I followed James for seven years, living frugally, and finally saved our first million dollars. In this vast New York City, we could finally have a place to call our own. But on the day we were supposed to pay the deposit, James withdrew all the money from our joint account. I called him repeatedly: “Where’s the money? Why did you take out all of our savings?” He replied, “I can’t ignore Lily’s situation. You know she’s like a sister to me.” “She needs this money more than we do.” I looked at the woman in front of me, wearing a silk nightgown, every hair in place. Then I glanced at myself, worn out after seven years, wearing a wrinkled old sweater. Suddenly, I woke up. The determination to end this seven-year relationship filled me at that moment. “James, where’s the money? Why did you withdraw all of it without saying a word?” I shouted as soon as I entered the apartment, filled with anger. James got up from the couch and brought a cake to me: “Emma, I bought your favorite chestnut cake. Have a slice and calm down.” I stared into his eyes and asked again: “I’m asking you where the money went?” He avoided my gaze: “You know, Lily was scammed recently and got into online debt.” James lowered his voice and continued: “She even… sent her nude photos to someone as collateral.” “They said if she doesn’t pay back soon, they’ll send the photos to her friends and family.” “You’re a woman too, you should understand what this means for a girl, right?” I felt weak all over: “Did you give her everything?” I pounded on James’s chest: “You knew very well that was our seven-year savings for buying a house!” At this moment, Lily came out of the bathroom. Fresh out of the shower, Lily’s skin was fair and radiant. Her bare face looked clean and beautiful, with large innocent eyes that made her look particularly pitiful. Not just James, even I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her when I saw her. She spoke with a hint of tears, looking at me: “It’s all my fault. Sister, please don’t fight with James. He was just trying to help me.” “I only borrowed a few thousand dollars, but in just two months, they’re asking me to pay back hundreds of thousands. Where would I get that kind of money?” I looked at her, wearing a silk nightgown that made her look very refined. Then I looked at myself, wearing a sweater I’d had for five years, wrinkled like a cleaning rag, looking more like sleepwear than her actual nightgown. I took deep breaths, trying to expel the anger building up in my chest. But I still felt extremely frustrated. Seeing me like this, James wanted to say something more but didn’t dare. After hesitating several times, he finally spoke: “By the way, Emma, there’s something I want to discuss with you.” “Lily hasn’t paid rent for two months and was kicked out by her landlord.” “She’s a girl, and she has nowhere to go.” “Can we… can we let her stay with us for a few days?” I looked around and noticed several suitcases in the living room that weren’t there before. I didn’t respond, just walked into the bedroom and slammed the door shut. Discuss? He took all our money to pay off Lily’s loan and directly brought her to our home. Which of these things did he actually discuss with me? 0

James and I had been together for seven years. When I was interviewing for my first job in New York City, I almost arrived late because the subway system was so confusing with all its twists and turns. I wandered around for ages without finding the right exit. In desperation, I grabbed a random person on the street to ask for directions. As it turned out, this person worked at the company where I was interviewing and directly took me there. Later, we became colleagues, and then we became a couple. New York City can feel like a cold place, but because of him, these seven years have had a bit of warmth. He wasn’t just my boyfriend; he was also my dining companion, movie buddy, and travel partner. After getting together, like many people in New York, we started saving money, eagerly anticipating the day when we could have our own little nest among the city’s dazzling lights. To save up for a down payment on a house, we lived frugally for seven years, leaving early and returning late every day, never missing a day of work, not even taking a single sick day. On rainy days in the run-down neighborhood, the narrow alleys would be filled with muddy water, making my shoes dirty. Walking through it so often, even my obsession with cleanliness seemed to have worn away. On social media, people our age were traveling to various places, seeing beautiful sights, and eating all kinds of delicious food. During holidays, we only dared to stay in our damp, dark little room, sharing a single portion of cheap takeout between the two of us. During these seven years, James would often stroke my head and say with concern in his eyes: “Emma, I’m sorry you have to struggle like this with me.” “Once we buy a house, we’ll get married right away, and I promise I’ll treat you well.” Every time I saw the sincerity in his eyes, I felt it was all worth it. But now that all the money had been given to Lily to pay off her debt, we couldn’t buy the house anymore. Would we still get married? A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. James came in with a cup of hot chocolate: “I’m sorry, please don’t be angry, okay?” He put the hot drink on the table and tried to hug me. Seeing the apologetic look in his eyes, in the past, I might have softened. But this time, I found the person in front of me repulsive. Being with James for so many years, his good qualities were obvious. He wasn’t flirtatious and was quite family-oriented. He was good to me and my family too. When my dad suddenly had a heart attack, if it wasn’t for him, I might have just panicked helplessly. But all his maturity and rationality seemed to disappear when it came to Lily. Thinking about how he had repeatedly favored Lily in the past, I felt anger rising inside me. I avoided him and crawled into bed. He seemed a bit helpless: “Don’t always be like this.” “That money… I’ll find a way to earn it back. If I have to, I’ll drive for Uber or deliver food after work.” “You know, Lily grew up with me. When we were poor, her parents helped our family a lot. When her dad passed away, he asked me to take good care of her. Now that she’s in such big trouble, how can I just stand by and do nothing?” “You can understand that, right?” James cared for his childhood friend, but where did he put me when he was protecting her? Lily ate and dressed well every day. If she had borrowed money to save a life or do something meaningful, I could still understand. But she only borrowed money to satisfy her vanity, buying luxury bags and traveling everywhere. How could I understand that? I looked into James’s eyes, tears welling up: “What about me?” “I struggled with you for seven years, and now we have nothing left. Did you think about me?” We stood in silent confrontation. Suddenly, I felt utterly exhausted. I grabbed my pajamas and ran to the bathroom, hoping a shower would help alleviate the frustration in my chest. After showering and returning to the room, I found Lily sitting on my bed watching a TV series, occasionally bursting into laughter. For me, today felt like the sky had fallen. For her, it seemed like nothing had happened. Her laughter was grating, as if mocking me for being a fool all these years. I walked straight up to her and said only two words: “Get out.” 0

Lily looked up in shock, giving me an innocent look. James, hearing the commotion, came in from the living room. Seeing James, Lily’s eyes welled up with tears: “I’m sorry, sister. I thought James had told you I’d be sleeping with you tonight.” “If you don’t want me to sleep here, I’ll leave right away.” James pressed his lips together: “Didn’t Lily always sleep with you when she came over before?” “Besides, we only have one bedroom, there’s no other option.” “You two squeeze in for tonight, and first thing tomorrow morning, I’ll take a day off to help Lily find a place.” I coldly repeated: “Get out.” “Both of you, get out.” I’ve always been mild-mannered, so when James saw me like this, he knew I was truly angry. He signaled to Lily with his eyes, indicating that they should leave. Seeing this, Lily started gathering her bedding while sobbing. As they left and closed the door, my tears finally fell uncontrollably down my cheeks. These tears were so bitter. Half for finally seeing my place in James’s heart, half for my seven years of youth. I don’t know what time I fell asleep, but as soon as the alarm went off, I habitually got up. After so many years, I had been trained into a qualified corporate slave, and a qualified corporate slave goes to work no matter what happens, no matter how upset they are. Opening the bedroom door, I saw Lily and James also getting ready for work. Today’s weather matched my mood – pouring rain. Lily looked out the window and whined to James, “Let’s take a cab today, okay?” “Our offices are on the same route anyway, it won’t cost much. Fifty dollars should be enough to get there.” James’s eyes were full of indulgence as he took out his phone and called a cab without hesitation. James looked at my puffy and swollen eyes, a flash of concern crossing his face: “Emma, come with us. It’s raining heavily today.” I shook my head and went to wash up. For the past seven years, to save money, I never took a cab, whether it was raining or even during a typhoon. Several times I had already opened the ride-hailing app and entered the starting location, but seeing the fare displayed on my phone, I would steel myself, grab an umbrella, and walk a mile to take the bus instead. Thinking back now, although James always said he felt sorry for me, he never actively offered to call a car for me. As I reached the ground floor, I seemed to see my past self wearing rain boots, carefully holding an umbrella, but still getting splashed all over by passing cars, looking utterly miserable. The rain was getting heavier, fine droplets landing on my body, adding a chill to my heart. This time, I called a car for myself. 0

For the next few days, not wanting to see them, I left early and returned late every day. On Saturday, while I was still thinking about how to avoid them, I woke up to find they had already gone out. In the evening, James sent me a message: “No need to cook tonight, I’ll bring food back for you.” Since I didn’t feel like cooking anyway, I didn’t refuse. Around 8 PM, James and Lily returned with several bags. Their laughter could be heard even before they entered the apartment. James put the takeout on the dining table: “Emma, I brought you some Japanese food. Come and eat.” These past few days, James had been trying to please me, either consciously or unconsciously. I didn’t know if he genuinely felt he had done something wrong, or if he was just placating me, hoping I would end the cold war quickly. I glanced at the bags they brought back. The orange Louis Vuitton shopping bag was particularly eye-catching. Lily took out the LV handbag from the bag, showing it off in front of me: “Sister, isn’t this bag beautiful?” “James bought it for me, saying it’s to celebrate my escape from the threats of those loan sharks.” James noticed my gaze and said sheepishly: “You didn’t go today, so another day I’ll take you shopping and buy you one too.” I looked at the bag hanging on the back of the door, which I had bought from a second-hand platform and had been using for five years, and suddenly found it somewhat amusing. One year on my birthday, James said he wanted to buy me a luxury handbag as a birthday gift. His regular salary was mostly deposited into our joint account, leaving him with little money for himself. The money he said he would use to buy me a bag was his overtime pay for half a year. I felt sorry for him and thought that for a handbag, a second-hand one would be fine. So I told him to buy one from a second-hand website. Now that I think about it, I was wrong. In all these years with James, I had placed myself too low. Because I loved him, I always thought more about him, always felt that being together meant working hard towards a common goal. I always thought James felt the same way. I always thought he couldn’t bear to take me to nice restaurants, couldn’t bear to give me expensive things, couldn’t bear to go out and play with me, because he wanted to save money to give me a home. But I was terribly mistaken. As time went on, he only came to think that I didn’t deserve these things, that there was no need to spend money or effort buying these things for me, and that I would always stay by his side anyway. At this moment, it was as if I suddenly woke up. No longer hysterical, no longer trying to evoke his love through the cold war. I quietly walked to the dining table and put the scattered pieces of sushi, which looked like their leftovers, into my mouth. The determination to end this seven-year relationship filled me at this moment. After eating, I slowly spoke: “Weren’t you supposed to be looking for an apartment? When are you moving out?” 0

Lily’s tears came on cue: “Sister, I’m sorry for disturbing you two.” “We haven’t found a place yet.” “If you really don’t want me to stay here, I can go crash at a friend’s place for a few days starting tomorrow.” Although Lily seemed to be talking to me, her eyes were on James. I reminded her: “Okay, remember to pack all your things.” Lily glanced at James and started packing. Her sobbing sounded particularly loud in the quiet room. James grabbed Lily’s hand: “Don’t mind her.” Then he turned to look at me, frowning: “Emma, haven’t you had enough?” “It’s been days, and you’re still walking around with that sour face. Who are you trying to impress?” “Why are you being so petty?” “I’ve already explained everything to you nicely. Lily is like a sister to me. She just escaped from danger, can’t she stay here for a few days until we find her a place? It’s dangerous for a girl to be out there alone, who knows if she might get scammed again.” “Do you have to make everyone so uncomfortable?” Originally, I just wanted to quietly sort out everything between us and then part ways gracefully. But since James insisted on laying it all out like this, I’d play along. I glared at James: “Sister, you say sister, right?” “Giving her all the money we saved for seven years, being at her beck and call anytime, even running to her when I was sick, that kind of sister?” “You two clearly have something going on, yet you hide behind the facade of being siblings, flirting ambiguously.” “Am I your backup plan? Or am I here to highlight how well-matched you two are, how in sync, how good your relationship is?” Guilt, nervousness, and awkwardness intertwined on James’s face. He transformed these unmanageable emotions into a slap across my face. It also completely shattered our seven years of relationship.

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During Freshman Orientation Week, my family’s housekeeper’s son publicly confessed his love for me. After I rejected him, he turned the whole class against me, isolating and bullying me. He even had his admirers put snakes in my bed to bite me. Driven to the brink of a mental breakdown, he pretended to help me, only to get me drunk and hand me over to the notorious class monitor and some street thugs. “I wanted you to marry me, then I’d spare your life. Now it’s perfect. Your mom only has me as her child, and all your family’s wealth will be mine.” I was tortured to death. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of his confession. “Cassie, be my girlfriend. I’ll treat you like a princess!” Lucas Harrison knelt on one knee, holding a bouquet in one hand and a soda can tab in the other. “I’ll be good to you forever, trust me, okay?” “Get together! Get together!” “Oh my god, the teaching assistant is so handsome! And he’s rich too. Cassie is so lucky!” The voices bombarded my ears. Seeing the smugness in Lucas’s eyes, I finally realized – I had been reborn. Lucas had saved my mom’s life once, so she became his godmother. He and his mother pretended to be rich, but they were always spending my family’s money. I had tolerated all of this, but he went too far when he publicly confessed his love to me just to get his hands on my family’s fortune. After I rejected him, he harbored a grudge. He secretly had people bully me, then pretended to be a caring brother and invited the whole class to an entertainment venue, claiming he wanted to clear up any misunderstandings. But halfway through, he deliberately got me drunk and drugged my drink. As I was dizzy and disoriented, he dragged me into a room. Inside wasn’t just anyone, but Mark Lewis, the class monitor who had always been harsh on me. Mark was utterly despicable and tried to force himself on me. I bit my tongue to stay conscious and managed to escape. But outside the door, a group of thugs was waiting. I was violated to death. Mark, fearing for his reputation, worked with Lucas to tie my body to a rock and throw it in the river. They even used my phone to scam my mom out of millions. My poor mother lost her daughter in middle age. She searched for me day and night without sleep, aging a decade in just a few days. I clenched my fists tightly. “Slap!” Just as Lucas grabbed my hand to put the soda can tab on my finger, I gave him a hard slap. Under his surprised gaze, I sneered, “Tch, aren’t you supposed to be the young master of Sullivan Corp? Proposing with a soda can tab?” “What kind of rich heir is so cheap?” Lucas’s expression changed, and immediately someone came to his defense. “Lucas just thought you weren’t a materialistic girl. Who knew you were so money-hungry!” “It’s rare to find such a pure-hearted rich guy like Lucas these days.” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Rich guy? I’ve never heard of any Mr. Harrison in the Sullivan family. But I do know the Sullivan family’s housekeeper has a son named Harrison.” “Cassie Sullivan!” Lucas glared at me angrily. “That’s enough!” I leaned in close to him, my voice cold. “Now, apologize to me and get lost, or I’ll have your teaching assistant position revoked immediately.”

