself in the role of victim. People around her immediately chimed in. “Look what she’s done to Olivia.” “She ruined a perfectly good relationship.” “Some people will do anything to climb up.” Every camera pointed at me. I turned to look at Nathan. He stood to the side and did not stop them. His silence was consent. I asked him, “Are you really going this far?” He avoided my eyes and said only, “Your father is still waiting for results at the hospital.” I looked at him and suddenly felt that for seven years, I had loved a stranger I had never truly known. My throat was blocked so badly it hurt, but I still forced my mouth open. “I crossed the line.” “I harassed him.” “I tried to destroy your relationship.” Every word felt like peeling my own skin off. Even so, Olivia was still not satisfied. She clutched her chest and said softly, “Now, whenever I see her standing, I think of last night.” Everyone fell silent for a moment. Then Nathan spoke. “Kneel.” For a second, I thought I had misheard. I raised my head and looked at him, my mind completely blank. His voice grew colder. “Ava Reed. Don’t make me say it again.” I slowly clenched my hands. In the end, I knelt. The sound of my knees hitting the tile was loud. It felt like my last scrap of dignity shattering. The cameras instantly turned fully toward me. Olivia looked down at me, finally showing a hint of satisfaction, but she still refused to stop. “Bow your head to the floor.” I lowered my head. Once. Twice. Three times. My forehead struck the floor hard. Soon the skin split, and blood ran down my brow. Only when Olivia finally said, “That’s enough,” did Nathan have the cameras removed. But just then, my phone suddenly vibrated wildly. It was the hospital. “Miss Reed, your father’s condition is critical. Please come quickly.” My head roared. I ran out like I had gone mad. When I stumbled back to the hospital, the hallway outside the room was already chaos. My mother sat collapsed on the floor, crying so hard she was nearly fainting. On the bed, my father’s face had been covered with a white sheet. I rushed over and lifted the sheet. When I saw his gray, cold face, my mouth opened, but no sound came out. A nurse hurriedly explained, “During the resuscitation, the doctor on duty was temporarily transferred. The new doctor was delayed getting here.” I jerked my head up. The next second, my mother collapsed too. “Family member down!” “Quick, get her into emergency!” The corridor filled with footsteps and crying. I knelt beside my father’s body and watched my mother get wheeled into emergency. It felt as if everything inside me had been hollowed out. And in the middle of that chaos, I saw someone standing not far away.

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After being bullied by the prettiest girl in school for three years, I did something petty and ugly. I used her photos and started an online relationship with a rich heir. He was gentle, polite, and generous with money. His only flaw was that he was a little too intense when it came to desire. Very quickly, with enough sweet talk, I got four years of college tuition out of him. On the day I decided to break up with him, I asked casually, “Baby, what would you do if I suddenly disappeared?” He laughed, his tone turning dangerous. “Sweetheart, don’t joke about that. I don’t like it.” I didn’t respond well to pressure. So I deleted him. Later, by accident, I ended up interning at the same tech company as the girl who had bullied me. On our first day, the CEO from headquarters came down for an inspection. I stood at the very back of the crowd. When I looked up, I saw a face so familiar my breath stopped. Before I could react, the man’s gaze landed on Summer Blake’s face. And his eyes suddenly lit up. 1 The man I had dated online for three years was standing right in front of me. The impact was too much. For a few seconds, my mind went completely blank. By the time I came back to myself, his steps had paused. Then he suddenly turned. And walked straight toward us. My heart pounded. I carefully lifted my eyes. The man was breathtakingly handsome, his expression unreadable, his whole body carrying a cold, untouchable aura. He wore a black shirt I had once seen in his photos. It framed his broad shoulders and narrow waist with clean precision. A section of wrist showed beneath his cuff. Faint veins lay under the skin, restrained and powerful. Bennett Vale. He was taller than in the photos. More handsome. Harder to look away from. Our supervisor whispered that Mr. Vale was here to inspect the work. She told us not to be nervous. He had no time to bother with interns like us. The words had barely left her mouth when Bennett’s steps slowed. A cuff link slipped without warning from his wrist. It hit the floor with two crisp taps. Rolled past my shoe. Then stopped perfectly at Summer’s feet. The air seemed to still for a second. Bennett stopped in front of us. More accurately, he stopped in front of Summer. The two of them stood face-to-face, very close together. One cold and elegant, the other bright and beautiful. They looked painfully well matched. I held my breath. Four words appeared in my mind: a perfect pair. 2 His secretary immediately moved forward to pick up the cuff link. But Bennett suddenly raised a hand and stopped him. Summer blinked. As if she understood something, she hurriedly bent down, picked it up, and handed it to Bennett with flushed cheeks. “Mr. Vale, you dropped this…” Bennett did not take it right away. Instead, he lowered his eyes and slowly stepped two paces closer to Summer. I was standing closest to her. As Bennett approached, a faint fragrance wrapped around me. Fir and citrus, cool with a thread of warmth. I knew that scent too well. It was the anniversary gift I had picked for him myself during our online relationship. I had visited so many fragrance counters, testing one bottle after another, before finally choosing that one. I pressed my lips together and glanced sideways without moving. Bennett was staring at the top of Summer’s head as if no one else existed. Dark emotion moved in his eyes. The joy of something lost and found again. The excitement of reunion. And even a trace of hurt from being abandoned. Summer held out her hand for a long time, but the man across from her did not respond. She couldn’t help reminding him softly. “Mr. Vale?” That finally seemed to pull him back to reality. He cleared his throat and accepted the cuff link without changing expression. “Thank you.” After a pause, his fingertips brushed lightly across Summer’s palm. Then Bennett added in a low voice. “Summer.” His voice was faintly hoarse. Summer’s face turned completely red. “Yes, I’m Summer, Mr. Vale…” “…” Bennett was silent for two seconds. Then he stared at Summer’s face for a full five minutes before finally turning away, reluctant. Only then did I dare breathe. When I touched my back, it was soaked with cold sweat. I dropped into my workstation, dazed for a long time, then pulled out my phone and searched Bennett’s name. A long string of financial news articles carrying his name appeared on the screen. I sucked in a sharp breath. 