Before Mom remarried, she gave my sister and me a house each. My sister chose the sprawling estate in the Hollywood Hills. I was forced to accept the rundown, cramped apartment in Downtown LA. Later, my sister set her sights on the ascetic, untouchable old-money heir living next door to the estate. After failing to seduce him multiple times, she lost her mind and tried to steal his company’s highly classified trade secrets to sell them. She was caught by the feds and spent the rest of her life in federal prison. Meanwhile, I hit the jackpot. The downtown apartment was bought out by a mega-developer. I used the buyout money to invest, multiplied my assets dozens of times over, and caught the eye of the ruthless Crown Prince of Wall Street. He proposed to me in a highly publicized event, and our lavish wedding was dubbed the “Romance of the Century” by the media. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment we were choosing the houses. My sister lunged for the deed to the rundown downtown apartment, her face twisted with malice: “This lifetime, it’s your turn to rot in prison! The Romance of the Century is mine!” I almost laughed out loud. Compared to being the disposable fall guy for a billionaire’s true love, doesn’t lying in a massive mansion counting cash sound infinitely better? 1 Mom leaned against the chest of a man ten years her junior, holding two property deeds. “One is an estate in the Hollywood Hills, the other is a tiny walk-up in Downtown LA. You two choose. “Consider this my final compensation to you sisters. Your dad died young, and I’ve raised you both to adulthood. I’ve done my duty as a mother, right?” Looking at this incredibly familiar scene, my mind went blank. Wait. Wasn’t I just locked in a penthouse by Tristan Astor, being forced to sign my life away to take the fall for his true love’s massive financial fraud? Before I could speak, my sister, Sienna, snatched the deed to the downtown apartment right out of Mom’s hands, her eyes gleaming with greed. “I want the small one! You can leave the big mansion for my sister.” That was what she said, but the sheer avarice leaking from her eyes betrayed her true thoughts. Seeing this, I finally understood. I had been reborn, and so had Sienna. In our past life, she had eagerly snatched the three-story Hollywood Hills estate, leaving me alone in that cramped, 600-square-foot walk-up. After Mom left with her new boyfriend, Sienna had smugly flaunted her choice in my face. “Ugh, so what if you’re downtown? Look at this place, it’s a complete dump. “My new neighborhood is strictly for the ultra-elite! Sister, the gap between us is officially permanently wide. Enjoy rotting in your little shack!” She moved into her mansion, and whenever we rarely met, it was just to listen to her brag about her wealth. Later, she set her sights on Silas Montgomery, the old-money heir next door who lived like an ascetic monk. She desperately wanted to marry into his billionaire dynasty. But after he rejected her advances time and time again, she grew furious and vindictive. She tried to infiltrate his home to steal his family’s corporate secrets. The FBI caught her red-handed, and she spent the rest of her life behind bars. I, on the other hand, received a massive eminent domain buyout two months later. Using that money, I invested heavily, caught the attention of Tristan Astor, and had my “Romance of the Century.” Since we were reborn, Sienna was obviously trying to steal the downtown apartment to steal my timeline. I smiled without a word and obediently took the deed to the Hollywood Hills estate. “Be good, you two. From now on, you’re entirely on your own. Don’t come bothering me,” Mom said, walking away with her boy-toy without looking back. With no one else around, Sienna dropped her act. She looked at everything in the rundown apartment, her face twisting with spite. “This lifetime, you’re the one going to prison! The Romance of the Century is mine!” I almost died laughing. She really thought catching Tristan’s eye was a blessing? 2 After packing a few of my clothes, I called an Uber and headed straight to my new mansion. Thankfully, even though Mom had abandoned us to chase her own happiness with a younger man, she hadn’t exactly mistreated us growing up. She came from old real estate money. She was loaded. I had saved up all my allowance since I was a kid, which amounted to around thirty thousand dollars. That was more than enough to support me lying flat in a mansion for a good while. But as far as I knew, Sienna had zero saving habits. In our past life, she survived purely by pawning off the antique vases and art pieces left in the mansion. The downtown apartment might be in a prime location, but the developer buyout was still two months away. Penniless and unable to cook, she was going to have a very hard time surviving. Sure enough, less than three days later, I got a desperate call from Sienna. “Lend me some money.” I was currently lounging on an enormous, plush sofa, wearing a sheet mask and watching TV. “Lend me some money, did you hear me?!” I casually blew on my freshly manicured nails. “No.” The person on the other end was going crazy, but likely due to severe hunger, even her yelling sounded weak. “Then what am I supposed to do?! Are you just going to watch me starve to death?” What else was I supposed to do? She was reborn and deliberately stole my path, fully intending for me to go to prison. Did she expect me to make things easy for her? “If you have a problem, call Mom.” With that, I hung up. Our dad died when we were ten. Mom was heartbroken for a few years, but when we turned fifteen, she suddenly became a different person. She started traveling constantly, only leaving behind stacks of cash for us. It was as if she was just waiting for the day we became legal adults so she could wash her hands of us entirely. In my past life, I once fell deliriously ill with a high fever in that rundown apartment and called Mom for help. She was vacationing in the Maldives with her boyfriend. She told me that if I harassed her one more time, she would take the apartment back and leave me homeless. So… How on earth would she ever help Sienna? 