“Cassie Sullivan, what are you playing at? How dare you tell Lucas to get lost? Look at yourself in the mirror. Do you think you’re worthy of him?” I scanned them with a mocking smile. “I have excellent grades and I’m beautiful. He has beady eyes and a flat nose – looking at him would give me nightmares. Me, worthy of him? I’d be lowering my standards!” Lucas was so angered by my words that he couldn’t control his facial expressions. He shot me a vicious look, with a hint of confusion in his eyes. Perhaps he couldn’t understand why I had changed so much today? He gritted his teeth. “I was too forward today. I thought Cassie had feelings for me. I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.” “I’m sorry.” With that, he turned and left, pretending to be dejected. Many people started cursing at me behind my back. But this time around, I wouldn’t be as weak as in my past life. Just then, a whistle sounded from behind. Mark Lewis, the one who had a hand in my death in my previous life, walked out. I saw him exchange a glance with Lucas in the distance before he angrily reprimanded me. “Cassie Sullivan! You’re violating discipline again!” Mark stared at me with hostility. “Always up to no good. Do you think Orientation Week is a place where you can do whatever you want? Run twenty laps around the field!” “On what grounds?” I said coldly. Mark’s face darkened. “You dare to argue! If it weren’t for you, why would all the students be gathered here wasting training time?” “And on the first day of orientation, you’ve altered your uniform to make it so small. What are you trying to show off? Everyone can see clearly. You’ve just entered college and you’re already learning bad habits, trying to seduce others. You have no self-respect!” Hearing this, everyone looked at me. Their gazes were scrutinizing, and some even lewdly scanned my entire body. “Monitor, you seem to have a selective memory. When we were given our uniforms, I asked for a size larger, but you insisted on giving me the smaller one. Now you’re using body shaming to attack me?” I laughed coldly. “Fine, I recorded it. The uniforms were distributed in the classroom, which has surveillance cameras. Why don’t we go ask the principal how they admitted such a perverted student with a dirty mind?” “You dare!” Mark grabbed me, his eyes full of warning. I skillfully dodged and punched him in the face. “Everyone, come look! The monitor is harassing a female student!” At this point, Lucas couldn’t sit still anymore. He quickly ran over. “Cassie, stop making a scene! Mark—” “Everyone, come look! The teaching assistant is harassing a female student! Could the female students please call the police for me!” Hearing about calling the police, the two men saw that the situation was getting out of hand and even tried to cover my mouth. Just then, the drill instructor walked over. “It’s break time. What’s going on here?” After a cacophony of explanations, the situation was finally clarified. The drill instructor gave Mark a cold glare, then looked meaningfully at Lucas. “During orientation, unauthorized personnel are not allowed to interfere.” Lucas’s face darkened. The head instructor ordered Mark to apologize to me before quickly taking them away. I also called the principal after class, and by the afternoon, Mark had been stripped of his monitor position. When he looked at me now, his eyes were full of venom. What’s there to be afraid of? I smirked. This was just the first step!

In the evening, to save face, Lucas invited the whole class to eat at the cafeteria. “Lucas, I heard Sullivan Corp donated a building to the school because you came to work here. That’s so generous.” “Our school is one of the top universities in the city. Lucas gave up working at the company to come here… he must be here to gain experience, right?” The classmates chattered away. Lucas neither confirmed nor denied, letting them talk. He enjoyed being the center of attention, as if he had the whole world in the palm of his hand. Just then, a girl said in a sarcastic tone, “Cassie Sullivan really has no luck. She offended Lucas and now she’ll never have the fortune to eat in the VIP dining hall.” As soon as she finished speaking, I sauntered past her, carrying two plates of food. The VIP dining hall was donated by my mom. I’ve been a picky eater since childhood. Worried that I wouldn’t adapt to the food, my mom specially donated a dining hall building, and the third floor was practically my private restaurant. Seeing this, everyone’s faces fell. The girl muttered, “She couldn’t have sold herself, could she?” As soon as the words left her mouth, a resounding slap landed on her face. Under her shocked gaze, my bodyguard stepped back and respectfully said to me, “Miss Sullivan, I’ve dealt with the foul-mouthed individual for you. Please enjoy your lunch.” I raised an eyebrow slightly. My mom taught me to be low-key, but some people are really despicable. If you’re low-key, they’ll think you’re easy to bully. So, after my confrontation with them this morning, I hired two bodyguards to protect me. My life comes first. Under the girl’s murderous gaze and Lucas’s gloomy eyes, I raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Lucas, can you afford this?” Sure enough, Lucas was provoked by me. In his anger, he took everyone to the most expensive area. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the bill came to nearly ten thousand dollars. He trembled slightly in pain but pretended to be generous as he handed over his card. The cafeteria lady took it and swiped it on the machine. “Insufficient balance. Please top up.” Suddenly, the air went quiet. Lucas frowned slightly. He snatched the card back in disbelief and swiped it on the machine a couple more times. Still insufficient balance. He tried other methods, all showing no money. He cursed in frustration, then under the gaze of his classmates and the cafeteria lady, Lucas took out his phone and messaged me. “Cassie, come over quickly and let me use your meal card. Godmother said we should help each other in the new school.” I immediately blocked him. Having seen enough of the show, I turned to leave. Not wanting Lucas to be embarrassed, one of his admirers grabbed me. “Cassie Sullivan, here’s a chance for you to redeem yourself. Hurry up and pay for Lucas!” Seeing me, Lucas’s eyes lit up. He took a few steps towards me and pulled me over. “Use your meal card to pay. I’ll forget about what happened this morning and treat you even better in the future.” I rolled my eyes and kicked Lucas in the leg. He grimaced in pain, and I continued to twist the knife. “Used to being a beggar, aren’t you?” I showed everyone the message he sent me. “Using my family’s money to gain fame, then slandering me, and now ordering me around? The housekeeper’s son has really opened my eyes.” “Trying to mooch off me, huh?”

Everyone looked at Lucas with meaningful gazes. Some of the sharper ones seemed to have caught on to what was happening. “Cassie Sullivan!” Lucas’s face was ugly. In this life, he probably hated being called the housekeeper’s son more than anything. He clenched his fists tightly, wanting to hit me, but when he saw my bodyguards behind me, he immediately backed down. He gritted his teeth. “Cassie, we grew up together. Even if you don’t like me, you shouldn’t slander me like this.” “Which part of what I said was wrong?” I hadn’t said a single wrong word, but his admirer Wendy jumped out. “You’re not slandering him? If Lucas isn’t Mr. Sullivan’s son, why would Mr. Sullivan donate a building to the school?” “I heard this with my own ears.” “And how many expensive gifts has Lucas bought for you?” I laughed in disbelief. “You mean the 99-cent roses from the dollar store? The ones that lost their color? Or the random soda can tab he picked up from the street?” “You want this kind of treatment? Be my guest.” Wendy threw herself into Lucas’s arms, whining. “Lucas, look at what this gold digger is saying. She’s not even willing to spend ten thousand dollars on you. All the designer clothes and accessories she’s wearing were bought with your money. She doesn’t deserve your affection!” “I say, you should make her return everything and teach her a lesson!” I felt like I had just heard the joke of the century. I turned to look at Lucas. “You bought them? Can you even afford them?” Lucas coughed lightly, his eyes darting around. “You… you hurry up and pay. I’ll have my mom transfer the money to you later.” “Then why don’t you ask your mom to transfer it to you now?” I looked at him mockingly. Under everyone’s gaze, he sent a message to my mom, only to receive a red exclamation mark. Hmm, Special Assistant Wang did a good job. Before coming to the cafeteria, I had already asked Special Assistant Wang to freeze the cards of Lucas and his mother. Not only that, to prevent him from deceiving my mom, I directly had Special Assistant Wang block them all. Under everyone’s gaze, Lucas was extremely embarrassed. “I contacted the wrong person.” “Tsk, can’t even find the right mom.” I smiled and said, “You’re not planning to dine and dash, are you?”

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Every time before Sophia goes “camping”, she always serves me a hearty meal the night before. I know she has a big appetite. To accommodate her, I work hard all night, trying my best to satisfy all her special preferences. But the next day, she still takes three or five boxes of trial-sized products from the bedside table. I’m not a fool. I know what this means. But I thought she was just playing around, and everything would still revolve around our family. Until she maxed out my credit card to buy six-figure camping equipment for her “best friend”. I finally couldn’t take it anymore… At 1 AM, Sophia still hadn’t returned. On SnapChat, Sophia’s avatar was still gray, with her last message lingering from the evening: “James, I’m going camping in the suburbs with Lucas. My phone might not have signal, don’t worry.” This was already her tenth night out this month, and each time, the excuse was camping. Ten times in a month. Well done, Sophia, you really take me for a fool. I laughed coldly as I tore up our wedding photo. Sophia and I met on a blind date. I pursued her for a whole year before she agreed to marry me. At our wedding, she said she wanted to be with me forever. I believed her. I gave her everything I could, including the freedom she wanted. But ever since Lucas came to this city, everything changed. Lucas was Sophia’s childhood friend. At first, they just hiked and watched movies together, but later it developed into business trips, travels, and even overnight stays. Whenever I asked about it, she always brushed it off saying: “We’re just friends, you’re overthinking.” When I asked too often, she impatiently said: “Can’t you be less petty? I’ve told you we’re just friends. If you don’t even have this much trust, how are we going to live together in the future?” Lucas would always stand with his hands in his pockets, smiling nonchalantly and saying: “Bro, don’t be so narrow-minded. Sophia and I grew up together, we’re like siblings. There’s definitely nothing between us, don’t be so dramatic.” I’m being dramatic? Looking at his pretentious face, I wanted to punch him right there. I remembered the last dinner party when Lucas directly held Sophia in his arms, feeding her as if no one else was around. Do siblings act like that? I was sitting right across from them, feeling like an outsider, awkward and embarrassed. My phone rang. It was Sophia. “James, my phone died while camping, I just charged it. It’s raining outside, so I’m staying at Lucas’s place to avoid the rain. I’ll be back in the morning.” Sophia’s voice sounded coy and tired. No messages for 8 whole hours, was it really just simple camping? I looked at the drawer where another ten boxes of trial-sized products were missing, my heart churning. “Oh.” I tried hard to control my emotions, appearing calm on the surface while gritting my teeth inside. “You must be tired from playing. Get some rest.” “Okay, honey. Love you.” Sophia’s sweet voice made me feel nauseous. At 7 AM, Sophia came back with her usual smile, holding coffee and bagels: “It was too late last night, I didn’t want to wake you, so I just crashed at Lucas’s place. You don’t mind, right?” “I don’t mind.” I answered calmly. Of course I mind, but what’s the use? Some people are just despicable, their vile habits ingrained to the bone. The next day was Lucas’s birthday, and Sophia insisted on hosting a birthday party for him at our house. “Lucas, happy birthday!” Sophia’s eyes curved into crescents as she handed Lucas an exquisitely wrapped gift box. “See if you like it.” Lucas smiled as he took the gift: “I like everything you give me, Sophia.” He opened the gift right in front of me. It was a men’s watch. Forcing back my anger, I smiled insincerely and said: “Sophia, you’re so good to your ‘dear brother’. This watch must have cost a lot, right?” Sophia glanced at me impatiently: “What, do I need your permission to give my friend a gift?” I was instantly filled with rage, slamming the table and shouting, hoping to awaken some conscience in her. Giving gifts is fine, but why are you using my money?! Sophia, you only make $3000 a month, yet you’re always splurging. I’m the one supporting this family! Yesterday you spent six figures buying him camping equipment, and now you’ve bought him a watch worth over a hundred thousand?! I’ve had my eye on that watch for a long time, but I gritted my teeth and didn’t buy it because of the mortgage! Now, it’s on that bastard Lucas’s wrist?! Great, just great! After dinner, I sat alone on the balcony smoking, playing with the lighter in my hand, lighting it and extinguishing it repeatedly, my heart sinking bit by bit. Sophia was video chatting with Lucas in the bedroom. Snippets of their conversation drifted out, things like “let’s try something new tomorrow” and “I want to see you right now” – disgusting talk. I laughed coldly. She just got back and now she’s going “camping” with her “dear brother” again? She hung up the phone and walked to the balcony with her usual fake smile: “James, you’re not angry today, are you?” I blew out a smoke ring and said calmly: “No, I’m not.” She came over and snuggled into my arms, cooing: “I knew you were the best.” I stroked her hair gently, laughing coldly in my heart. Getting angry with someone like you? Not worth it.