3 The big boss only came once every six months. And the moment he came, he fixed his eyes on an intern. A young, beautiful intern. My coworkers smelled gossip immediately and gathered around. Summer played with her hair, her voice soft as she answered everyone’s questions. “I don’t know Mr. Vale. This is my first time meeting him.” “Oh, wait, I just remembered. Mr. Vale went to my high school. He was a senior.” “I was kind of the school beauty back then. A lot of boys had crushes on me.” “Maybe…” Summer stopped there deliberately. The older employees immediately picked up the thread and began weaving a story about a secret crush that had lasted from school into the workplace. For a while, the whole office became unusually cheerful. “Oh, stop it. Don’t make things up.” Summer hurriedly interrupted their guesses, her tone reproachful. But there was a smug smile at the corner of her eyes. After that, I couldn’t hear another word they said. I stared blankly at the search results on my phone. Back then, my mother worked as a housekeeper for the Blake family. Summer lost a bet. So she encouraged my mother to help her steal my diary, the one full of my secret crushes. Then she posted it on the school bulletin board, took photos, and uploaded them to the school forum. Every student who passed by pointed at me and whispered jokes. I hated her so much my teeth ached. So I turned around, stole Summer’s photos and name, and started using them online to scam and cause trouble. Lost a game with a score of zero kills and twenty-eight deaths? I turned on my mic and said my name was Summer Blake. A stranger online threatened to come beat me up? I said without hesitation that my name was Summer Blake. Whenever trouble came, if anyone asked, I said I was Summer Blake. Viciously, I hoped that one day someone would show up and beat Summer senseless. But before Summer ever got beaten, I met Bennett. Bennett was well raised, sincere, and polite. He was also incredibly generous. His only flaw was that he was too intense. Looking at him just now, so elegant and immaculate, no one would imagine what he was like in private. But I knew. During the two years we dated online, after the first stage of getting to know each other, I almost had to listen to him over voice chat every day when he was alone and lost control. And whenever that happened, it was as if someone else possessed him. The graceful, noble image collapsed completely. His usually cool and proper voice would say things so filthy my face burned. Not a single line repeated. I would be so embarrassed I couldn’t take it anymore and scolded him for having no shame. He never got angry. He only laughed softly twice and coaxed me in that sweet voice. Later, Bennett seemed to sense something was wrong and firmly asked to meet. Only then did I suddenly remember that I had been using Summer’s identity all along. Panicked, I scrolled back through our chat history. The moment I found the sentence “My name is Summer,” my heart finally died. All those late-night confessions, all that tenderness exchanged through a screen, all those moments when I thought I was loved… They were all built on a lie. Even my name was fake. That night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. My heart felt like it had been gripped by a giant hand. I regretted it. I really regretted it. Why did I say I was Summer in the first place? I buried my face under the blanket and cried silently. I didn’t know how long I cried. When I finally looked up and saw myself in the mirror, eyes swollen, I realized in a daze. I was just ordinary. I didn’t have Summer’s bright, pretty face. I didn’t have her wealthy family. I didn’t even have her confidence or boldness. Just an ordinary face. An ordinary person. If I hadn’t used Summer’s photos, someone like Bennett, born above the clouds, would never have liked someone like me. A little bug in a gutter. In the end, I forced down the sourness in my chest. I sent Bennett one message. [I’m sorry.] Then I blocked and deleted him. On the third day after cutting contact, Bennett sent me an email. Only six words. Summer, don’t leave me. Every word was full of pleading and the helplessness of being abandoned for no reason. Unfortunately. I was not Summer. Thinking back to that, I couldn’t help shivering. When I looked up, all my coworkers were watching me. I pulled at the corner of my mouth. “What… what is it?” Everyone smiled without speaking. Only Summer walked over with an innocent expression. “Grace, didn’t you hear us just now?” “Everyone wants to try that new milk tea shop. Would you mind going to buy some for us?” “It’s only three or four streets away. You can ride a shared bike. It won’t take much effort.” Senior employees bullying interns was common. But Summer naturally blended in with the older employees. All because Bennett’s attitude toward her had been unusual. I looked at Summer. Then at the people behind her, all standing on her side, as if they would jump out and attack me the moment I refused. Finally, I nodded. “Okay.” Summer was very pleased by my obedience. She turned back with a smile. “Aw, everyone, don’t feel bad.” “Grace’s mom used to be our housekeeper. She grew up doing errands with her mom, so she’s best at running around.” “If you need anything delivered in the future, just ask her. She loves it.” Every time Summer arrived somewhere new, she would bring up the fact that my mother had worked for her family. She had done it for years. I was used to it. Besides, I did want to step out for air. I ignored her, picked up my phone, and turned around. But I accidentally bumped into a man. When I looked up, I realized it was the secretary who had been following Bennett earlier. 4 The male secretary seemed to be in a hurry. He shoved me aside impatiently. I wasn’t prepared and stumbled. My knee hit the table leg hard. Pain shot through me, and I sucked in a breath. The secretary showed no apology at all. He gave me a casual glance, then hurried to the supervisor. “Excuse me, which one of you is Miss Summer Blake? Mr. Vale needs to see her.” Summer heard her name. And when she heard Bennett was looking for her, she rushed over in two steps. “I’m Summer. I’m Summer Blake. What is it?” The secretary looked her over, then made his tone more polite. “The CEO’s office is short a secretary. Mr. Vale wants you to go upstairs and fill in for a while.” Summer froze. Then her voice rose sharply, echoing through the whole office. “Me? Mr. Vale wants me to work by his side? He told you himself?” The secretary frowned almost imperceptibly. Then he smiled and nodded. “Yes, you. Pack up and come with me.” Summer covered her mouth, unable to hide her joy. She happily went to grab her bag. “Mr. Lang, I don’t really have anything. I can go now.” “Good. Follow me.” Summer smiled with her lips pressed together. Then she deliberately walked around to my side, looking innocent. “Grace, move a little. Mr. Vale wants me on the thirty-fourth floor. You’re blocking my way.” “Work hard down here, okay? Maybe after another ten years, we can sit together on the thirty-fourth floor.” I said nothing. Suppressing the throbbing pain in my knee, I quietly moved aside. Summer stepped away in high heels, practically glowing as she followed the secretary. Behind me, my coworkers watched her leave with eager eyes. Then the office exploded. “Whoa. That new girl Summer isn’t going to become the future boss’s wife, is she?” “Even if she’s not the boss’s wife, she’ll be his girlfriend for a while. He’s obviously interested. He transferred her to his side as secretary.” “Grace, didn’t you come in with Summer? Do you know what’s going on between her and the boss?” Hearing my name, I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat. Then slowly shook my head. My voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. “No. I don’t know.” 5 Summer went to the thirty-fourth floor. For the time being, I became the only new intern left in the office. They gossiped about Summer for a while. Then lost interest. So they turned their attention back to me. “Grace, didn’t you say you were treating everyone to milk tea? You’re not going back on your word, are you?” “Grace, I need to pick up my son from school tonight. Help me finish this work first.” “Grace, I heard you graduated from a top university. Your work ability must be strong, right? Here, take this…” Before long, the folders in front of me piled into a small mountain. By the time I finally finished all that miscellaneous work, it was already past eight at night. I stretched and finally had time to check my phone. A message from my dad popped up immediately. [Kid, your mom and I saved on food and clothes to raise you.] [This internship wasn’t easy to get. You need to know what matters. Don’t compare food or clothes with other people. We can’t afford that.] [Get along with your coworkers. Some things pass if you just endure them. There’s no need to argue.] [Be diligent. Go to the company early every day. Clean up. Pour water