The next night, I went out drinking with some colleagues and didn’t return home until dawn. Sophia’s calls kept coming, but I turned off my phone, finally getting a taste of making her wait for me. I returned home slightly drunk, and surprisingly, Sophia was sitting in the living room waiting for me. She tried to come over and support me, but I pushed her away. “Don’t touch me!” I staggered along the wall back to the bedroom and fell face-first into the bed. “James! Get up right now!” Sophia’s shrill voice exploded next to my ear. “You stink of alcohol. You’re getting into bed without showering?” I suddenly opened my eyes, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her close. “Sophia, since when did you care about me so much? In the past, when I came home drunk, didn’t you wish I’d just die outside?” Sophia was frightened by my gaze and stammered: “I… I was just worried about you.” “Worried about me?” I sneered. You’re just worried about dirtying your sheets! I flung her hand away. “Sophia, I’m not your servant, nor am I your punching bag! If you dare to boss me around again, get out!” Sophia was stunned. She probably never thought that I, who had always been so docile, would rebel. I couldn’t be bothered to look at her again and turned over to sleep. After that day, Sophia’s attitude seemed to improve a bit. She prepared loving breakfasts for me every morning, sent me many messages during work hours, and occasionally bought small gifts. Her attitude seemed to have changed. This weekend, Sophia said she wanted to go to the mall and asked me to wait for her there, saying she’d come after work. I arrived early and sat idly by the fountain in the center of the mall, watching the crowds come and go. At that moment, I saw Sophia and Lucas walking in side by side, their behavior intimate, laughing and talking, seemingly not noticing me. Lucas even had his hand on my wife’s neck, their faces almost touching. Sophia didn’t resist, allowing him to hold her. “Have you been waiting long, honey?” Seeming to have noticed me, Sophia broke away from his arm and walked towards me. Lucas looked a bit surprised as Sophia pulled away from him, but he still strode over. He stood in front of me, raising an eyebrow and said: “Sorry, bro, didn’t mean to interrupt your couple time. I just got off work too and ran into Sophia on the way. I know this area well, so I came along with her. You don’t mind, right?” As he spoke, he casually raised his right hand, revealing the new watch on his wrist. It was the birthday gift from Sophia. “It’s fine, the more the merrier.” My tone was calm, showing no sign of discomfort. “You’re so good, honey!” Hearing my agreement, Sophia smiled coyly. “Let’s go buy some clothes for Lucas first, he hasn’t had any new clothes recently.” She said, pulling Lucas towards the men’s clothing section. Store after store, Sophia enthusiastically picked out clothes – shirts, suits, jackets… Lucas was like a clothes hanger, letting her do as she pleased, a smug smile on his face. “How about this one? I think it suits you well.” Sophia held up a light gray cashmere sweater, comparing it against Lucas’s body. “Hmm, not bad. Let’s get this one.” Lucas nodded, his smile confident. “And this tie too, let’s get it as well.” Sophia picked up a dark blue tie, matching it with the sweater, nodding in satisfaction. In just an hour, Lucas’s shopping cart was full of bags big and small, but Sophia showed no signs of stopping. “Sophia, why don’t you buy something for James too?” Lucas turned to look at me, raising his eyebrows, speaking with deep meaning. “Him? He has plenty of clothes at home, no need to buy more, he has enough to wear.” Sophia waved her hand dismissively, her gaze falling on a new leather jacket. “Lucas, this leather jacket looks so cool, try it on?” Sophia linked arms with Lucas, the two walking intimately in front, chatting and laughing, while I felt like an outsider. I looked at the two of them, finding it all ridiculous, a playful smile tugging at my lips. At that moment, a woman in a red bodycon dress with a charming aura spotted me from afar. She walked over gracefully in her high heels.

“Sorry I’m late,” she smiled, her gaze falling on me with a hint of amusement. I watched her approach, ignoring Sophia’s displeased expression, and said gently, “It’s alright, Emma. We haven’t been here long either.” Sophia scrutinized Emma, her face darkening, “Honey, who is this?” I introduced calmly, “This is Emma, my senior from university.” Turning to Emma, I said, “Emma, this is my wife, Sophia, and this is… my wife’s friend, Lucas.” Sophia didn’t extend her hand, her expression even more unpleasant. Emma directly linked arms with me and said, “Hello everyone, I’m James’s college classmate. James is a great guy, we were very close in college, and I’ve always seen him as a little brother.” Hearing this, Sophia’s face darkened further, and she let go of Lucas’s arm. For the rest of the shopping trip, Sophia was clearly distracted. I didn’t pay attention to her, instead walking directly into a jewelry store. Sophia and Lucas followed. Under the lights, a dazzling array of gold jewelry sparkled. My gaze locked onto an intricately crafted gold bracelet with several small diamonds embedded in it, shimmering brilliantly under the lights. “Emma, today is your birthday. This is for you,” I picked up the bracelet and handed it to Emma. Emma covered her mouth in surprise, “This… it’s too expensive, I can’t accept it.” “Take it, it’s just a birthday gift,” I smiled, placing the bracelet on Emma’s wrist. “It suits you well.” The price tag on the bracelet clearly read “$24,000”. Seeing the price, Sophia’s face instantly turned sour. “Hmph, quite generous, aren’t you?” she said sarcastically, her tone bitter. She walked to the side, pretending to look at other jewelry, seemingly wanting to pick something for herself. I ignored her and directly led Emma out of the jewelry store. I thought I heard her grinding her teeth behind me. After leaving the jewelry store, the atmosphere became even more awkward. Sophia’s hostility towards Emma was obvious: “Miss Emma seems very close to James. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were a couple.” She glanced at me reproachfully. Emma responded calmly, “James is a good person, he takes care of all his friends. Don’t misunderstand, sister.” She leaned closer to Sophia and whispered, “Let me tell you a secret, James was very popular with girls in the past. Everyone used to say he was handsome, capable, and considerate.” I blushed hearing these words about myself. Sophia forced a smile, “Is that so? Seems like I have good taste.” Emma pointed at Lucas and teased, “Of course, but compared to this gentleman beside you, James is still a bit lacking. Look at him, his eyes haven’t left you since we came in.” Her words were too direct, and Lucas felt a bit awkward, coughing twice, “No, no, Miss Emma, you’re too kind.” After shopping, Emma left first. Lucas turned to Sophia and asked, “It’s still early, why don’t we go somewhere to sit for a while?” Sophia refused, “No, we have something to do. We’re going home first.” He raised an eyebrow, seeming a bit surprised. Sophia pulled me away hurriedly. As soon as we got to the car, she started questioning me: “Who exactly is that Emma?” “Just a friend, a college classmate.” “Just a friend and you give her such an expensive gift!” “It’s her birthday, of course I should give her a gift! Besides, didn’t you give Lucas gifts too?” She was momentarily speechless.

Sophia was sullen the whole way home. Once home, she threw her bag on the sofa without a word, kicked off her high heels, and leaned against the sofa with her arms crossed, glaring at me coldly. In the past, when she acted like this, I would have certainly tried to appease her with kind words, hanging up her bag and giving her a shoulder massage. But today, I coldly watched her performance and walked straight to the bathroom to wash up. “Stop right there!” she shouted shrilly, grabbing my arm. “What’s going on between you and that Emma?” I shook off her hand, my tone icy: “Do I need to report my relationships to you?” “What kind of attitude is this?” She glared at me, fuming. “She calls you James, so intimately, and you give her such an expensive bracelet. Do you think I’m an idiot?” I sneered, “What, you’re allowed to be all warm and caring with Lucas, but I can’t catch up with an old friend?” “Lucas is my friend, it’s just normal social etiquette! What about you? You give her gifts, she looks at you lovingly, you two exchange glances, do you dare say there’s nothing between you?” She pressed on, her voice sharp enough to pierce my eardrums. “What’s between Emma and me is none of your business. As for you, you’re in no position to question me when things are so unclear between you and Lucas,” I retorted unwaveringly, my tone mocking. “Don’t forget, who was it clinging to him in the mall, not wanting to let go, remember?” Her face flushed red then pale, but she couldn’t say a word. Seeing her like this, I felt a wave of irritation. “Sophia,” I said flatly, but still with a hint of coldness. “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done unto you. If you don’t have evidence, don’t make wild speculations about others. My relationship with Emma is open and aboveboard, unlike some people…” I paused deliberately, looking at her flushed face, and said word by word: “Who have a guilty conscience.”

Sophia has been giving me the cold shoulder for the past couple of days. This is her usual tactic, playing the victim and waiting for me to apologize first. In the past, I would always give in, but now I’m tired of it. I remember last winter when I had a bad cold, feeling weak all over with a splitting headache. I lay in bed, weakly calling her, hoping she could buy some cold medicine for me. Her tone was cold on the phone, saying she had to work overtime and couldn’t get away. I had to drag myself to the hospital alone. While getting an IV, I was idly scrolling through social media when I saw her post, tagged at the most expensive restaurant in New York. In the photo, she and Lucas were sitting face to face, both holding coffee cups, seemingly celebrating something, looking quite happy. The caption read: “So glad to have you.” And a while ago, when Lucas just slightly sprained his ankle, she was anxious like an ant on a hot pan, dropping all her work to take care of him for a whole week. Making tea, serving water, cooking chicken soup – I realized then that she’s not incapable of caring for others. She’s just incapable of caring for me. At that moment, I clearly understood that in her heart, I would never measure up to Lucas. This time, I won’t be the first to back down. Sophia’s cold war lasted a whole week. On the weekend, as usual, Sophia’s parents called us to come home for dinner. The meal tasted like chewing wax. Sophia had a sour face throughout and barely touched her chopsticks. Her mother reproached her somewhat complainingly: “Sophia, are you throwing a tantrum again? James gave up his job in New York to stay here for you, why are you always quarreling with him?” I smiled bitterly. Yes, for her, I gave up that high-paying job at a big company in New York, gave up my dreams, to stay in this unfamiliar city, just to be closer to her. Seemingly remembering something, her expression softened a bit. The doorbell rang abruptly, breaking the suffocating silence. Sophia’s mother went to open the door excitedly: “Oh, it’s Lucas! Come in quickly! You knew Sophia was coming back today, so you came to see her, right?” Lucas walked in smiling, greeting Sophia’s parents familiarly, as if this was his home. After sitting down, his gaze naturally fell on Sophia: “Sophia, want to go watch a movie tonight? That new one you’ve been wanting to see.” Sophia glanced at me furtively, her eyes somewhat evasive. I didn’t say anything. So she said stiffly: “No, we have plans tonight.” Lucas didn’t seem surprised. He turned to look at me, feigning enthusiasm: “James, why don’t you come too? We’re all friends, let’s have some fun together.” I could clearly see the smugness and showing off in his eyes. He didn’t care at all whether I was there or not, he just wanted to display his “care” for Sophia in front of me. Sophia’s parents also joined in persuading: “Go together, it’s good for young people to hang out.” I looked at them all chiming in, as if I were the outsider in this family. I stood up, grabbing my coat: “You all go ahead, I’m a bit tired, I’ll head back first.” “Honey!” Sophia called out to me, her eyes flickering, “Drive safely, I’ll be home early.” Huh, another perfunctory line. I smiled self-mockingly, turned and left, leaving them to continue their “family gathering”. Sophia didn’t come home all night again. I lay on the empty double bed, staring at the ceiling, laughing sardonically. On our wedding anniversary, she also came back this late, carrying a branded handbag, reeking of strong perfume, saying she had been entertaining clients. Huh, which client needs entertaining until 3 AM?

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I grew up as the daughter of the CEO of a renowned fashion group in New York, living in a luxurious Manhattan apartment and enjoying a privileged lifestyle. However, when there was a call for young people to support the development of the Midwest, I chose to volunteer in a small town with tough conditions for five years. Five years later, I returned to New York, excited to attend the launch of a new family fashion brand, only to be blindsided. At the event, my mother, who had always been so loving, announced that Amy, the adopted daughter, was the true heir to the family business. I was stunned to learn that I was merely a child they had picked up from the streets. To make matters worse, Jack, my childhood friend and now the general manager of the fashion group, publicly proposed to Amy, abandoning me without a second thought. Humiliated and laughed at by everyone, I was dragged out by security, left in despair on the cold streets, and ultimately drowned in an accident. But fate gave me another chance. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day of the brand’s launch. Seeing Amy about to cut the ribbon, fury surged within me, and I rushed forward, striking her down. “How dare you, a mere beggar, try to steal my spotlight!” I shouted.

The room erupted in chaos. My mother rushed over, giving me a hard shove. Yet, I stood my ground, unfazed. “Lucy, how have you become so savage after five years? Hitting your sister like this?” Mother yelled, her eyes blazing with anger. “You really are an uncultured child. Apologize to Amy immediately, or don’t even think about coming back home!” I picked up the scissors from the ground, sneering, “Mom, what are you saying? Dad only had me when he started the business. Is this sister of mine someone else’s child?” Mother turned red with rage, about to explode, but Amy held her back. “Mom, please don’t be angry with my sister on my account. If she likes the scissors, let her have them. After all, she suffered on my behalf in the Midwest. I owe her.” Amy said, feigning innocence. “If it weren’t for my poor health, Dad wouldn’t have adopted her, as a charity for me. In the end, I should thank her.” As Amy finished speaking, guests around us gave me disdainful looks. “So, she’s just an adopted stray, acting so arrogantly, she really doesn’t know her place!” “Exactly, I would have kicked her out long ago.” Mother pointed at the scissors in my hand and instructed Dad’s secretary, “Give the scissors to Miss Amy.” The secretary rushed over, snatching the scissors from me and handing them obsequiously to Amy. “Miss Amy, please continue with the ribbon-cutting. I’ll handle this crazy woman for you.” I couldn’t believe my eyes, looking at Uncle Leo, who had watched me grow up, acting as if he didn’t know me at all. But I quickly regained my composure, sneering, “Uncle Leo, if you want to give her the scissors, fine. When Dad returns, I’ll tell him you’ve lost your mind and should retire.” Uncle Leo’s face turned pale, eyes flickering with uncertainty. “Miss, just because I call you Miss, don’t think you’re really the heiress. This house has always been run by Madam and Miss Amy. I’ve worked diligently for over twenty years and have never been humiliated like this. Madam, you must speak for me!” I glared at him, “You’ve been by my dad’s side for years and can’t even tell who his daughter is?” Uncle Leo was at a loss for words, looking to Mother for help. In my previous life, I never understood why Mother treated me this way for a stray. It wasn’t until my dying moment that I learned the truth behind it. Now, given another chance, I want to see who really gets kicked out. Mother was about to speak when Amy intervened, “Mom, today’s the brand launch and sister’s back. It’s a joyous day. Let’s not argue over this little thing. How about letting sister cut the ribbon?” Mother’s face darkened even more, “This brand was specially created for you by your dad. How can she cut the ribbon? Your dad will be here soon with the Mayor to give you an award and be photographed for the paper!” Looking at the woman who once doted on me, I felt nothing but unfamiliarity. When I was young, we went on vacation to the suburbs and met Amy begging by the roadside. Mother insisted on adopting her at first sight. Dad thought it would be good for me to have a companion, but once Amy was in the house, Mother had no room for me. She only saw Amy as her daughter.