for your leaders.] [After a while, your managers will definitely think more highly of you. Then becoming full-time will be within reach.] I stared at the screen, my finger hovering over the keyboard for a long time, not knowing what to reply. Finally, I sighed and opened Instagram, scrolling gently. Three hours ago, Summer had posted a selfie. She stood in front of a giant floor-to-ceiling window, flashing a peace sign at the camera. Her smile was bright and bold, like a pretty little fox. Caption: [Another hardworking day. Thanks to my big boss for supporting me.] My fingertip paused. I still couldn’t help zooming into the photo. In the reflection of the window, there was a silhouette. That person stood on the other side of the office. Turned slightly sideways, seemingly unaware of the camera, focused on something in thought. Even though it was only a blurry outline, I recognized him at once. Bennett. I stared at the photo for a long time, unable to look away. Until a voice sounded above me. “Why are you still here this late?” I jumped. I shot to my feet and grabbed the ashtray on the desk. A short, round man stood in front of me. He wore round black-rimmed glasses and looked at me curiously. I froze, then realized he looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, I remembered the supervisor had introduced him. He was also one of Bennett’s assistants. His last name was Harris. I quickly put down the ashtray and explained awkwardly, “Um, some work delayed me. I’m leaving now.” “Oh, okay.” Mr. Harris clutched his stomach, his whole face twisting in pain. He turned to leave, then seemed to remember something and turned back with a grimace. “By the way, you. Do you have a license? Can you drive?” I froze, then nodded. “I do, I…” Before I finished, his eyes lit up. He tossed a car key into my hand. “I can’t. My stomach is killing me. Boss’s car is downstairs.” “I’ll send you the address in a minute. Drive Mr. Vale’s car back for me, please, please. I’ll buy you dinner next time. Ow, it hurts.” “When you’re done, take a cab home. The company will reimburse it…” I stared at the car key in my hand, stunned. I waved quickly. “No, I can’t, I…” Mr. Harris no longer had time for me. He clutched his stomach and ran into the bathroom. 6 I stalled in my chair for a while. But Mr. Harris never came out. In the end, I accepted my fate and went downstairs with the car key. Only to discover the car parked below was a Rolls-Royce, the kind I had only ever seen on TV. I took a deep breath. First, I walked around the car once. Then I opened the door and sat in. I fastened my seat belt. Then reached to adjust the rearview mirror. Through the mirror, I saw a man sitting in the back seat with his eyes closed. High nose bridge, handsome features, thin lips pressed lightly together. Two buttons of his shirt collar were undone, revealing a section of collarbone and slightly flushed skin. Even asleep, he carried a lazy sensuality. He seemed to have been drinking. My mind buzzed. By reflex, I slapped a hand over the rearview mirror. An illusion. It had to be an illusion. I comforted myself in my head. Then gathered the courage to peek through my fingers. In the rearview mirror, the man had opened his eyes at some point. His dark gaze was fixed on me without blinking. Heavy and deep. Maybe it was my imagination. But at the moment our eyes met, I seemed to see his whole body stiffen. The hand resting on his knee curled slightly. Even his breathing seemed to slow beyond his control. I wanted to cry. I gripped the steering wheel tightly. It was too late to jump out and run. For all I knew, people would think I had stolen something. I quickly organized my thoughts and deliberately lowered my voice. “Mr. Vale, hello. Mr. Harris has a stomach problem, and he asked me to drive your car back. I didn’t know you were in the car…” He was silent for a moment, then looked away. He gave a faint “Mm” and closed his eyes again, brows slightly furrowed. Even though I knew he couldn’t possibly recognize me, I still secretly breathed in relief when he closed his eyes. But before that breath settled, another problem appeared. Wait. What kind of stupid car was this? Where did they hide the ignition? I searched everywhere and couldn’t find it. Sweat covered my forehead, and I wanted to turn the entire driver’s seat upside down. Just then, a low voice sounded beside my ear. The man behind me spoke again. “You don’t know how to drive it?” I sat up straight instantly. Embarrassed, I nodded, then quickly shook my head. My feelings were all mixed together, and I suddenly didn’t dare raise my head. But the more I thought about it, the more wronged I felt. Wasn’t it normal that I didn’t know how to drive this? Boss, don’t you know why I don’t know? The salary you pay me couldn’t even buy one wheel of this Rolls-Royce. It would be stranger if I knew how to drive it. When I got nervous, I couldn’t help picking at my fingers. I’d had this habit for more than twenty years. At that moment, my mind was blank, and my useless fingers had already twisted together. “Boss, I…” I looked up. And found his gaze fixed on my hands. My back went cold. I was just about to withdraw them when he looked away. He turned toward the window. His Adam’s apple moved. The car suddenly became very quiet. Carefully, I took out my phone and opened the browser to search. I had typed only half the question when a shadow fell over me. A faint citrus scent instantly wrapped around me. “Press here.” His voice sounded right beside my ear. Warm breath brushed lightly over my ear. My whole body froze. Too close. Close enough that I could feel the warmth coming through his shirt. Close enough that my hair almost brushed his jaw. I didn’t dare move. I even forgot to breathe. But Bennett only paused for a few seconds before sitting back in the rear seat as if nothing had happened. His expression was calm. Apparently, he really was just teaching me how to start the car. I tried to steady myself. Then started the engine mechanically. The whole drive was silent. Finally, we arrived at Bennett’s underground garage. Without another word, I jumped out of the car. “Boss, I’ll get going. Goodbye.” I didn’t wait for Bennett to respond. I ran. Completely unaware that behind me, the man narrowed his eyes and stared for a long time in the direction of my panicked escape. 7 I had chaotic dreams all night. The next morning, I washed my face casually and dragged myself to work with dark circles under my eyes. The moment I walked into the office, I discovered Summer, who should have been sitting on the thirty-fourth floor, sitting among the crowd and smiling brightly. “Yeah, yeah. The boss told me to come back first.” Her voice was still soft. Her delicately made-up face was flushed, and her eyes shimmered. “He said I had only just started and already went to the thirty-fourth floor, so I wouldn’t have time to make friends. He thought I’d be lonely.” “I think he meant he was afraid I wouldn’t fit in. I thought what he said made sense, so I came back for now.” As she spoke, she turned and saw me. She immediately came over and linked her arm through mine. “Baby, I’m back. Are you happy to see me?” The moment she acted so affectionate, I knew she was about to set me up again. I hadn’t slept well. The thought flashed through my head, and without thinking, I pulled my hand away. The atmosphere suddenly turned subtle. No one spoke. Summer still smiled at me. But her gaze had obviously cooled. Luckily, the supervisor came in and broke the deadlock. “Everyone’s here? Perfect. We’re having a team gathering tonight to welcome Grace and Summer to the team.” The moment she said that, the coworkers behind me perked up. Someone joked, “Team gathering? Is the big boss coming?” The supervisor waved with a smile. “The big boss is busy every second of the day. Why would he come to a gathering like ours?” “He won’t be there. Don’t worry. Have fun.” Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere finally eased. I lowered my head. Quietly swallowing the words I wanted to say to refuse.