She praised Amy for being obedient and graceful, making her proud in social circles. But I, lively and pursuing my dreams, was seen as unruly and embarrassing. In my last life, she even feared Amy’s sadness and announced Amy as the heir during the brand launch, claiming I was a stray they picked up. Amidst everyone’s ridicule, she had me beaten and thrown out. Covered in bruises, I wandered the streets in despair, watching them celebrate Amy’s ascension as the new head of the family in a luxury hotel. Meanwhile, Amy’s people pushed me into the icy river, where I drowned. Days later, when Mother finally thought to look for me, my cold body had already washed ashore. In this life, facing Mother’s continued hostility, I sneered, “Mom, this launch was Dad’s idea to celebrate my return. Are you really going to be so biased? Aren’t you afraid of making Dad angry?” Dad was supposed to personally pick me up, but the Mayor’s sudden visit to inspect the group kept him busy. Not wanting to trouble him, I returned home alone, only to be mistaken for an impostor. Amy chose this moment for the ribbon-cutting, likely Mother’s plan to announce her as the heir while Dad was absent. Amy clung to the launch ribbon, looking pitifully at me, “Sister, I know you want this new brand, but it’s a token from Mom and Dad for me. Blame me, not Mom!” Instantly, a trendy blonde woman defended her, “Lucy, who do you think you are? If the Johnson family hadn’t picked you off the street, you’d still be a filthy beggar. They gave you a meal, and you think you’re the heiress?” “What a joke, why don’t you take a good look at yourself? Do you deserve it?” I turned to see Lily, Amy’s childhood follower. After Dad adopted Amy, she lived by flattering Amy, basically a sycophant. Remembering how she and a gang of thugs bullied me last life, leading to my death, my pupils shrank. I clenched my fists and sneered, “If I’m a stray, then what are you, Lily? An orphan sycophant living off others. If I were you, I’d find a hole to crawl into, rather than pretending to be a socialite.” Lily blushed, ashamed and angry. Seeing this, Uncle Leo flattered Mother, “Mrs. Johnson, don’t let this crazy woman delay the auspicious time for the brand’s launch.” Mother coaxed Amy, “Yes, bring out the gift I prepared for Amy.” The next second, Uncle Leo presented a delicate gift box. Opening it, I saw it was the fashion group’s stock certificate! My eyes turned red. This was the largest fashion group in America, founded by my grandfather. Before he died, he gave the stock certificate to me, saying, “This fashion group is yours when you grow up. If you don’t like it, sell it and travel the world.” But now, Mother stole it to please Amy. “Iris Thompson! That’s my grandfather’s inheritance, and you’re really giving it to this stray?” I shouted in anger. Mother shoved the stock certificate into Amy’s arms, glaring at me, “Impertinent brat, this is for my precious daughter Amy. You want to claim it as yours?”

Amy’s face maintained a fake smile, but her eyes couldn’t hide her pride and provocation. “Sister, I’ve always let you have what you wanted, but this stock certificate is Grandpa’s heirloom, and Mom’s intention. I really can’t give it to you.” Amy said hypocritically, “But when you get married, I’ll give you a gift of equal value, okay?” Last life, she always did this. Whenever we argued, she’d pretend to be understanding, making Mother favor her more and despise my ‘unruliness.’ Over time, Mother became convinced I was the stray. Angry and teary-eyed, I ignored Uncle Leo’s obstruction and tried to grab the stock certificate back, only to be knocked down by a vase Mother threw, bleeding profusely. She frowned in disgust, “The Johnson family is a noble lineage, how could we have a daughter with such an ugly face?” I glared at this so-called mother, filled with despair and rage, “Iris Thompson, no matter how much you love Amy, you can’t touch Grandpa’s heirloom. Give it back!” I was on the verge of tears, trying desperately to reclaim the stock certificate despite Secretary Leo’s interference, only to be struck down by my mother with a vase, leaving me bleeding heavily. With a frown and a look of disgust, she said, “Our Johnson family is quite prestigious. How could we have a daughter as unsightly as you?” I glared at this so-called mother, despair and anger welling up inside me. “Iris Thompson, even if you favor Amy, you have no right to touch the keepsake Grandpa left for me. Give it back!” Looking down at me with a sneer, she replied, “Are you planning to ruin Amy’s opening ceremony today? Secretary Leo, call security and have her thrown out! Teach her a lesson! Unless she kneels and apologizes to Amy, she won’t be allowed back into the Johnson household!” The onlookers gossiped, “That adopted daughter of the Johnson family went to the Midwest and lost her mind, thinking she’s the real heiress.” “Yeah, kick her out quickly, don’t let her eyesore linger.” Hearing the cold words from my mother, my heart broke completely. Just like in my past life, she had no maternal affection for me. “What’s going on here? Why is there such a crowd?” Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the door. It was Jack, a tall man in a police uniform, my childhood friend and former boyfriend, but now… “Amy, why are you crying? Who dared to upset you right in front of me?” He quickly approached Amy, wiping her tears in front of everyone. “Jack, you’re just in time. It’s all because of that brat Lucy. She came back just to cause trouble for Amy, claiming this new brand is hers and that the stock certificate Grandpa left is hers too,” my mother accused, playing the victim. Jack looked at me with unfamiliar, hostile eyes. “So this is the eldest daughter who went to the Midwest, thinking she could transform from a commoner to an heiress after a few years of hardship? Such greed!” “Amy is too kind, which is why you bully her. But not me. If you upset her again, I’ll make sure you end up in a cell!” I laughed bitterly. An orphan like him, without my help pulling strings, how could he have risen to the position of New York Police Department chief? Five years ago, he abruptly broke up with me, saying not to contact him again. I wondered if he found out I helped him get promoted and got mad about it? But seeing him doting on Amy now, everything clicked. They had been conspiring all along, secretly promising each other. And today, with the launch of a new brand, it was the perfect time to cement the tale of the heiress and the police chief. Sadly, in my past life, I was oblivious, hoping he would clear up the misunderstanding. But all I got was brutal humiliation. This vengeance, I will repay! As I was lost in thought, Jack suddenly kicked me and pulled out a ring, kneeling on one knee in front of Amy. “Amy, will you marry me? Whether we’re poor, rich, healthy, or sick, I’ll love you forever!”

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My stepfather was drawn to my mother’s beauty, ignoring her marriage vows and forcefully claiming her as his own, and I was compelled to call him my father. Everyone whispered that I was a bastard, except for my young uncle, who treated me like a treasure. He loved to hold me close, wipe away my tears, and gently reassure me: “Our Nora is Uncle’s precious.” Gradually, I began to develop feelings for him. The night my uncle took over the company, he was drunk and pinned me beneath him, taking what he desired. Yet, he called out my mother’s name. It became clear that Lucien was simply seeking my mother’s reflection in me. I refused to be anyone’s replacement and shut my heart off. He kept me in his mansion, entangling me every night, but all he received was my icy indifference. Frustrated, Lucien found another woman to shower with affection and attention. This woman, emboldened by his favor, barged into my residence with a group of people while Lucien was away on a business trip. “I want to see which vixen is keeping Lucien captivated every day!” Seeing my face, she flew into a rage. She tore my dress, scratched my face, and threw me to a group of thugs to be humiliated. “Lucien, this b*tch dared to impersonate me. I’ve dealt with her according to your rules!”

Since my father’s death and my mother’s remarriage, Lucien was the closest person to me. The day he took over the company, I was genuinely happy for him; he had finally achieved his dream position. That night, drunk, he stormed into my room and pinned me down as though he’d been suppressing it for a long time. In his intoxicated state, he called out “Lucy”… That was my mother’s name. My heart felt like it turned to stone. It turned out that all his affection for me was because he saw me as a stand-in for my mother. He kept me in his mansion, sharing meals and living arrangements, lavishing me with care and attention. But I refused to be a substitute, sealing my heart and rejecting his touch. I wouldn’t even give him a friendly face. He’s a business tycoon, extraordinarily handsome, with countless women flocking to him, yet he disregarded them all. Except for the moments when he would humble himself in front of me, pleading for affection. But I couldn’t do it. My pride and dignity wouldn’t allow me to be someone else’s shadow, not even for my mother. Lucien grew frustrated with my coldness. “You’ve always listened to me since you were little. Why are you so stubborn about this…” He thought I was just being willful and that if we had a child, I would slowly warm up to him. So, he wouldn’t let go of me except during my inconvenient days. And I would always douse his enthusiasm with cold water. “Over and over the same, aren’t you tired of it, Uncle?” Then, seeing the hurt and defeat in his eyes, I would quickly get up, eager to wash away his traces. Lucien was enraged, yanking the towel from my hands and gripping my waist, biting my ear in frustration. “Do you really hate me this much? I insist you stay by my side! I want us to have lots of children!” I wanted to escape the mansion, but he threatened my mother’s family. “Nora, even if you hate me, you can only stay by my side!” “Don’t get any ideas. Think about your relatives. I have ways to make their lives worse than death!” I didn’t dare gamble with my relatives’ lives. I couldn’t afford to lose. I had to accept my fate. I liked peace and quiet, so I specifically asked Lucien to place me in the most secluded corner of the mansion and forbade anyone from entering. To the outside world, he claimed Miss Nora was abroad for relaxation. But in secret, he forced me to be with him every night. One day, Lucien went on a business trip. I was newly pregnant, often sleepy, and the weather was perfect. I lay in the yard’s rocking chair for a nap. Then, a commotion came from outside the yard.

“Miss Amy, the butler repeatedly warned us that this yard is a restricted area. Without Lucien’s orders, no one is allowed here. Maybe we should leave…” “Look at you, so easily scared? I’m Lucien’s favorite. His restrictions don’t apply to me!” “Besides, didn’t you see? Lucien’s office is filled with my photos. It won’t be long before I become Mrs. Lucien. Why can’t I enter a small yard?” The woman spoke with dissatisfaction, her voice full of confidence. Mentioning Lucien, her tone was filled with undisguised sweetness. Several women agreed with her. “Exactly, everyone knows how much Lucien likes Miss Amy. He would never be angry with her!” “And everyone at the company saw it. Lucien comes to this villa every night. Who knows if there’s a seductress inside luring him?” I frowned, wanting to sleep, but now I was disturbed, a heaviness in my chest. From their words, I guessed the arrogant woman was Lucien’s new lover, the illegitimate daughter of the Amy family. Rumor had it she resembled me by seventy percent, and Lucien had even taken her to three important banquets. No wonder she was so arrogant, but she hadn’t seen Lucien’s frightening side. I remembered not long ago, a new employee got lost in the villa and accidentally opened my yard door. Lucien immediately fired him, banning him from ever working there again. With that in mind, I suppressed my annoyance and got up to persuade her to leave, but unexpectedly, the yard door was kicked open.

The woman was impeccably made up, covered in luxury. She clearly didn’t expect anyone in the yard, hesitating for a moment before frowning slightly. “Who are you, a seductress, daring to ignore the rules? Did you sneak here to seduce Lucien?” One of the women behind her seemed to notice something, exclaiming, “Miss Amy, this seductress’s face looks a bit like yours!” Amy’s gaze landed on my face, her almond eyes wide with shock and anger. Before I could speak, she rushed to me and slapped me hard, her manicure scratching my face painfully. “You b*tch, you had surgery to look like me and impersonate me?” “Are you trying to sneak into Lucien’s bed while he’s away?” She didn’t realize why she was favored and saw me as a rival. I glanced at her indifferently, with some pity. After all, like me, she was just a stand-in. “Miss Amy, I have no intention of competing for Lucien. I’m sincerely advising you to leave this villa’s restricted area, or else…” Before I could finish, her followers fawned over her: “Who do you think you are? If our Miss Amy can’t enter here, why can you, a b*tch?” “Are you saying you’re more noble than our Miss Amy?” I was at a loss for words, unsure how to explain. Should I say I’m Lucien’s kept woman? Such a shameful thing, I couldn’t say it. Before Amy, Lucien had another stand-in who spoke disrespectfully to me, and he immediately cut off all her resources, making her unable to survive in the entertainment industry. That’s when I realized Lucien’s unrequited love for my mother had turned obsessive and even crazed. So, I tried to warn Amy, but she didn’t appreciate it. Her eyes were filled with malice. “Since I’m about to become the mistress of this villa, I’ll start disciplining you dreamers and setting things straight.” “Even if Lucien finds out, he’ll only praise me for saving him trouble. He might even give me the power to manage the company!”

“Phoebe, strip her bare!” “Sisters, let’s see what she used to seduce Lucien!” The followers received the order and tried to tear my clothes. Panicked, I shouted, “Stop! Lucien is my uncle. How dare you lay a hand on me?” Phoebe paused, as if hearing a joke, looking at Amy. Amy and the women laughed hysterically. “She claims to be Lucien’s niece. Does she look like it?” “What a joke, everyone knows Lucien’s niece went abroad for a break. How could she be here?” “Idiot, can’t even lie properly!” “Nonsense in front of me, I think you’re tired of living!” Before I could explain, Phoebe pushed me down, tearing open my collar, exposing my silky skin, and Amy’s eyes flashed with jealousy. “No wonder, she does have some looks…” “Strip her clean and show her what shame is!” I wrapped my arms around myself for cover. Then, Phoebe sharply noticed the jade pendant hanging on my chest. “Miss Amy, look at what that b*tch has hanging on her chest?” She stepped forward, yanking it off, offering it to Amy like a trophy. I was shocked, forgetting my dignity, and begged. “No! Please, give it back!” This pendant was the last memento my mother left me. She said that no matter when, it would protect me like she did. “Looks quite delicate. She must have stolen it. How else would she have such a nice thing?” I wrapped my arms around myself, seeking comfort and warmth. Just then, Phoebe, Amy’s follower, keenly noticed the jade pendant hanging around my neck. “Miss Amy, look at that girl. What’s that she’s wearing?” Phoebe stepped forward, yanking the pendant from me and presenting it to Amy as if it were some kind of trophy. I was taken aback, and, swallowing my pride, I pleaded desperately. “No! Please, give it back!” This pendant was the last memento from my mother. She had always told me it would protect me, just as she did. “It looks exquisite. She must have stolen it. How else would she have something so nice?” Amy muttered, pretending she was about to smash it. I screamed in panic, “Please don’t! I’ll do anything you want!” “Please, give it back!” My pitiful pleas seemed to amuse Amy. She laughed heartily, finding entertainment in my distress. “You lowly fox, I knew you were a cheap seductress. You’ve never seen anything nice. Such a small piece of jade, and you reveal your true nature. In our household, we smash things like this for fun!” “Alright, I’m a reasonable person. I’ll give you a chance…” “I enjoy teasing little dogs. Why don’t you be my dog for a while?” She sat down grandly in the yard, casually twirling the pendant, waiting to see my reaction. I collapsed onto the ground, my heart torn between humiliation and desperation. “Miss Amy, it seems she doesn’t want it that much. Why not smash it…” “No!” “Okay, I’ll do it…”

I crawled towards her on the ground, closing my eyes in shame, lowering my head, and mimicking a dog crawling around her. I bit my lip hard, the metallic taste mingling with bitter tears. At that moment, I felt utterly humiliated. Even though my father passed away early and my mother remarried, she had always protected me. With Lucien’s support, I had never experienced such humiliation. “Bark a couple of times…” I swallowed my pride and barked twice. “Woof, woof…” “Truly an obedient little thing!” Amy laughed and clapped. Her followers looked at me with disdain, shamelessly taunting me. I suppressed my hatred, clenching my fists until they cracked. “Can I have my pendant back now?” Amy examined the pendant carefully. “I didn’t care much for this kind of thing, but since you value it so much, I won’t let you have it!” Her eyes glittered, and she smirked, quickly tossing the pendant far away. The sound of it shattering cut through the air, and the tension in my mind snapped. Seeing the last thing my mother left me destroyed, I couldn’t hold back any longer and lunged at Amy, grabbing her by the neck. “No!” “Amy, may you die a terrible death!” The followers were terrified by my attack, screaming in panic. Phoebe quickly reacted and shoved me away. Amy held her neck, pale and shaken, shouting angrily, “This girl! How dare she lay a hand on me!” She kicked me hard in the stomach. I cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground, sharp pain radiating from my abdomen. She grabbed my hair, forcing me to look at her. Amy maliciously shifted her gaze down to my hands. “It’s these hands that hurt me…” She whispered, stepping on the back of my hand, grinding it with force. “Crack…” I screamed in pain, tears flowing uncontrollably, trying desperately to struggle but was held down by Phoebe. “Amy, Lucien won’t let you get away with this!” She slapped me hard again. “Who do you think you are!” She crouched down, brushing aside my hair to reveal my face, speaking coldly. “You’re just relying on this face that resembles mine. Without it, how would you seduce Lucien!” “Phoebe, you know what I mean…”

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My Best Friend is a Serial Cheater and Now She’s After My Fiancé She smugly treats us like prey, thinking she can trample all over me. Little does she know, the moment she set her sights on us, I had my gun aimed at her. My best friend called, asking to stay at my place for a few days. The reason? She was caught cheating by her husband. I was a bit surprised. “Weren’t you always so careful before? How did you get caught this time?” Vanessa Hughes’ tone was lazy, showing no signs of the tension or embarrassment one might expect from being caught in the act. “I got wasted that night and hooked up with some young stud at a bar. Didn’t think it through and brought him home… Derek said he was on a business trip and wouldn’t be back, who could have guessed…” Vanessa’s husband, Derek Lee, was from a business marriage arrangement between their families. I’d met Derek before. He always looked prim and proper in his crisp suits, the very picture of an upper-class elite. To outsiders, his marriage with Vanessa seemed like a childhood sweethearts’ fairy tale romance, but in reality… The couple played their own games, as long as they didn’t bring it home, anything goes. Once, right after Vanessa had finished a steamy session with her gym trainer at a hotel, she called me to come find her. She was holding a blurry, secretly taken photo. It showed Derek’s profile and a girl who looked like an innocent college student. Vanessa, holding a glass of wine and looking tipsy, sneered at the photo— “Look at his poor taste. After all these years, he still goes for these innocent types…” Vanessa said that men, when they have nothing, are infatuated with women at the top of the pyramid. But once they have everything and have seen it all, even the grandest parties bore them. Then they start to prefer ordinary, down-to-earth women, wanting to settle down with a good wife. Unfortunately, Vanessa was never that type of woman. No matter how alluringly she dressed herself up, able to make countless men lose their minds with a wave of her hand, she couldn’t move Derek’s heart. Derek rarely even looked at her when he was home. Vanessa asked me to pick her up, but I replied, “I’m still at work. How about I ask my fiancé to pick you up?” Vanessa made a confused sound. “You have a fiancé? Since when?”

Lucas and I met at work. He’s my boss, originally from a rural background, graduated from a prestigious university, and climbed his way up to the middle class through his own abilities and skills. I’ve already met his parents, and they really like me. They said I looked like a good, well-behaved girl at first glance, perfect for marriage and family life. Lucas didn’t say anything at the time because his reason for choosing me was also that I was suitable for marriage and family life. I sent Vanessa a photo of Lucas and me, explaining— “We met six months ago. I wanted to wait until our relationship was stable before introducing him to you. We’re about to get engaged.” The photo was taken at a company event. Lucas was wearing a white shirt, looking handsome and reserved. He looked like the male lead in a campus drama, touched by sunlight and the scent of fresh grass. Vanessa teased languidly, “Hiding such a catch, afraid I’d find out?” I laughed, “Don’t joke around. He’s my fiancé, we’re about to get married. You wouldn’t go after him, would you?” Lucas bought a three-bedroom apartment in the city, with a down payment of several hundred thousand dollars, and he’s still paying off the mortgage. Since we’re about to get married, we moved in together. Now that Vanessa was coming, I naturally had to let him know first. When he heard Vanessa was coming to stay, Lucas seemed a bit annoyed: “Vanessa? That wild friend of yours?” Vanessa’s love for partying was well-known in our friend circle. Lucas used to always tell me to cut ties with Vanessa, saying he didn’t want me to have a “party girl” as a best friend. I could only coax him, saying, “Vanessa might be wild when it comes to relationships, but she’s been really good to me. I don’t care what others say about her, I can’t be ungrateful and let her down. If her husband doesn’t mind her partying, what can we say as outsiders?” Lucas drove to pick up Vanessa, but it wasn’t necessary. Vanessa had her own car, a Maserati worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. She had several in her underground garage and chose whichever one she felt like driving. She even took a photo of Lucas next to her car and sent it to me. Seeing that photo, my heart skipped a beat. Vanessa’s way of showing interest in a man was simple: she’d shower him with money and resources, as if seeing a man covered in things she bought was a way of claiming ownership. That mentality was more like decorating a trophy with luxurious and exquisite things. Had she… really set her sights on Lucas?

When I got home that evening, Lucas was cooking in the kitchen. He was tall and well-built, with gentle features and a calm, scholarly air about him. Wearing an apron, he looked just like the perfect house husband. Vanessa was sitting barefoot on the living room couch, scrolling through her phone while munching on an apple. Perhaps because she was a guest in our home, her makeup was more subdued than usual. Instead of her usual sexy, glamorous look, she appeared fresh and delicate. Her custom-made bag from France sat on the coffee table, seeming to fill the air with the scent of expensive perfume. Seeing me come in, she looked up and gave me a sweet smile— “You’re back? Your fiancé is a great cook. I just had a taste, and it’s quite good…” To be honest, facing Vanessa now made me nervous and uneasy. She was too beautiful, with the kind of confidence that comes from being raised with privilege and luxury, constantly rubbing against my insecurities like sandpaper. If she had really set her sights on Lucas, what were my chances of winning? On the first night, she didn’t interact with Lucas at all, keeping the conversation centered around me. Our dinner talk mostly revolved around work. When Vanessa learned that Lucas was currently in charge of a project, her eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at Lucas with a meaningful smile and said, “I know the boss of your business partner. Since you’re Emily’s fiancé and you just cooked me a delicious meal, I’ll help you out. It’s just a matter of putting in a good word.” That night, Vanessa stayed in the guest room while Lucas and I returned to the master bedroom. Vanessa had voluntarily offered to help with his project, and although Lucas didn’t show much reaction on the surface, I could tell he was pleased. He came out of the bathroom after a shower and casually said to me, “Your friend seems alright.” I was sorting out his clothes for the next day when I heard this. I looked up at him, a bit at a loss for words. Lucas seemed to realize something and added, “Don’t worry, your friend’s type… I can’t handle that.” I finally managed a smile and walked over to hug Lucas, but he pushed me away— “We have a guest today, it’s not convenient. Besides, shouldn’t you go keep your friend company?”

Lucas and I had agreed to go look at wedding dresses, but he stood me up. The reason was that Vanessa had taken him to meet the boss of the business partner. Their discussion went very well, and they even had lunch together at a restaurant. Thanks to Vanessa’s help, the project that had been giving Lucas headaches for months was signed smoothly. Lucas told me he wanted to buy a gift to thank Vanessa and asked for my opinion. I thought for a moment and said, “Vanessa has had everything since she was little. No matter what gift we buy, she won’t think much of it.” But Lucas said, “You’re her best friend, shouldn’t you at least know what she likes?” I fell silent for a moment, observing Lucas’s slightly expectant expression, and finally said, “Vanessa decided to help because of me. Even if someone needs to thank her, it should be me. You don’t need to worry about this, I’ll handle it.” Lucas didn’t say anything more and went back to his study to work on the new project. That night, Vanessa didn’t come back until nearly dawn. She was drunk again, carelessly holding her bag, stumbling on her high heels. The strong smell of perfume and alcohol hit us as she came in. Because she couldn’t stand steady, Lucas reached out to support her, and she fell into his arms. I walked into the living room with a cup of hot water, just in time to see this scene. Lucas looked up at me, awkwardly pushing Vanessa away and standing up to avoid suspicion, saying, “You take care of her.” Lucas and I helped Vanessa back to the guest room. Vanessa had a habit of randomly taking off her clothes when drunk. Her high heels were thrown at the door, and she was uncomfortably writhing in the bed, raising her hand to toss her bra under the bed. I turned to look at Lucas, who was looking at me awkwardly, seeming a bit at a loss. I then noticed that at his feet lay Vanessa’s lacy panties. Lucas stiffly averted his gaze and said mildly, “You look after her. I’ll go rest first. Call me if you need anything.” After Lucas left, I turned to look at Vanessa sleeping. She was always like this, able to have the love of many people from the moment she was born. Like a proud princess, under everyone’s care, she would pluck the exquisite flowers in the garden, then disdainfully trample them underfoot. Those things cherished by others, she would crush into mud without a care. She would still be that princess loved by everyone.

Lucas began to work overtime frequently and even go on business trips, causing our wedding date to be postponed. He said the new project he was in charge of was extremely urgent and had to be completed before the new quarter. However, Vanessa posted a photo on social media, claiming that Lucas, who was supposedly very busy on a business trip out of town, was accompanying her on a stroll along the Bund. Lucas’s explanation for this was— “I was meeting with Mr. Li, the boss of our business partner. Vanessa happened to be there too. Remember she helped me get the project last time? So I invited her to dinner as a thank you. After dinner, I was just walking her back to her hotel, that’s all. Don’t overthink it…” I didn’t overthink it, because I knew this was Vanessa’s declaration of war against me. Or rather, it was her smug way of showing off and giving me a warning. She wanted to tell me that she had set her sights on my man, and there was nothing I could do about it. On the fifth day of Lucas’s business trip, Vanessa posted another photo on social media. It was a picture of a hotel room. Through a narrow gap in the curtains, you could see the blue coastline outside. Coincidentally, the city where Lucas was on his business trip, the hotel he was staying at, also had a view of the sea. I tried to video call Lucas, but he hung up. He said he was dealing with work matters and couldn’t talk at the moment, but he’d call me back later. About two hours later, Lucas finally returned my video call. In the frame, he had already showered, his hair still wet. Lucas and I were in the honeymoon phase of our relationship. Before we lived together, we used to video chat every night. He was a reserved and distant person, always keeping others at arm’s length, but with me, he showed a rare boyish side. He liked to cling to me, using that whiny and tired voice, as if he was showing his vulnerability and trying to please me. Every time, we would chat until around 10:30 PM. Only when I reminded him to go to sleep because he had work the next day would he reluctantly end the call. But now, as the clock struck 9 PM, he said he was tired and wanted to go to bed early. Looking at his handsome face in the video, I held back the pain in my heart and wished him goodnight. After hanging up, I sent a message to Vanessa’s husband, Derek Lee. It was the photo of Vanessa and Lucas out together. After a long while, I finally received Derek’s reply— “That’s her business. She can do whatever she wants. It has nothing to do with me.”

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Six years of a secret relationship, and at our engagement party, the million-dollar emerald bracelet Lucas bought couldn’t fit my wrist. Tessa, his adopted sister whom he tutored in college, took the bracelet without hesitation and said, “Isn’t this sized for my wrist? Lucas, why don’t you buy her another one? I really like this.” Lucas didn’t mind her behavior at all, looking at her with adoration. Under the spotlight, I, the bride-to-be, felt my eyes welling up with tears. The atmosphere instantly became tense. Tessa smiled provocatively, “Lily, you don’t mind, do you? Lucas has always indulged me.” Lucas chimed in, “Stop acting. Are you trying to embarrass me in front of all these people?” I smiled graciously, “The bracelet suits you better, Tessa. Why don’t you take my place as the main character today?” After all, I didn’t want this fiancé anymore. 0 Seeing her success, Tessa’s face lit up with a smug smile. Lucas, however, was momentarily stunned, seemingly unprepared for my reaction. His friends quickly tried to smooth things over, and the atmosphere gradually became lively again. In truth, this wasn’t the first time Tessa had snatched a gift meant for me, nor was it the first time he had sacrificed me for her. I had lost count of how many times this had happened. At this moment, under everyone’s gaze, I just felt utterly exhausted. Suddenly, Tessa let out a cry and swayed as if about to faint. “Lucas, I suddenly feel unwell. Could you take me home first?” I couldn’t help but laugh, “Tessa, you certainly know how to time your discomfort.” Hearing my tone, Lucas became impatient. “Stop being so sarcastic. You know about Tessa’s condition.” Tessa leaned against him, looking pitiful. “Don’t blame Lily. It’s my fault for causing you trouble. I’m just unlucky.” Lucas was overwhelmed with concern and prepared to leave with her. I quickly tried to stop him, “Lucas, it’s our engagement party. All these friends are still here.” He clicked his tongue, trying to suppress his anger, “Can’t you see Tessa’s about to faint? You’re still trying to provoke her into apologizing to you. How narrow-minded can you be? Are you trying to force this marriage?” His words instantly chilled me to the bone. This engagement party was only agreed upon after repeated requests from me. He said since we were going public with our relationship on his side, there was no need to invite my family. As a result, almost everyone present was his friend or relative. Over the years, from his assistant to his girlfriend, I had always been treated as a dependent clinging to him. Before becoming his wife, I hoped he could tell everyone that Lily was his official girlfriend and the business partner who had accompanied him all along. However, I didn’t get to see this moment after all. Once again, Tessa had destroyed a significant moment in my life. At this point, did I need to continue? The answer was already in my heart. I still remember when we first met at an industry conference. He was a junior entrepreneur, passionately pitching his startup plan to my father. Standing not far away, I was instantly captivated by his demeanor. Despite my pride, I willingly fell for those expressive eyes of his. I desperately persuaded my father to invest in his company and even joined as his assistant to accompany him every step of the way. I knew then that he had an adopted sister from his college tutoring days. And this so-called sister naturally intervened in our world time and time again. When I was helping him deal with difficult clients, Tessa would call with a coquettish voice, and he would immediately abandon me to leave. In the middle of the night, Tessa would call him out to find her cat. Even when I had a high fever of 106°F, he could rush out on a rainy night just because she said she wanted dessert. Whenever I expressed my dissatisfaction, he would immediately accuse me of being narrow-minded. He said if it weren’t for taking on her tutoring job in college, he might not have had money for food. Moreover, her parents were divorced and both lived abroad, entrusting her care to him. She had poor health and could easily encounter bad people living alone, so he should naturally take extra care of her. Thus, there was always a shadow in our world of two. And I, the fiancée who had accompanied him to entrepreneurial success but developed migraines, insomnia, and anxiety, became synonymous with being overly sensitive and jealous. At this moment, I felt as ridiculous as a joke. 0