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During Jasmine’s summer break, we road-tripped north, only to be stranded on a desolate highway with an empty tank. It made no sense; I had just filled the brand-new SUV. How could it burn a full tank in twelve miles? With zero cell service, a pack of massive, starving wolves circled the freezing car. Sarah shivered violently. “Dean, we just put eighty bucks in. We can’t be empty.” “Leak? Mechanical failure?” Risking my life, I stepped out. Wolves lunged. I lit a spare jacket, swinging flames to drive them back as I checked the chassis. Everything was intact, but the tank was bone dry. No punctures. No leaks. Where did the gas go? Forced back inside by snapping jaws, we locked the doors and prayed for a passing car. No one came. Helpless, I watched Sarah and Jasmine slowly starve to death before my eyes. Holding their lifeless bodies, I closed my eyes in suffocating despair, dying without answers. Then, my eyes snapped open. I was back at the gas pump, nozzle still in hand. … The station attendant reached out to grab the pump. I practically shoved him out of the way. “Hold on!” “Did you siphon my gas?” The horrific memories of my previous life were still burning in my brain. Because we ran out of gas, we had been trapped in that frozen wasteland. I could still hear Sarah’s dying sobs. You said this route was safe! You said there was no danger! Dean, she is only fourteen… The crushing guilt and agony made it hard to breathe. But beneath the grief was a boiling rage. How did my fuel vanish? My car was fine. The tank had no leaks. The only logical explanation was that the guy working the pump had tampered with it. The attendant glared at me, wiping his greasy hands on his overalls. “You stood right here watching me the whole time, buddy. How exactly would I steal your gas?” “Sounds to me like you cannot pay the bill and you are looking for an excuse.” His loud voice drew the attention of everyone at the station. Jasmine, always easily embarrassed, flushed bright red and tugged at my sleeve. “Dad, please do not accuse him like that.” “Look, the gauge says it is full. It is practically overflowing.” I followed her pointing finger and saw the fuel pooling right at the lip of the tank. Was it really full? Was there actually no problem here? Impossible. I had been driving this SUV for six months. I knew its exact mileage. Twelve miles would not even burn a tenth of this tank, let alone drain it dry. This was the last service station before a hundred-mile stretch of absolute nothingness. To avoid the nightmare I just woke up from, I had to be absolutely sure. I grabbed a clean dipstick from my trunk and shoved it down the fuel pipe, checking to see if there was some sort of blockage or trick. The guy in the pickup truck behind me laid on his horn. “Are you going to take all day?” “I have been coming to this station for years. They do not rip people off. If you are trying to scam free gas, you picked the wrong town!” The honking made Sarah and Jasmine even more anxious. They begged me to get in the car and stop making a scene. But this was a matter of life and death. I ignored them all. I pulled the stick out and inspected it closely. The depth was correct. The liquid was pure gasoline, not water or cheap filler. My confusion only deepened. If the gas station was clean, how did a full tank disappear into thin air? Unable to find a single flaw, I handed over my credit card, paid the bill, and drove off the lot. Jasmine muttered quietly from the backseat. “Dad, what is going on with you?” “You are never this paranoid. Why did you make such a huge scene over eighty bucks?” There was a hint of resentment in her voice, but I could not bring myself to be angry. In my previous life, when we were starving to death in the wilderness, Sarah and Jasmine had tried to force me to eat their last scraps of food. They loved me. To them, I was the most important person in the world. And yet, because I was always traveling for work, I barely spent any time with them. I had finally taken a vacation to bring them on this road trip, only to lead them straight into a death trap. This time, I swore to God, I would get them out of this wilderness alive. “This next stretch is a hundred and twenty miles of empty road. No towns, no stations,” I explained softly. “I just wanted to be absolutely certain we would not break down.” Sarah sighed, rubbing her temples. “Well, you checked the gas. It is fine. Can we please just get moving?” “Jasmine already had one episode with her heart condition. Every day we delay is a risk. We need to get her back home to her doctors.” My grip on the steering wheel tightened until my knuckles turned white. This was supposed to be a month-long vacation. But Jasmine’s heart condition had flared up out of nowhere, forcing us to cut the trip short. I had chosen this remote mountain pass because it was the fastest route home. I thought I was saving time, but I ended up killing the two people I loved most. The dashboard showed a full tank, but the phantom memories of starving in the cold kept gnawing at me. “It is a long drive ahead,” I said, keeping my voice level. “Just to be safe, I want to pull into that mechanic down the road and have the car looked over.” The gas was fine. The station was clean. The only remaining possibility was a hidden mechanical failure. To eliminate every single risk, I pulled into the local auto shop. I handed the head mechanic ten times his usual diagnostic fee and told him to tear the car apart and check everything. Three hours later, I got the verdict. The car was flawless. “That cannot be right,” I argued. “Did you miss something? A loose valve? A faulty sensor?” The mechanic’s face darkened. “I ran the diagnostics ten times. There is nothing wrong with this vehicle.” “You stood over my shoulder the entire time. We checked every hose, every line, every electronic module. It is a brand new car, buddy. It is fine.” “Look, I will just give you your money back. Stop wasting my time.” Seeing him so absolutely certain made my anxiety spike. The condition of the car was exactly the same as in my previous life. If I could not find the problem, what happens when the gas vanishes again? While I was arguing with the mechanic, Sarah marched over, dragging Jasmine by the hand. “The professional just told you the car is fine. Why are you dragging this out?” “Are you waiting for Jasmine to have another heart attack before you finally start driving?” I looked at Jasmine. She did look paler, her breathing shallow. The car was a dead end. Stalling out here would not fix anything. I gritted my teeth and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Let’s go.” But before hitting the highway, I pulled into the only general store in town. I planned to buy out their entire stock of water and non-perishables. If we did break down, I was making damn sure we had enough supplies to wait out the wolves until rescue came. I walked through the sliding glass doors and froze. The shelves were completely bare. No bread. No canned goods. No bottled water. Just two dusty bottles of soda sitting alone in the cooler. The store owner shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, man.” “Supply truck broke down an hour out. Been delayed for days.” “Won’t get a restock until tomorrow morning at the earliest.” I stared at