I spoke coldly, my tone resolute: “Then let’s end it. There’s no need to continue.” Sensing the tense atmosphere, his friends stood up, their faces plastered with smiles, trying to persuade us to continue. I slowly removed my white gloves, then pulled off my veil, and turned to walk away. Lucas abruptly stood up, shouting angrily: “With so many people here, you think you can just end it and leave? Get back here right now!” Tessa’s eyes welled up with tears, her voice choked with sobs: “Lucas, did I make Lily angry? Lily, you’re the main character today, how can you leave first?” Lucas gently comforted her, then yelled at me again. “There you go again with your princess attitude. If you don’t want to get engaged, then don’t!” I stopped in my tracks but didn’t turn around: “Fine, if that’s the case, there’s no need to force it.” He didn’t speak again, just roughly pushed me out of the banquet hall. The door slammed shut with a “bang,” and I heard his voice seeping through the crack, tinged with a hint of smugness and mockery: “Just wait and see, she’ll be back begging for forgiveness within five minutes.” I stood still, turning to look at the tightly closed doors of the banquet hall. I could imagine the looks of pity or derision on his friends’ faces, as I was all too familiar with them. Lucas had often mocked me in front of his friends, saying I had thrown myself at him, and that when my dad died, all my assets would be his. Although he never said it to my face, after hearing it so many times, I knew most of what was said. Just now, his friends were staring at me like I was some kind of joke, while Tessa was still nestled in his arms. I, the supposed star of the engagement party, had become a superfluous bystander. What should have been a romantic scene left me feeling cold all over, shaking uncontrollably, as if I were standing in a biting wind. My feet felt as heavy as lead, but I still walked away without looking back. Lucas didn’t come after me. I sat alone by the river until late at night, until the cold wind triggered my migraine. My phone vibrated, and a message from an unknown number popped up. I opened it to find a video of Tessa in a short skirt, being held in Lucas’s arms. He looked like an anxious father, rubbing her hands to warm them, covering her face, and muttering, “It’s okay, I’m here with you.” But I clearly saw Tessa stick out her tongue playfully. It was obvious that she had planned this with someone else to show me. In the past, her numerous provocations aimed at angering me and making me give up and back off had made me break down countless times. But now, I couldn’t find that hysterical feeling anymore. I guess once your heart dies, it can no longer be stirred. My phone lit up again, with a series of voice messages from Lucas. I played one of them, and his angry voice echoed along the riverbank. “Where the hell are you? How dare you walk out with so many people waiting? Are you out of your mind?” “Tessa’s been crying. Is this how you act as an elder? Stop being so dramatic and come back to apologize to her right now!” I laughed bitterly. Right, as the fiancée who had thrown herself at him, how could I be worth cherishing? I only fueled his arrogance. Just last month, he had thrown Tessa a birthday party, complete with celebrity performances and a drone show. He even forced me to go on stage and sing for her. When I said I had a headache due to my period and didn’t want to sing, he told me to leave if I was going to be an eyesore. Afterward, he even gave my new Chanel handbag to Tessa to cheer her up. I scrolled through my phone contacts, and finally couldn’t resist calling my father. “Dad, do you want to retire? Your daughter wants to come home and take care of you.” 0

I was my father’s only daughter. Although my mother passed away early, he never let me feel a lack of fatherly love. In recent years, as he’s gotten older and his health has declined, he’s repeatedly expressed his hope for me to visit him more often. But I was so focused on Lucas, and because of our frequent conflicts, I had also grown distant from my father. I knew how difficult it was for my father to manage a large corporation, but I still couldn’t bear to give up my life by Lucas’s side. I abandoned a life of luxury, gave up my family’s business, and devoted myself to assisting him in his startup, only to end up completely broken and hurt. My father was clearly awakened from his sleep by my call. Hearing his anxious voice asking what had happened, I couldn’t hold back my tears. “Nothing’s wrong, Dad. I just miss you.” “My dear daughter, did Lucas bully you? Why do you sound so upset?” I could no longer suppress the pain in my heart and burst into tears over the phone. After crying, I talked with Dad for a long time. I could tell he was very emotional too, constantly talking about arrangements for when I return home. Having made my decision, I started preparing to leave. My father had built his business empire from scratch, and he had intended to groom me as his successor. But after graduating and returning to the country, under the pretext of wanting to strive independently, I stayed in Lucas’s city, neglecting my father whose gray hair was increasing day by day. Now, I was eager to return home, not wanting to stay here any longer. Late at night, I returned home to find Tessa’s shoes and coat scattered at the entrance. From inside, I could hear Lucas’s doting voice: “Why are you barefoot? You’ll complain about cold feet later.” She responded in a coquettish manner: “Who told you not to prepare for me? You must have been too busy today, right?” I stood in the living room, looking disheveled, while she feigned surprise: “Lily, why are you back so late? We thought you had already come home.” Her demeanor was as if she were the mistress of the house, while I had become an unwelcome guest. I was too exhausted to care that she was wearing my new pajamas and holding my unopened Hermès perfume. She seemed to have grown accustomed to using my things naturally. Lucas always said, “It’s not that she doesn’t have money, she’s just alone here without anyone to take care of her. You’re with me now, so you’re like an elder to her. Giving her some things is no big deal.” Seeing my silence, Lucas mistakenly thought I was about to get angry and hurriedly explained, “I just took Tessa to the hospital for a check-up. It was too late and unsafe, so I let her stay for the night.” “Fortunately, nothing’s wrong with her. Otherwise, how could I face her parents?” His tone was full of reproach, but he failed to notice my wind-reddened face and weak expression. The headache made me feel dizzy, and I had no strength left to argue with them. He asked in bewilderment, “You’re not angry?” Stopping in my tracks, I explained for him: “Tessa’s parents aren’t around, so it’s right for you to take care of her. I’m used to being independent, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll forget about it after a good night’s sleep.” They were momentarily stunned. Lucas hastily said, “You know Tessa’s been emotionally unstable since she got sick. I was afraid something might happen to her.” I interrupted him: “That has nothing to do with me. You don’t need to explain so much.” He became annoyed and forcefully grabbed my arm, but I shook him off as if I’d seen a ghost. Tessa, on the verge of tears, said: “Stop fighting. I’ll leave now and never appear in front of you again.” She turned to leave, but Lucas warned me: “She’s still just a young girl. Can’t you tolerate her? Stay at home and reflect on your behavior!” He helped her put on her coat, and before leaving, he didn’t forget to go to the bathroom and stuff her pink underwear into his pocket. As she passed by me, Tessa secretly stuck out her leg, tripping me. Already dizzy, I stumbled and fell to the ground, the pain hitting me again. But Lucas acted as if he hadn’t seen it and left directly with her.

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My husband knows that I can be reborn every time I die. So after that landslide, he didn’t hesitate to cut out my heart to save his true love. When he received my emptied body from the doctor, he said, “You’ll be fine after a nap.” But what he didn’t know was that it was my last chance to be reborn. Ryan Quinn carried my lifeless body into the underground room of the Search and Rescue (SAR) Team base. My internal organs had been removed, leaving only an empty shell. My face, however, was rosy, as if I were just sleeping. He skillfully opened the cryogenic equipment, his movements clean and precise. As he placed me inside, his hands were steady, without even a hint of hesitation. “Sleep for now,” his voice was terrifyingly calm. “Didn’t you say that dying doesn’t matter?” Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. I had prepared a table full of delicious food at home and bought his favorite red wine. Seeing him come home on time for once, I was as happy as a fool. When the phone rang, he had just picked up his wine glass. It was his deputy calling: “Captain, Bella got caught in a landslide while patrolling the mountain area. She’s trapped inside…” His hand trembled, and the wine glass fell to the floor, dark red liquid splashing onto my new dress. “How badly is she hurt?” His voice was already hoarse. “It’s serious, her internal organs…” He didn’t wait for the other person to finish. He grabbed his jacket and rushed out. I caught his hand, “I’ll go too. I can help.” He turned back to look at me, his eyes complex, not with concern, but as if he were calculating something. At the scene, Bella had already been rescued, but her heart was severely damaged and urgently needed a transplant. He looked at the unconscious Bella on the stretcher, his fingers trembling. It was a panic I had never seen in him before. Then he looked at me. His eyes were bloodshot. “I’m sorry,” he said. Before I could understand what he meant, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck. As I lost consciousness, I saw him nod to the doctor. They had prepared for this all along. Miraculously, as I was pushed into the operating room, it was as if my soul floated out of my body. I felt myself hovering in mid-air, witnessing everything. I saw him standing right next to the operating table. As the surgeon’s scalpel cut open my body, he watched without expression, his eyes showing no ripple of emotion, as if this body was nothing more than a tool to be disposed of at will. “Her organs are in good condition, and the match is compatible,” the doctor’s voice seemed to come from far away. “It’s enough to save Bella.” I watched as my heart was taken out, placed in an ice box, and sent to the adjacent operating room. He followed the ice box out, not even sparing me a final glance. After putting me in the cryogenic equipment, he sat nearby dealing with documents, occasionally looking up at me. I floated in front of him, wanting to see if there was even a hint of guilt in his eyes. But his gaze passed through my soul and fell on his phone – it was a message from the doctor: The surgery was very successful, she’s recovering well. He smiled with relief, casually tossed my medical record aside, and left the underground room. The part of the medical record that was open clearly stated: “Organ donor – voluntary donation.” He didn’t even bother to make up a lie, thinking I would wake up soon anyway. But what he didn’t know was that this time, I really wouldn’t wake up again. Because the chance that allowed me to be reborn had already been used up the last time I saved his teammate.

My ability to be reborn was real. Three years ago, before I was pulled out as the sole survivor of that plane crash, the system informed me that I had gained three lives. The first time, I used it on myself, allowing myself to survive that plane crash. Ryan was the SAR team leader who came to investigate the accident. He was tall, wearing a dark blue uniform with straight shoulder lines. Standing in front of the plane wreckage, he was surrounded by an aura of coldness, like a general who had walked out of an old photograph. I was shivering on the stretcher when he turned his face towards me, his well-defined jawline tense. When those pitch-black eyes swept over me, it felt like they could see through to my soul. “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “You’re safe now.” His voice was deep and pleasant, like warm water slowly being poured into my heart. At that moment, I was smitten. The system said that if I maintained a three-year marriage with my destined person, I could stay in this world forever. Looking at this stern man before me, I decided to take a chance. This was the first time that 28-year-old Lily Hart had ever been so determined to want something. Ryan looked to be in his early thirties, very tall, with a lean and muscular build from years of training. He walked with a special rhythm, probably due to his military background. Every time I passed by the SAR team, I could recognize his silhouette at a glance. I started to approach him as an ordinary person. I would bring coffee to the SAR team every day and prepare late-night snacks for the team members working overtime. I knew I was like a desperate groupie, but I didn’t care. They said Ryan never accepted anything from women, but he took my coffee. He was always polite and gentle, but he always kept his distance from me. The people in the SAR team felt sorry for me, saying I couldn’t see reality clearly. “Captain Quinn never gives hope to any woman. Don’t waste your efforts.” But what I didn’t tell them was that every time I pretended to lose my balance, he would always be the first to steady me. He would tell me to be careful, but his hand would linger. Until one day, I heard him on the phone calling a woman “Bella,” his tone affectionate. It turned out to be his former deputy team leader, Bella White. They were said to be childhood sweethearts. Bella was very beautiful, and everyone said they were a perfect match. I should have known better and given up. But at that time, I still had two lives left. Young and reckless, I thought I could always make it through three years. If I had known earlier that the second life would be used to save his teammate, and the third life would be ended by his own hands, I would have stayed far away from him from the very beginning. But alas, love is blind when you’re in it.

Bella had been Ryan’s partner since their special forces days. Everyone in the SAR team knew that they were once the most outstanding sniper and spotter. On the battlefield, a spotter and a sniper need to be in perfect sync to complete their missions. So after retiring from the military, Ryan and Bella joined the SAR team together, working in perfect harmony as if they were one person. I once secretly looked through Ryan’s old photo album. In the photos, Bella wore a uniform, her eyes bright and spirited, exuding a charm that ordinary people like me could never achieve. And Ryan stood beside her, looking down at her with such gentle eyes. Later, people in the team told me that Ryan had pursued Bella for five whole years. From boot camp to special forces, from training grounds to battlefields, everyone thought they would end up together. But in the end, Bella still rejected him. “We’re not suitable for each other. You deserve better,” she said. She said this just before a mission, and Ryan still loaded her bullets for her. They remained the best partners, as if nothing had happened. But in the dead of night, Ryan would practice shooting alone on the training ground until his fingers bled. Later, Bella voluntarily applied for a transfer to a remote SAR branch. On the day she left, Ryan stood outside the airport, watching her silhouette disappear into the security check. His fingers unconsciously fiddled with the ring he had never given her. The team said that was the most lost and dejected they had ever seen Ryan. I met Ryan six months after Bella left. At that time, he was like a dead pond, even his smile was cold. But I didn’t care. Young and impetuous, I thought time would wash away all the past. “He’s never had eyes for anyone else. You think he’s being gentle? That’s just his professional habit. Not just you, even those Instagram models who send him flowers, beautiful women, he smiles and accepts them, then throws them away as soon as they leave.” That’s what an old team member once told me. They couldn’t stand seeing me running to the SAR team time and time again, kindly warning me not to embarrass myself. But I didn’t believe them. I told myself that the past was in the past. Even if I was just continuing someone else’s story, I accepted it. Even the on-duty nurse at the SAR team couldn’t bear to watch anymore: “Lily, why don’t you understand? Ryan goes to the border to see Bella every year without fail. They may be separated by mountains and rivers, but their feelings are deeper than every day you spend by his side.” I really didn’t understand. I didn’t understand why Ryan would accept my pursuit, why he would marry me. Thinking back now, perhaps from the day I used my second life to save his teammate, he had already been planning something.