the empty metal racks. I turned to Sarah. “We need to stay at a motel tonight. We will wait for the truck, stock up tomorrow, and then hit the road.” Sarah cut me off, her voice sharp and impatient. “It is barely a hundred miles. We can drive that in two hours. We already have some snacks in the trunk. Why on earth do we need to stockpile food like the apocalypse is coming?” She was right about the trunk. We had enough snacks to last the three of us maybe two days. But I remembered the wolves. They had been relentless, circling our car for ten straight days until we starved. I grabbed Sarah’s hand, squeezing it tight. “If something happens out there, we need enough food and water to survive the wait.” “It is just one extra night. Jasmine will be fine.” Seeing the pure intensity in my eyes, Sarah backed down and stayed quiet. When night fell, Sarah and I slept in the car in the motel parking lot. We took turns keeping watch to make sure absolutely no one touched the vehicle. During my shift to sleep, I drifted off. A sudden, piercing scream jerked me awake. “Dean! Wake up!” “Jasmine is having an episode! She just took her very last emergency pill!” “We cannot wait for tomorrow! If she has another attack without her meds, she is going to die!” I jolted upright. Jasmine was slumped in the back seat, clutching her chest, gasping for air. Her skin was the color of ash. It looked exactly like a severe angina attack that was barely being managed by medication. I looked at the empty prescription bottle on the center console. We really could not wait anymore. I had checked the fuel. I had checked the engine. I had eliminated all the variables from the gas station. Whatever caused the car to die in my last life had to happen on the road. If I drove carefully, maybe I could avoid it. But if we stayed here, Jasmine might actually die from a heart attack. I stepped out into the freezing night air, checked the gas cap one last time. Still full. I took Sarah’s phone, securely taped it to the underside of the rear bumper, and turned on a live video feed to my own phone. I was going to watch the undercarriage the entire drive. I took a deep breath, put the car in drive, and hit the highway. For the next two hours, Sarah and I kept our eyes glued to the live feed and the road ahead. We hit no debris. We did not bottom out. I drove as smoothly as humanly possible. We crossed the twenty-five-mile mark. I glanced at the dashboard. The fuel gauge was perfectly stable. I let out a massive sigh of relief. I had done it. I had bypassed the event that killed us. I did not know exactly what caused it the first time, but we were going to survive. The very second that thought crossed my mind, the digital fuel needle violently dropped to zero. The engine sputtered, choked, and died. The headlights flickered out. And from the tree line just beyond the asphalt, glowing green eyes pierced the darkness. The wolves had arrived. “What the hell is happening?” I slammed my fists against the steering wheel, screaming into the dead quiet of the cabin. I checked the tank! It was full! The car hit nothing! Where did an entire tank of gasoline go?! “Dean, what is wrong?” “We are not at the hospital yet. Why did you stop?” Sarah rubbed her eyes, waking up from a nap in the passenger seat. I dug my nails into my palms, completely unable to form the words to tell her that we were trapped in the exact same nightmare. Looking at the wolves emerging from the shadows, the horrific memories of our slow deaths crashed over me. Did my rebirth mean absolutely nothing? Was I just doomed to watch them die again? I gritted my teeth, grabbed my lighter, lit a spare shirt on fire, and kicked my door open. Even if it killed me, I was going to find out where my fuel went. I swung the flaming shirt like a torch, screaming at the wolves to keep them back. I dropped to my knees and checked the tank. It was perfectly intact. Not a single scratch. But it was empty. I crawled further under the bumper and checked the phone I had taped there. The video feed was frozen. The signal had dropped. The last frame showed the undercarriage in pristine condition. The physical reality matched the video. The car was fine. A wave of suffocating anger and despair locked around my throat. Was I really going to crawl back into that driver’s seat and wait to die all over again? Just as the thought entered my head, a shockwave of absolute clarity hit me. My entire body went cold. I knew it. I finally knew exactly where my gasoline went. I knew exactly why it vanished into thin air. I knew who did it.

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01 I wanted nothing more than to be a mother. After marrying Marcell, I poured all my energy into getting pregnant, only for my single best friend, Rina, to conceive first. The paternity test confirmed the child was his. “Explain this!” I screamed, shoving the report in his face. Marcell turned deathly pale. “I swear I never touched her!” Rina sobbed, kneeling before me. “We are innocent! I don’t know how this happened, but the baby is just there.” Heartbroken, I filed for divorce. A year later, I started dating Oliver. This time, I kept it quiet, determined to get pregnant before marriage. If he cheated, I would raise the child alone. But a few months in, Rina showed up at my door with a prominent baby bump. Once again, the test named my partner as the father. Oliver tore at his hair in disbelief. “You’re insane! I don’t even know who you are!” Rina collapsed, drenched in tears. “I’m terrified too, I swear I don’t know how!” I broke down completely, broke up with Oliver, and fled abroad for a year to clear my head. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t make sense of it: Why did every child I tried to have end up in her womb? To uncover the truth, I fabricated a new relationship. I found a photo of an elite businessman online and posted staged, intimate photos on social media. Three months later, Rina texted: [Are you seeing someone again? I… I’m pregnant.] … [Let’s meet up and talk. I’ll pick the place.] [Sure.] Rina replied instantly. I put my phone down and went back to watching the surveillance feed. In her cramped, rented apartment, Rina was breastfeeding. She cradled her one-year-old daughter in her arms, while her two-year-old son sat in a high chair next to her. Her hair was greasy and unwashed, and she wore a pilled, oversized hoodie. When the baby girl pulled at her shirt, Rina snapped, “Shut up!” Her son started crying from the sudden shout. She slapped his bottom hard, making him wail even louder. I clenched my fists. She didn’t deserve to be a mother. Why was it that I wanted a child so desperately but couldn’t have one, while she treated the miracle of life like trash? Three months ago, I returned to the country, determined to find out how she kept getting pregnant. I rented the apartment right next door to Rina’s. I still remembered the passcode to her door. It was her birthday, a detail she had shared with me back when we were inseparable. Under the cover of night, I slipped inside and placed tiny pinhole cameras in every corner of her home. At first, I thought she was doing this out of jealousy. She was jealous of my wealthy family, my looks, and the fact that my boyfriends were always successful men. I assumed she was seducing my partners to spite me. So, I invented the