The rescue that changed everything happened in my second year of knowing Ryan. Heavy rain caused a landslide, burying an entire village. Ryan led the team at the forefront, with his lifelong friend Leo Sanders covering the rear. No one noticed the massive boulder teetering overhead. “Ryan!” Leo’s voice cut through the curtain of rain. The moment Leo pushed Ryan away, the boulder came crashing down. “No!” Ryan rushed towards the rubble like a madman, held back by three team members. Back at the SAR team compound, he knelt in the rain, his whole body shaking like a wounded animal. It was the first time I had seen him lose control. Ryan, who was always calm and composed, could actually be driven to such despair. Leo was Ryan’s brother in all but blood. They had grown up together, joined the military together, entered the special forces together, and later retired to join the SAR team together. Their relationship was closer than real brothers. When Leo was rescued, his heart had already stopped beating. The doctor said that even if they could save him, he would need a heart transplant, and the treatment would cost at least five million dollars. “Please, you must save him,” Ryan gripped the doctor’s hands, his voice hoarse. “I’ll find a way to pay, no matter how much it costs.” But he had only recently retired from the military, and his salary was mostly going towards his mortgage. His teammates pitched in, a thousand here, ten thousand there, but they only managed to gather half a million. I watched him pacing back and forth in the hospital corridor, his eyes bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept for days. “It should have been me,” he kept saying. “Why did he save me?” At that moment, I felt like I was suffocating from heartache. I couldn’t hold back anymore. “I can donate my heart,” I pushed open the door and walked in. “My tissue type is a perfect match for Leo.” Ryan jerked his head up. “Are you crazy?” His voice was raspy. “You’ll die!” I smiled at him and whispered in his ear: “Trust me, I have a superpower. I won’t die.” He still didn’t agree, but I went ahead with the surgery behind his back. Not only did I donate my heart, but also my liver and kidneys to a rich man’s daughter. The wealthy man transferred five million dollars to Ryan’s account. Three days later, I woke up. When I opened my eyes, I saw Ryan keeping vigil by my bedside. He hadn’t slept for three whole days. Dark circles under his eyes, yet he stubbornly refused to leave. “You’re awake,” his voice was hoarse as he carefully held my hand. “Does it hurt?” It was the first time I had seen him so gentle. Leo recovered quickly, and Ryan started visiting me in the hospital frequently. He would peel apples for me, help me drink water, his gaze so focused it made my heart tremble. Sometimes when I was asleep, I would feel someone gently kissing my forehead. He began to tell me his stories, about the fun times training with Leo when they were young, about the rigorous tests in the special forces, and about how much he feared losing important people. When he said these things, his eyes were gentle, but there was also something in them that I couldn’t quite understand. Later, he proposed to me. I nodded, tears streaming down my face. He kissed away the tears on my face and held me tight. After that, I applied to join the SAR team as a contract nurse, so I could be by his side. It was at this time that Bella was transferred back to the main team.

The day Bella returned, the entire SAR team was in a frenzy. She stood in front of the headquarters building, her military posture still impeccable, her pretty features now enhanced with a touch of mature charm. Ryan stood by the window on the third floor, watching for a full ten minutes. I stood behind him, seeing his hands tremble slightly. “Bella is truly a force to be reckoned with,” the team members gossiped. “She’s done great things at the border these past few years. I heard she even saved an entire village.” At the welcome party that night, Bella raised her glass to Ryan: “Captain Quinn, thank you for your care.” Ryan rarely got drunk, but that night he did. With reddened eyes, he said, “Welcome back.” Just these simple words made the entire table fall silent. Everyone knew how many years he had held back those words. I sat to the side, watching them smile at each other, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. From that day on, Ryan started staying out late. He said he was preparing for some important rescue mission, but I knew he was helping Bella refamiliarize herself with all the equipment. I would make dinner and wait for him, but he’d say he was in a meeting. Yet colleagues told me they saw the captain taking Bella out for dinner, the two of them talking for hours. When I asked where he’d been, he would come over and kiss my forehead: “I was going over work with Bella. Don’t overthink it.” But I clearly saw his phone light up on the coffee table, a message from Bella. He instinctively turned off the screen, then held me tighter. He became increasingly gentle, so gentle it made me anxious. Every day he would bring home my favorite desserts, comfort me when I couldn’t sleep, and even took time off on my birthday to be with me. As if afraid I would overthink things, he started showing how much he cared for me in front of others. Sometimes in front of Bella, he would deliberately put his arm around me and kiss my forehead. But Bella’s smile was strange, as if she was watching a show. Was he trying to reassure me, or make her jealous?

A few months later, Leo, whom I had saved, finally passed away. The complications came too suddenly, and by the time they were discovered, it was too late for treatment. I clearly remember that day, Ryan kneeling by the hospital bed, holding Leo’s hand and saying, “I’m sorry, Leo. I failed to protect you.” After that, he started having insomnia. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night and hold me tightly. “If only we had discovered the complications earlier,” he said, his eyes cold. “If only we could have saved him sooner.” I thought he was blaming himself, but I didn’t notice the resentment in his eyes when he looked at me. In his heart, if my ability to be reborn could have been used more timely, perhaps Leo wouldn’t have died. Days passed like this. I started having frequent nightmares, dreaming of Leo standing by the hospital bed asking me, “Why didn’t you save me earlier?” Ryan would hold me when I woke up startled, comforting me softly. But those kisses seemed to lack the warmth they once had. Until our wedding anniversary. I had just set the table when the emergency call came in. There had been a major landslide in the mountain area. Bella had led the advance team but was trapped inside. We rushed to the hospital. The doctor said, “Extensive internal organ damage. We need to transplant immediately.” I saw Ryan’s hands shaking, but his eyes were eerily calm. He turned to look at me with an expression I had never seen before. At that moment, I finally understood why he had been acting strange lately. But it was too late. “I’m sorry,” he said. As the anesthetic needle pierced my neck, I saw tears in his eyes. “You said you couldn’t die,” his voice was soft. “Bella’s different. She won’t survive a second time.” As I was pushed into the operating room, I heard him talking to the doctor: “Take the heart first.” As the scalpel cut into my body, I remembered what Leo had once said: “Ryan values loyalty, but once he’s set his mind on something, he’ll stop at nothing.” In fact, since Leo’s passing, Ryan had been calculating how to use my ability to be reborn. He was waiting for an opportunity, waiting for a reason to convince himself. And Bella was the perfect reason. The surgery was successful. My soul floated in the hospital corridor, watching two people being wheeled out of the operating room. One was Bella, with a stable heartbeat. The other was me, my body emptied. “Bella’s saved,” the nurse said. “The transplanted organs are in good condition.” Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes red-rimmed. He held Bella’s hand, keeping vigil for an entire night. I floated beside him, watching him tuck Bella in. His hands were steady, as if afraid of hurting her. Afterwards, he stood facing the window for a long time. “You’ve suffered,” he said, his voice hoarse beyond recognition. Who was he talking to? After I had died once to save Leo, he had kept vigil over me in the same way, saying the same words. But now, the body that had been pushed into the morgue didn’t even have a heart. “Captain Quinn,” the on-duty nurse called out to him, “What should we do with Ms. Hart’s remains?”

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My brother purchased a reasonably priced three-bedroom foreclosure home to serve as his future marital residence. To our utter disbelief, on the very first day after the ownership transfer when our entire family went to visit the house, the ceiling collapsed, revealing a staggering five million dollars in cash. We were all dumbstruck. After a moment, I suggested we should report it to the authorities, but my brother and parents wanted to keep the money for themselves. My brother exclaimed with excitement, “The house is mine, so the money should belong to me too.” My parents nodded in agreement. I shook my head, saying, “You know how foreclosure homes come about. Keeping this money would be illegal.” “Moreover, we don’t know anything about the previous owner’s background. There could be dangerous implications.” But my brother refused to listen. His eyes were wide and fixated on the cash pile, as if envisioning a bright future. “Sis, you’re just scared! This house is mine now, and everything in it should be mine. This money is like a wedding gift from heaven. Why should I give it away?” He crouched down, frantically gathering the scattered cash into his arms with a sense of urgency and madness, as if fearing it might disappear at any moment. My parents stood by, watching without intervening, their faces reflecting the same greed as my brother’s. Dad frowned, full of internal struggle and reluctance, and spoke slowly, “Sweetheart, we’ve considered your point, but this five million could transform our lives.” “Your brother is about to get married. With this money, he can have a splendid wedding, and we won’t have to worry about the future.” Mom chimed in, her eyes never leaving the money, “Yes, such a sum is rare. We could keep it quietly; who would know?” I watched this scene unfold with a sense of helplessness and sadness. I tried to reason with them again, “Think about it. If this money was legitimate, why would the owner hide it in the ceiling?” “There must be a secret behind this. If we’re discovered, our whole family could be ruined.” But my words seemed to drift away like the wind, leaving no impact. By now, my brother had piled the cash into a heap, pressing it down as if protecting his most valuable treasure. He glared at me, saying, “Sis, stay out of this! I’m keeping this money. If you call the police, don’t blame me for cutting ties.” My parents remained silent, but their expressions showed they sided with my brother. I knew convincing them would be an uphill battle. But I couldn’t just watch them walk into danger. Back at our current home, I searched online for the consequences of not reporting found money in a foreclosure house. I decided to call 911, “Hello, I’d like to report that I found…” Before I could finish, my brother kicked me from behind. I cried out in pain as my phone flew several meters away. My brother quickly picked it up and saw the call was still connected. “Hello? Is there an issue?” “Sorry, sorry, my sister has a mental illness. She called by mistake, sorry for the trouble.” He hung up quickly and turned to me, his eyes blazing with anger. “Are you trying to ruin me? If we lose this money, I’ll jump off a building!” My parents, who always favored my brother, ignored me on the floor after being kicked. Mom quickly took my brother’s hand, gently patting it, “Oh dear, what are you saying? This money is yours, no one’s taking it!” She frowned at me, “Nora, didn’t we agree not to call the police? Can’t you see your brother happy?” The side of my face that was kicked burned with pain as I stood up, still trying to reason with my brother. “I looked it up. This money isn’t ours, and if caught, we’ll face legal consequences.” My brother shrugged impatiently, “It’s just us in the house. As long as we don’t say anything, who would know?” Seeing my continued disapproval, he rolled his eyes, “Mom, Dad, she’s trying to cut off our family’s financial path. I barely have any savings. Now that I finally have money, I can afford Lila’s dowry, but she’s trying to stop me!” My brother was lazy, working sporadically for years without saving anything. He finally got a girlfriend, but her family demanded a dowry of $28,800, plus a house and car, making him hesitant to marry. My parents had to pool all their savings to help my brother with a down payment on a new 100-square-meter house. Unexpectedly, he thought it was too small and fancied a 500-square-meter foreclosure house. So, they didn’t consult me and directly bid for this house. “Lila’s family said if we don’t prepare the dowry in three months, they’ll break us up! Mom, Dad, don’t let her stop me from getting married! Don’t you want grandchildren?” My parents thought he had a point. My brother put my phone in his pocket, “Sis, why don’t you rest at home? After I give the dowry to Lila’s family, you can come out.” He spoke while pushing me into a room. I realized he wanted to lock me up and tried to escape. “Logan, what are you doing? Are you trying to lock me up?” But I was no match for my brother, who was only a year younger than me. Dad hesitated for a moment, but then stepped forward to help my brother push me into the room, ignoring my banging and locking the door without hesitation. “Sis, you’re tired from work, right? Just rest at home for a few days!” He spat, “Don’t think about blocking my money!” I sat in the room, which was a storage room with a makeshift folding bed amidst the clutter. I’ve never had a room of my own, even growing up. I only set this up when I heard my brother bought a foreclosure house and came back to help him check it out. I didn’t have my phone, and my face still throbbed with pain. During the struggle, my wrist and elbow joint were twisted by my brother. I shouted loudly, but no one responded. Until nightfall, the smell of someone cooking wafted into the room, making me dizzy with hunger. Peeking through the crack, the living room was empty. I didn’t want to get involved in Logan’s foreclosure house issue anymore. But the amount of cash was too large, and if discovered, the consequences would be too much for our small family to bear. My parents may be uneducated, but they raised me to this point and sent me to college. I couldn’t bear to see them regret it later. I sighed softly and looked around. Fortunately, it was a storage room where unused items were stuffed. I found a simple ladder and looked out the window, which was conveniently on the second floor. Following my hazy memory, I found Logan’s girlfriend’s house. Luckily, my parents often bragged in our family group chat about Logan finding a pretty girlfriend and even shared her basic information. When I found Lila, she was friendly upon hearing I was Logan’s sister. She politely invited me to sit and made a pot of hot tea. She seemed reasonable; finally, someone who could handle Logan. “Lila, right? I’m Logan’s sister. He’s in big trouble, and I hope you can talk to him.” As his sister, my words were useless, but maybe his beloved girlfriend could persuade him. I explained the whole situation to Lila, hoping she could convince him. But to my surprise, the mention of five million dollars brought the same greed to Lila’s eyes. When I suggested she persuade Logan to report it, she looked at me with disdain. She pushed me away, “Report it?! No way! This is five million! Are you out of your mind?” No wonder she was Logan’s girlfriend; their words matched perfectly. While I tried to persuade her, Lila’s parents curiously gathered around, their eyes shining with interest. After thinking it over, Lila called Logan to confirm the story. After hanging up, she turned and slapped me, abandoning her earlier politeness. “Logan said you can’t stand to see him happy!” I was parched from speaking, and no one appreciated it. Instead, she yelled at me, “Who do you think you are? Used to being the maid, now you want to meddle in Logan’s affairs? It’s none of your business now!” Lila’s parents initially looked down on my family for being poor. But upon hearing about the money falling from the sky, they eagerly called us in-laws. “Logan’s sister, we’re practically in-laws now. What you’re doing isn’t right!” Hearing I wanted to call the police, they forgot all about hospitality, shouting and pointing at me. I spoke until I was hoarse, but it was all in vain. She shouted at me, “Do you think you’re worthy? You’ve been a maid your whole life, and now you want to interfere in Logan’s affairs? This is none of your business!” Lila’s parents initially looked down on my family for not being wealthy enough, but when they heard about money coming our way, they were quick to call me, “Logan’s sister, we’re practically family now, and what you’re doing isn’t right!” When they heard I wanted to involve the police, they abandoned all decorum, banging on the table and pointing at me. Lila grabbed a steaming teacup from the table and hurled it at me. The hot water quickly turned my skin red, and the searing pain made me scream. “Get out of here! Our family’s money is not for you to meddle with!” The three of them kicked me out of Lila’s house. I never imagined that after financially supporting Logan all these years, I would hear such words from them. “I’m doing this for your own good, but if you don’t appreciate it, fine. I won’t interfere anymore!” The injuries and disdain I’ve endured over these past few days far outweigh the struggles I’ve faced in years of working hard. I don’t want to be involved in this mess anymore. I turned and left, returning to the apartment I rented. 4 My busy work schedule quickly made me forget about the foreclosure home. I heard that a few days after I left, my brother moved into the new place. As soon as he moved in, Logan happily threw a housewarming party. He then rushed to propose and get engaged to Lila. The money issue that had delayed them for so long was finally resolved, and they got together. I didn’t attend the engagement party, but I could imagine their greedy faces. Maybe because of the recent influx of people, there was nothing unusual about the house. However, a few weeks later, Logan started hearing strange noises outside his door in the middle of the night. The next morning, before Logan even woke up, there was a commotion outside. “What’s all this noise?” He opened the door and saw several large red letters on the white wall next to the door. The paint had dried, but the drips of red left on the wall and floor looked like blood, creating an eerie atmosphere. “An eye for an eye, what a sin…” “Who would dare buy this house?” “Yeah, my old man said he felt a chill just walking past here.” A few neighbors were gathered in front of Logan’s door, talking amongst themselves. As soon as they saw Logan’s annoyed face, they fell silent. “Who did this?!” They looked at each other, not daring to speak. “Don’t make me check the surveillance. If I catch you, you’re in for it!” Logan knew it couldn’t have been these middle-aged women, but he was still irritated. He slammed the door shut. He thought it was just someone jealous of him for snagging such a great house at half the market price. After leaving some harsh words in the homeowner group chat, he didn’t bother with it anymore. But a few days later, more red paint appeared on the not-yet-clean wall. “Die.” Logan wasn’t too concerned about the word “die.” He thought it was just someone’s prank out of jealousy. A few days later, it appeared again. “Give me back my things!” This time he was a bit worried. He picked up his phone to dial 911 but stopped abruptly. “No, if I call the police, my money will be exposed.” He muttered to himself, then called me. “Someone knows about the money. You should call the police early and have them handle it so they won’t bother you.” I advised him, knowing his stubborn nature wouldn’t listen. He just wanted someone to share his anxiety with. As expected, Logan hung up on me, cursing. “If someone knows about the money and hasn’t come to claim it, it’s not clean money. As long as we hide it and deny everything, what can they do?” Lila and Logan pondered. “Yeah, they’re sneaky and wouldn’t dare call the police, or they’d expose themselves.” The two of them couldn’t wait any longer and took the money to their hometown overnight.