fake boyfriend. I grabbed a photo of an executive online, had my assistant edit us together, and announced my new “romance.” I wanted to see how she would manage to get pregnant this time. But over the past three months of constant surveillance, neither Marcell nor Oliver had ever visited her. I even asked mutual friends; both of my exes swore they didn’t know Rina, and their families wanted nothing to do with her. Could they… really be innocent? Even more bizarrely, Rina hadn’t brought a single man home in three months. Her only outings were to buy diapers and formula, and I had personally shadowed her every time. So where did this third baby come from? A wild, terrifying thought crossed my mind. Was she faking it? Was she doing all of this just to torment me? I sent her a follow-up text: [Tomorrow morning at ten, meet me at the central hospital. I’m taking you for a check-up.] The next morning, she arrived with her daughter in her arms and her son strapped to her back. Her face was sallow, with dark circles under her eyes. She looked ten years older than me. In the ultrasound room, the transducer glided over her abdomen. A tiny, faint shadow flickered on the monitor. The doctor confirmed she was six weeks pregnant. I stood frozen in the room. “This is impossible…” I dragged her straight to the office of the chief of obstetrics. The doctor was a female professor in her fifties. “Doctor, is it medically possible for a woman to become pregnant without any physical contact with a man?” I asked point-blank. The doctor frowned. “Medically speaking, it is impossible. Unless under two very specific circumstances.” “First, artificial insemination. You only need the male’s specimen.” “Second, the woman was assaulted while unconscious.” Artificial insemination? My new boyfriend was just a random picture from the internet. Where would she have gotten his specimen? And no man had entered her apartment in three months. “That’s impossible!” I blurred out. “No man has been anywhere near her these past few months!” The moment the words escaped my lips, I realized my mistake. Rina spun around to face me, her eyes wide. “How do you know no man has been near me? Have you been watching me?!” Clutching her children, she took a step back, her eyes turning red instantly. “It’s you! You’re jealous of my fertility! You’ve been desperate for a child but can’t have one, while I get pregnant so easily! You couldn’t handle it, could you?” “So you sent your man to assault me! I’m calling the police!” My father was the CEO of a listed company. A police report of this nature would devastate our stock price. I rushed to grab her. “Calm down!” She ignored me, pulling out her phone. In a panic, I grabbed her wrist. “Don’t call the police!” I screamed. “My new boyfriend is fake! He’s just a picture from the internet! There is no such person, so who could have possibly touched you?” Rina went dead silent. She slowly raised her head. There was no shock in her bloodshot eyes. Instead, a chilling smile spread across her face. “You’re lying.” She stared into my eyes, her voice dripping with venom. “You think I haven’t done my research? That man from your photos… he doesn’t just exist. I’ve already found him.” 02 “Look for yourself!” Rina shoved her phone in my face. On the screen was a search result. Xavier Ward, founder and CEO of Xenon Tech. The man in the photo was the exact same person I had posted on my profile. My brain went entirely numb. I had just grabbed a random picture online because he looked like a handsome businessman. Who would have thought he was a real, prominent tech CEO? Why couldn’t I have this kind of luck with the lottery? “You planned this with him!” Rina glared at me. “You had him assault me, and now you’re pretending you don’t know him!” “Are you out of your mind?” I pushed her phone away. “I don’t even know his name!” “Don’t know him? Then where did those cozy photos on your profile come from?” I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Even if I told her they were photoshopped, she would never believe me. “Fine!” I grit my teeth. “We’re going to his office right now to confront him! You don’t believe me? We’ll get a DNA sample right in front of him and see if he denies it!” Rina hesitated for a fraction of a second, then sneered. “Let’s go.” At the headquarters of Xenon Tech, on the top floor. The receptionist’s face paled when we stated our business. “Ladies, I am terribly sorry, but Mr. Ward is not taking any visitors.” “Not taking visitors?” I slammed the ultrasound report onto the desk. “This woman claims your CEO assaulted her, and this baby is the proof.” The receptionist’s lips trembled. “Mr. Ward is really…” “Get him out here, or I’m calling the press right now. Let’s see how your stock price holds up when a sexual assault scandal hits the news.” The receptionist’s eyes widened. She looked around nervously, then lowered her voice. “Follow me.” The corridor was dead silent, save for the click of our heels. She pushed open the door to the CEO’s office, locked it behind us, and turned around. “How far along is the pregnancy?” she asked, her eyes sharp and defensive. “Six weeks,” Rina said, looking around the empty office. “Where is he?” The secretary remained silent for three agonizing seconds, her eyes welling with tears. “Don’t bother looking.” “What do you mean?” “Mr. Ward… passed away six months ago.” The words hit me like a physical blow. “What?” “A sudden heart attack. Resuscitation failed,” the secretary said, her voice cracking. “The company hasn’t finalized the transition of ownership yet. To keep the stock price stable, the news hasn’t been made public.” She looked up, staring intently at Rina’s stomach. “How could a man who has been dead for six months get you pregnant?” “Impossible!” Rina shrieked. I, on the other hand, was dead calm. I had been watching her night and day. Even if Xavier Ward were alive, he wouldn’t have been able to get near her. Without a word, the secretary opened a drawer and placed a document on the desk. A death certificate. Then she showed us a video on her phone, a private funeral service, displaying the casket and the portrait of Xavier clearly. Rina’s knees buckled. Carrying one child and holding another, she collapsed toward the floor. I caught her just in time. “I need a strand of his hair,” I told the secretary. “For a DNA test.” The secretary frowned. “He’s dead. Why are you still…” “Hair, a comb, a glass, anything. If you don’t give it to me, I’m calling the press.” Grimacing, the secretary pointed to the private dressing room in the corner. Rina and I rushed in, searching like maniacs. At the bottom of the wardrobe, an old photograph slid out. It showed a young woman holding the hands of two young boys, about five or six years old. They were twins, smiling brightly. The woman’s face looked incredibly familiar. But in that moment, my mind went blank, and I couldn’t place her. “Found it!” Rina called out, holding a stray hair she had retrieved from a suit jacket. “Let’s go.” I quickly stuffed the photo back and pulled her out, heading straight for the lab. When the expedited DNA report was handed to us, my hands were shaking. The words on the paper were clear: Biological father of the fetus: Xavier Ward. Probability of paternity: 99.99%. My mind shattered. How could a man who had been dead for six months get Rina pregnant?

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1 To secure the development rights for the Apex Plaza project, I spent six months rotting in an absolute wasteland, pulling back to back allnighters across five different cities. The contract I practically traded half my lifespan to win made the company stock jump three whole percentage points. But when I brought a thick stack of expense receipts back to the corporate office, the new Legal Compliance Officer stopped me dead in my tracks. She claimed the corporate reimbursement policy had changed. All expenses had to be preapproved in the system, or they were completely void. Right in front of the entire Acquisitions Department, she offered a light, mocking sneer. “Acquisitions guys are just glorified middlemen who buy drinks for clients. Do not think bringing in a big contract means you are above the rules.” I thought about throwing my scalding cup of coffee right in her face. But that money was for my mother. It was the exact amount needed for her lymphoma chemotherapy next month. I did not lose my temper. I did not beg her either. I just looked at her and smiled. The corporate world is not a debate stage. The real kill shots are never fired in the conference room. My name is Declan Wright, Deputy Manager of Real Estate Acquisitions. After running myself into the ground in the middle of nowhere for six months, I finally returned to headquarters. Without even taking a day to beat my jet lag, I grabbed a stack of receipts half an inch thick and headed straight to the Legal Department. My project bonus could wait. But this hundred and fifty grand in out of pocket expenses was literally my mother’s lifeline for her next round of treatment. The Legal Department had a brand new frosted glass door. A shiny silver nameplate hung right at eye level. It read: Vanessa Pierce, Legal Compliance. I pushed the door open. A suffocating wave of expensive floral perfume hit my nose, making me frown. “Hi, I am Declan Wright from Acquisitions. I just need a signature on these.” I placed the receipts on her desk. Vanessa looked to be in her early twenties. Her makeup was flawless, looking more suited for a red carpet gala than a corporate office. She did not even blink, entirely focused on filing her brand new diamond encrusted acrylic nails with a tiny metal buffer. “Put it there. Get in line.” I forced my patience. “This is highly time sensitive. These are the out of pocket expenses for the Apex Plaza project.” “Apex Plaza?” Her hand stopped moving. She finally looked up, letting her eyes slowly drag up and down my body. It was a look mixed with pure contempt and heavy judgment. She looked at me like I was an outdated piece of merchandise. “So you are Declan Wright?” “I am.” She picked up the stack of receipts, flipped through them carelessly, and tossed them back onto her desk with a loud smack. “Denied.” I seriously wondered if all the red eye flights had given me auditory hallucinations. “Excuse me?” “I said, denied.” She crossed her arms, leaning back into her expensive designer leather chair. Her tone dripped with extreme impatience. “Mr. Wright, while you were away these past six months, the company policy was updated three separate times. Do you not read your emails?” “I did not have the time.” I took a deep breath. Half a year of extreme pressure and pure exhaustion had drained my patience. “Which specific policy says this cannot be expensed?” She pulled a binder from her drawer and slapped it open right in front of me. “Point one. Under the new regulations, all travel expenses must be preapproved in the internal system. No out of pocket payments are allowed under any circumstances. You spent over a hundred grand without system approval. Void.” “Point two. Lodging standards. Unless you are a board member, no one is permitted to stay in fivestar hotels. I see charges for Marriott and Hilton suites in here. Do you think I am stupid?” I stared at her arrogant face. A sharp cramp twisted in my stomach from the sheer anger. “Vanessa, when I was on that business trip, this new system did not even exist. How was I supposed to get preapproval? The Apex project is a multibillion dollar deal. The client explicitly demanded we meet in the penthouse conference room at the Marriott. Was I supposed to take a billionaire developer to a cheap roadside motel?” “That is your problem, not mine.” She let out a soft laugh. “I am Legal. My job is to make sure everyone follows the rules.” The entire office went dead silent. Every single pair of eyes locked onto me. I looked right back at her, and suddenly, I started to laugh. Perfect. It seemed a real princess had taken over the castle while I was away. “Who made these rules?” I asked. “I did.” She tilted her chin up, her voice cold and wildly proud. “I am Legal. What I say goes.” “Declan, do not think landing one project makes you untouchable. Acquisitions guys are just glorified middlemen who buy drinks for clients. No matter how good you are at your little job, you need to learn your place.” She paused, keeping her voice low but ensuring the entire bullpen could hear every word. “In my office, you are just another rule breaker. I am not signing this.” She clearly expected me to slam my fists on the desk, or maybe grovel like everyone else did. I did no such thing. I calmly picked up my receipts, neatly tapping the edges together until the stack was perfect. “Vanessa,” I said, looking her dead in the eye. “Do you know what the Acquisitions team calls the Legal Department when we are out in the field?” She hesitated. “We say Legal is the heart of the company. Without your approval, not a single cent flows out. But if the heart gets blocked, it is the rest of the body that dies first.” I did not give her a second glance. I took my receipts, turned around, and walked straight to the elevator. I needed to see VP Henderson. He was the talent scout who hired me. Back then, he fought the entire board to transfer me from a tech role to Acquisitions. He used to pat my shoulder and tell me I had more drive than anyone he had ever met, promising the company would never mistreat its top performers. He tracked this Apex project from the very first pitch to the final signature. He knew exactly how much blood and sweat went into it. I knew he would back me up. 2 VP Henderson had a corner office on the top floor with a killer view of the city. I knocked and walked in. He was adjusting his silk tie in the mirror, but the second he saw me, a massive, overly enthusiastic smile plastered itself across his face. “Declan! You are finally back! Incredible work, absolutely incredible!” He slapped my shoulder hard. “Landing the Apex project was a masterpiece! You bumped the stock up three points! You are the MVP!” I was in no mood for corporate small talk. I dropped the stack of receipts right on his mahogany desk and gave him a blunt summary of Vanessa’s brand new rules. “Henderson, I paid this hundred and fifty grand out of pocket to secure the client. Now your new Legal officer is telling me it is denied.” The bright smile on Henderson’s face instantly froze. He picked up his desk phone and dialed an internal extension. “Vanessa, please come up to my office.” A minute later, Vanessa strutted into the room, her high heels clicking aggressively against the hardwood. When she saw me standing there, a provocative smirk curled her lips. “You needed to see me, Mr. Henderson?” “Well…” Henderson pointed awkwardly at the receipts on his desk. “Declan’s situation is a bit unique. Do you think we could make a special exception just this once?” Vanessa did not even bat an eye. She gave a rehearsed, robotic answer. “Mr. Henderson, the rules are the rules. Without order, there is chaos. If we break protocol for him, how am I supposed to enforce compliance moving forward?” She emphasized the word protocol like a weapon. Henderson’s face cycled through shades of pale white and embarrassed red. “But Declan did this for the company…” “Mr. Henderson,” Vanessa interrupted him. Her voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable, heavy threat. “My uncle, the Executive VP right down the hall, has constantly stressed that our corporate standardization starts with the fine details. He explicitly stated we cannot allow employees who think they outshine their bosses to receive special treatment.” “He is just an acquisitions rep. What makes him so special?” In that exact second, the puzzle pieces snapped together. Vanessa was the Executive VP’s niece. A nepo baby air dropped into the Legal Department to enforce standardization. Her actual job was to suppress any veteran employees who were getting too successful or making too much money. And I, the star employee who just brought in a multibillion dollar contract, was the very first head she wanted on the chopping block. VP Henderson let out a long, heavy sigh and slowly turned his gaze to me. “Declan, maybe you could… just take the hit on this one? Look, Vanessa is just looking out for the company’s best interests by strictly enforcing the rules. Since you are our star player, you should lead by example and support our new colleague, right?” He started spinning a web of corporate buzzwords, talking about the big picture and mutual understanding, trying to smooth things over with absolute