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After learning that my boyfriend had been diagnosed with kidney failure, I left him without a second thought, even taking most of our savings with me. Three years later, Orion not only conquered his illness but also became a celebrated figure in City A. At his engagement party with Celeste, Orion made a heartfelt confession: “The only regret of my life is having missed three whole years with you.” As the leading lady of his youth, I hid in the banquet hall, watching the man I had abandoned. Orion would never know that while he saw those three years as a blemish, they were the best years of my life that I could never reclaim. Orion’s gentle voice gradually reached my ears. It had been three years since we last met. Back then, in the early stages of kidney failure, his cheeks were sunken, and he was burdened by illness. Now, he was a completely different person—full of life and prestige. The engagement was lavish, with journalists gathered around the venue. Every corner was adorned with hibiscus flowers, just as I had imagined for our engagement. But it wasn’t me Orion was engaging with. A nosy journalist, noticing Orion’s good mood, tried to dig for some scoop: “Mr. Orion, why did you and Mrs. Orion miss three years together? Do you have someone you consider ‘The One That Got Away’?” The last question was meant to be a joke, but it wiped the smile off Orion’s face. Celeste, clutching Orion’s hand, explained with a mix of sympathy and indignation, “Orion did have an ex-girlfriend, but she heartlessly abandoned him when he was in trouble.” “This has always been a scar in Orion’s heart, so please don’t bring it up again!” Orion patted Celeste’s hand to comfort her, but his voice grew colder: “That’s all old news now. I’ve made a name for myself and have a wonderful fiancée like Celeste. That woman is left with nothing but regret!” “If it weren’t for her ruthless abandonment, I wouldn’t have bounced back so strongly.” I knew Orion too well; even though he tried to hide his emotions, I could sense the bitterness in his tone. Just as I was lost in thought, my colleague nudged me: “Nora, quickly bring the cake-cutting knife! Nora!” Pushed by my colleague, I accidentally stumbled out of the crowd. Upon seeing me, Orion’s eyes widened. Celeste exclaimed in disbelief, “Nora, what are you doing here?!” Clinging to Orion’s arm, she eyed me suspiciously, “Why are you here? You abandoned Orion three years ago, and now you want to cling to him because he’s successful? Nora, how can you be so selfish!” With every word Celeste spoke, Orion’s gaze grew colder. I awkwardly got up from the floor: “I’m not, I’m just working here…” Hearing my words, Orion chuckled dismissively, looking me over from head to toe with disdain: “Three years and you’re reduced to being a waitress, how laughable.” “Nora, do you regret leaving me back then?” Speaking of the past, Orion’s voice tightened, his eyes piercing through me. After all, it must have been the most humiliating time of his life. Not only diagnosed with kidney failure but also abandoned by me, his girlfriend of many years. To his surprise, I mustered a standard smile: “No regrets.” “Mr. Orion, I earn my living with my own hands; there’s no shame in that.” “You should go cut the cake with Mrs. Orion.” Orion was momentarily stunned when I calmly referred to Celeste as “Mrs. Orion.” Back in the day, after every setback in his startup, Orion would hold me and promise: “Nora, I’ll succeed someday. I want everyone to respectfully call you Mrs. Orion!” And I would boldly wrap my arms around his neck: “Whether or not you succeed, Mrs. Orion can only be me!” Now, after all the twists and turns, I respectfully handed over the title of “Mrs. Orion.” “Nora,” Orion said with a bitter laugh, “you really haven’t changed!” With those words, Orion pushed over the three-tiered cake. Cream and chocolate splattered all over me, and I stood there like a clown, enduring the mocking gazes of the crowd.

The sudden incident caught everyone off guard. No one expected the engagement party to turn out like this. The manager rushed over to apologize, but Orion ignored him, focusing solely on me. I used to be so delicate, but even after being publicly humiliated, I didn’t say a word. Instead, I instinctively blurted out: “I’m sorry, Mr. Orion.” Contrary to feeling triumphant, Orion felt a blockage in his heart. “You let someone like her in on my engagement day. If you want me to let it go, you must fire her!” Hearing Orion wanted me fired, I quickly raised my head: “No! I… I need this job…” “Orion, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been here. Please don’t make the manager fire me…” Seeing my teary eyes, Orion smirked maliciously: “A heartless woman like you doesn’t deserve anything!” “If you’re so desperate for money, I can introduce you to some patrons. Guaranteed income!” I stared in disbelief at Orion, who was now slut-shaming me. The shame and anger made me cry instantly: “Orion, you’re too much…” Seeing my tears, Orion’s previous arrogance was replaced with panic. He almost instinctively wanted to wipe my tears as he did three years ago. However, the next moment, Celeste clutched her right eye and whimpered: “Orion, my eye hurts…” Hearing Celeste’s voice snapped Orion back to reality. Concerned, he picked her up: “Celeste, is your eye acting up again? I’ll take you to the hospital right away!” As they passed by me, Orion gritted his teeth and spat: “Nora, I’ll get back everything you owe me!” After Orion left, the engagement party ended abruptly. The manager, not wanting to offend Orion, immediately fired me. No matter how much I begged, the manager shook his head repeatedly: “Nora, do you realize who you’ve offended? That’s Orion! We can’t afford to offend him, you’d better find another job!” Clutching the crumpled three hundred dollars, I wandered aimlessly through the streets. The cold wind made me shiver, as if placing me back on the cold operating table from three years ago. As my vision blurred, my legs gave way, and I collapsed on the street. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. My brother, Quentin, helped me sit up, his eyes filled with fear: “Sis, how did you end up like this? Didn’t I tell you not to worry about money? I can work more jobs, you just need to focus on getting better.” “Sis, I heard everything. Orion is such a jerk, aren’t you going to tell him the truth?” I weakly shook my head. Since I made my decision three years ago, I never intended to turn back. Three years ago, Orion was diagnosed with kidney failure, and only a kidney transplant could save him. But the hospital had a shortage of kidneys, and Orion couldn’t get one. To save him, I secretly donated a kidney. I knew him well enough to know that if he found out I nearly exchanged my life for his, he wouldn’t accept the donation. So, I pretended I didn’t want to be burdened by him and disappeared after he was hospitalized. In reality, I was preparing for his kidney transplant. But due to my weak constitution, I developed chronic renal failure after the surgery. I didn’t want Orion to live with guilt, so after being discharged, I left for three years. Because of the need for dialysis, Quentin and I lived frugally, even working multiple jobs. That’s why I was working as a waitress at Orion’s engagement party. After waking up, despite Quentin’s protests, I insisted on being discharged. We simply couldn’t afford to stay in a top-tier hospital. However, just as Quentin was helping me out, we ran into Orion and Celeste in the corridor. Seeing me, Orion immediately frowned: “Nora, are you following me here? You’re shameless!” Hearing Orion insult me, Quentin immediately stepped in front of me: “Orion, what nonsense are you talking about!” Seeing a strange man in front of me, Orion’s eyes darkened, and the temperature around him dropped. “What’s that in your hand?” Orion reached for the medical report I was holding. Afraid he’d see the results, I quickly stepped back. Seeing my reaction, Orion’s hand froze mid-air. Just then, Celeste spoke up: “Since Nora is coming from the obstetrics department, could that be a prenatal check-up report?” When Orion began to hurl insults at me, Quentin quickly stepped in front to shield me. “Orion, what on earth are you talking about?” Orion’s expression turned cold upon seeing a stranger standing in front of me, and the atmosphere seemed to chill. “What are you holding there?” Orion spotted the medical report in my hand and reached to snatch it. Afraid he would see the results, I quickly stepped back. Seeing my reaction, Orion hesitated, his hand stopping mid-air. At that moment, Celeste chimed in: “Since Nora came from the obstetrics department, could that be a prenatal check-up report?” It was then that I realized the obstetrics department was indeed just behind me. “I never thought, Nora, that you were already pregnant.” “Although you wronged Orion in the past, he isn’t someone who holds a grudge. If you had just mentioned it earlier, he wouldn’t have treated you that way yesterday, right, Orion?” As Celeste’s words sunk in, Orion’s face darkened with anger, his eyes blazing as if they could cut through Quentin, who stood protectively before me. I knew Orion was relentless once he pursued something. To avoid further questions about the report, I chose to stay silent. Seeing my tacit admission, Orion gritted his teeth, nodding sharply: “Nora, you’re unbelievable!” “A heartless woman like you—how have you not met your comeuppance yet?” “I must have been blind to have been with you for so many years!” Watching Orion storm away, his anger still palpable, my heart grew heavy. Celeste approached me with a triumphant smirk: “Nora, don’t expect Orion to love you like he did three years ago. His heart belongs to me now!” “You, his past love, should be long forgotten!”

I thought Orion and I, separated by worlds, would never cross paths again. But fate was unkind. Half a month later, at a diamond exhibition, I unexpectedly encountered him once more. Beside him, Celeste deliberately chose me to serve her. Not long after, she screamed: “Nora, have you lost your mind? How dare you steal the engagement ring Orion gave me!” Hearing the commotion, Orion hurried over. Faced with the crowd’s scrutiny and Celeste’s accusations, I defended myself with a clear conscience: “Celeste, haven’t you had enough? I just want a job to make a living. Why do you have to keep targeting me?” Celeste clung to Orion’s sleeve, sobbing: “Orion, I didn’t… It was clearly Nora. I asked her to keep my jewelry box safe, but when I checked, the engagement ring was missing!” “Nora was the only one who touched my jewelry box. Who else could have taken it?” Orion’s disgusted gaze swept over me, then he reached directly for me: “Return Celeste’s ring.” Seeing him unquestioningly side with Celeste, my heart sank once more: “I told you, it wasn’t me!” Orion wouldn’t listen to my explanation. Seeing my refusal to admit, he sneered: “Fine, if you won’t confess, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” “Take off your clothes!” Orion’s words left me stunned in place. Seeing no movement from me, Orion stepped forward, trying to unbutton my clothes: “If you stole the ring, you’d hide it on yourself. If you want to prove your innocence, I’ll give you the chance!” In terror, I pushed him away, clutching my sleeves tightly: “Are you insane… Orion, I didn’t steal anything. You know I’m not that kind of person…” “I don’t know!” Orion raised his voice abruptly: “Nora, I don’t understand you at all.” “If you won’t cooperate, don’t blame me for being merciless. You guys, strip her clothes off!” The bodyguards moved at his command, surrounding me. I fell to the ground in terror, desperately avoiding their hands reaching for me. But no matter how I struggled, I was ultimately outnumbered. With a loud “rip,” my shirt was torn open from the back. Just as I was about to be exposed, Quentin broke through the bodyguards, shielding me: “What are you doing! Let her go! Stop it!” At the same time, a bodyguard suddenly handed something to Orion: “Mr. Orion, we found the ring!” Seeing the recovered ring, Orion looked down at me with disdain: “Nora, you’d go to any lengths for money. This ring is worth five million. If I want, I could make you rot in prison for life!” As I trembled uncontrollably, Quentin couldn’t hold back, roaring at Orion: “How can you treat my sister like this! She once donated her kidney for you!” As Quentin’s words fell, the once bustling exhibition fell silent. After a long pause, Orion spoke hoarsely: “What did you say?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295606”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #重生Reborn #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #惊悚Thriller #魔幻Magic