garbage. I got the message loud and clear. Forced to choose between the Executive VP’s pampered niece and the guy who just generated billions in pure profit, Henderson chose to protect his own skin without a second thought. All his praise, all his promises. They were entirely worthless the second nepotism walked into the room. My so called mentor had just sold out his best workhorse to save his own career. I grabbed my receipts off the desk and walked out of the office without saying a single word. Vanessa followed right behind me. She walked with her chin held high, looking exactly like a peacock that just won a fight. When we got back to the bullpen, she purposefully stopped right next to my desk. “Did you see that, Declan? In this company, performing well does not give you special privileges. My uncle is the one calling the shots now.” She let out a soft laugh. Her tone was dripping with arrogance and absolute disgust. “From now on, you better run things by me before you try to expense a single dime. Save yourself the humiliation of running to Henderson just to get rejected again.” A few coworkers who always hated my success immediately swarmed around her, eager to kiss up. “Exactly. Vanessa is totally right. A company needs order.” “Declan has been gone for six months. He is totally out of touch. He has no idea the power dynamic here completely changed.” I ignored the background noise and quietly booted up my computer. They all thought I had swallowed the insult. They thought I was just going to sit there and take it. But they had no idea how a top tier acquisitions manager actually operated. When the rules no longer protect you, you learn to use the rules against them. Or better yet, you create new rules entirely. That night, I skipped the department welcome back dinner and went straight home to my empty apartment. I had not been back in six months. A thin layer of dust coated the furniture, and the air felt stale and heavy. I dropped my luggage and sat down on the sofa in the dark. I was too exhausted to even turn on the lights. A few minutes later, my phone screen lit up the room. It was an automated text message from the oncology hospital. “Mr. Wright. The payment for your mother’s third round of targeted lymphoma therapy is past due. Please submit the balance immediately to avoid treatment delays.” In that exact moment, the cold logic and forced calm I maintained all day completely shattered. Of the expenses Vanessa just voided, over a hundred and fifty grand came directly out of my own pocket. I had carefully planned every cent. That money was supposed to pay for my mother’s chemotherapy next month. During the fourth month of my business trip, my sister called me crying. My mother was diagnosed with stage three lymphoma. My mind went entirely blank. I wanted to book a flight home that exact second. But the Apex project was at the ultimate breaking point. A team of fifty people had been bleeding for this deal alongside me for months. One slight hesitation from the client could have destroyed the entire negotiation. I gritted my teeth and wired every last dollar of my life savings to my sister. I told my family to find the absolute best doctors and use the most expensive drugs available. I told them I would handle the money. I promised myself that if I secured this deal and secured my massive million dollar bonus, I could save my mother’s life. I forced myself to smile at client dinners while my heart broke, picturing my mother’s fading, pale face. After half a year of brutal corporate warfare, I truly believed I was a conquering soldier returning home to save my family. Instead, I found out the people I fought for had burned my supplies to the ground. They did not just mock my hard work. They were actively cutting off the money I needed to keep my mother alive. A violent, sharp cramp hit my stomach. I opened a drawer, grabbed a bottle of antacids, and swallowed two pills dry. Six months of chronic stress had absolutely wrecked my digestive system. Exhaustion and a deep, burning sense of injustice washed over me like a tidal wave. But I knew this was no time to fall apart. I could walk away from that money. But I absolutely had to get justice. I was going to make them pay for trampling all over my sacrifice. I opened my laptop and pulled up a familiar contact. Gordon. Gordon was a gold tier corporate headhunter in the industry. He had been trying to poach me for three straight years. I always told him the timing was not right. Well, the timing was finally right. Next, I dialed the personal cell phone of the primary client for the Apex Plaza project. Marcus Caldwell. You want to play by the rules? Fine. Let me show you how the real rules work. 3 My phone call with Caldwell lasted less than twenty minutes. I did not complain about my company once. I did not mention a single word about my blocked expenses or the office politics. Instead, I framed the conversation entirely from his perspective as a billionaire developer. I analyzed the recent structural and legal shakeups at our corporate office. I offered a very friendly, professional warning that this level of instability could pose a massive financial risk to the execution of Apex Phase Two. “Mr. Caldwell, good evening. I apologize for calling so late, but I wanted to personally update you on a minor internal shift at our firm.” “Declan! You are back in Chicago? Excellent. I am buying you dinner tomorrow to celebrate!” Caldwell’s booming, cheerful voice came through the speaker. “I appreciate that, Mr. Caldwell, but dinner can wait. There is something you need to know immediately.” I lowered my voice slightly. “We recently had a new Legal Director air dropped into the department. She is enforcing a radically different set of compliance standards. As you know, the Acquisitions team and the Legal team have to work perfectly in sync to clear your project funds and execute the timelines.” The line went dead quiet. Caldwell was listening closely. I continued. “I just wanted to offer a friendly warning. Massive personnel shifts and sudden compliance changes during a critical execution phase could introduce highly unpredictable risks. Especially considering the billions of dollars allocated for Phase Two.” I never said I got screwed over on my expenses. I never mentioned Vanessa was a nepo baby. Caldwell was an old fox in the real estate game. I did not need to spell it out for him. He threw billions of dollars into commercial development. He knew exactly what personnel shifts and financial risks really meant. He instantly read between the lines. Declan Wright, the core architect of his multibillion dollar project, was being stripped of his power. “Declan, thank you.” His tone turned incredibly serious. “You are the most responsible project lead I have ever worked with. Stability is my absolute top priority for Phase Two. I am going to have my internal team reevaluate our risk exposure with your firm immediately.” I hung up the phone. A cold smirk spread across my face. Vanessa, you actually thought you were defending the company rules? You were about to learn that the client is the only rule that matters in this industry. Next, I dialed Gordon the headhunter. “Gordon. Are you awake?” “Well, well, if it isn’t the golden boy! Long time no see, Declan.” Gordon was as slick and energetic as always. “I honestly thought you were going to stay at that firm until you retired.” “Cut the crap, Gordon. I want out.” The line was silent for three full seconds before Gordon exploded with pure excitement. “You finally woke up! The CEO at Horizon Tech has been asking about you for months! If you give me the green light, the Head of Acquisitions job for the entire Midwest is yours! You can even handpick your own team!” Horizon Tech. Our absolute biggest corporate rival. “Gordon,” I interrupted his rant. “I am not calling to accept the offer today.” “I am calling because I need you to set a trap for me.” Gordon paused, then let out a massive, booming laugh. “You are a terrifying guy, Declan. Tell me what to do. I always told you that your current firm didn’t deserve a guy with your brains.” “It is simple.” I leaned forward, keeping my voice low. “I want you to heavily negotiate the details of the Horizon Tech offer. Make the demands as specific and arrogant as possible. But remember, do not officially accept anything yet.” “All you have to do is casually leak the information. Make sure the entire real estate industry knows that Horizon Tech is trying to poach me. And make sure everyone knows Horizon is willing to buy out the entire Apex Phase Two contract just to get me in their building.” Gordon sucked in a sharp breath. “That is ruthless. Horizon wants that project so bad they are willing to authorize a ridiculous signing bonus.” “Perfect.” I nodded slowly. “Make sure that exact dollar amount casually gets leaked to the press too.” This is the reality of the corporate world. In one company, all your hard work and billions in profit can be erased by a single sentence from an executive’s relative. But at a rival company, that exact same hard work is a treasure they will fight over with cold, hard cash. All I had to do was make sure my current bosses saw exactly what my real price tag looked like.

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