3 I lived in the mansion for a week. But the more I looked around, the colder, bigger, and emptier it felt. So, I bought some flower seedlings to plant in the yard. The next day, as I was digging in the soil and fertilizing it, a tall shadow suddenly blocked the sunlight. I looked up. Silas Montgomery—the man Sienna had obsessed over for two years in our past life—was standing in front of me, his brows knitted together. My heart skipped a beat. Even though I lived here now, I had zero intention of bothering him. After a moment of awkward silence, I broke the ice. “Hi, I’m Blair, your new neighbor.” I extended a friendly hand, but Silas slightly leaned back, keeping his distance. “What are you doing?” I glanced down at my masterpiece. Wasn’t it obvious? “Planting flowers. Fertilizing.” Under the blazing California sun, I swore I saw Silas’s eyelid twitch. “I mean, what kind of fertilizer!” Uh… I embarrassingly kicked at the dirt near the flowers. “Organic fertilizer…” Silas’s frown deepened. Realizing he was misunderstanding, I quickly explained: “It’s my dog’s poop! I read online that it makes great fertilizer!” Afraid he thought I was a menace, I added, “I didn’t let him do it near your gates! I strictly made him go in my own yard.” Two days ago, out of boredom, I bought a Labrador. I just didn’t expect him to produce quite so much material. Silas’s expression softened slightly, but he still kept a wide distance from me. Before leaving, he pointed at the flowers I had just planted. “Those plants hate direct sunlight. They’ll die if you leave them there.” With that, Silas turned and walked back to his own sprawling estate without looking back. I stared blankly after him, noticing that the second he stepped inside, he firmly shut all his windows. So… He just thought it smelled terrible? 4 I listened to Silas and moved the flowers to the shade. Half a month later, they were thriving. But having been cooped up in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks, I was bored out of my mind. I decided to head downtown. I wanted to see how Sienna—who stole my timeline and was determined to strike it rich—was doing. But I didn’t have a car, so I had to walk down the winding hill roads first. Three miles in, after thirty minutes of walking, I still couldn’t see the bottom. Just as I was nearing despair, a sleek white Bentley pulled over beside me. The window rolled down, revealing Silas’s flawless profile. “Where to? I can give you a ride.” I was thrilled. After thanking him profusely, I reached for the rear door handle. But his car was too high-end. I had never been in one, and I couldn’t figure out how to open the door… Amidst the awkwardness, Silas popped open the passenger door from the inside. He lowered his sunglasses and looked at me. “Sit in the front.” I sheepishly slid in, said thank you, and obediently closed my eyes to rest. A few minutes later, the man beside me let out a soft chuckle. “Blair, do you really think I’m your chauffeur?” “No!” I immediately opened my eyes and waved my hands in defense. “I know you live an ascetic lifestyle and keep your distance from women. You’re just helping me out of the goodness of your heart. I just didn’t want to disturb your peace!” I had heard all about Sienna’s aggressive pursuit of him in the past life. He was practically a modern-day monk. I knew my place. I wasn’t going to repeat Sienna’s disastrous mistakes. Silas glanced at me, his long fingers lightly tapping the steering wheel. When the light turned green, the car accelerated smoothly. Silas spoke again: “I practice mindfulness and keep to myself. I haven’t taken a vow of celibacy.” Not a monk? So in the past life, he kept rejecting Sienna simply because he couldn’t stand her? Once we got out of the hills, I planned to call an Uber, but Silas insisted on taking me all the way. He dropped me right outside the downtown apartment. I had intended to secretly spy on Sienna. Afraid of being too flashy, I got out at the corner of the block. But to my surprise, Sienna stormed out of a greasy burger joint right across the street. “Blair?! “Silas Montgomery?! “Why are you two together??” 5 Riiip. Sienna tore the greasy rag in her hands completely in half. She stared at Silas and me, her face contorted with rage. “You’ve only been living there for a few days and you’re already seducing men! Mom gave you a mansion, you’re an adult, why don’t you figure out how to make your own money instead of relying on a man?!” She was yelling so loudly that all the neighbors and pedestrians turned to look. Sienna and I grew up here. Most of the people around us were familiar faces. Hearing her scream that, everyone looked at me with deep frowns. “Blair, I know you girls had it rough, but you can’t live like that.” “Exactly. Why don’t you get an honest job like your sister? At least you’d be feeding yourself with dignity.” I let out a scoff. Was Sienna insulting herself? Looking at the unbridled jealousy radiating from her face, I just shook my head with a smile. Makes sense. After all, Silas was the high branch she spent her entire past life trying—and failing—to climb. Silas remained silent, but his gaze was fixed steadily on me. He looked like he was waiting to see how I would handle this. “Sister, why are you smiling? Do you look down on this little diner? “I may just be a waitress here, but at least I earn my living with my own two hands! Not like you! Leeching off men!” I raised an eyebrow and walked straight up to Silas. In those few steps, a hundred different solutions flashed through my mind. Should I pretend to be his girlfriend to slap Sienna’s face? But if Silas refused to play along, I’d be the one humiliated. Silas looked down at me. The next second, I pulled out my phone for everyone to see and looked up at him. “I’m so sorry, my sister misunderstood. How much was the ride? I’ll Venmo you.” As soon as those words left my mouth, not just Sienna, but even Silas raised a surprised eyebrow. He stared at me for a moment, then, looking like he found the absurdity of it all highly amusing, he pulled up his Venmo QR code. “It’s fine. A dirty mind sees dirt everywhere. “$100.” Damn, what a ripoff… After I paid him, Silas drove off. The neighbors who had just been lecturing me awkwardly turned to Sienna. “Sienna, really… why do you always spout such nonsense? We almost misunderstood Blair.” Sienna stood frozen in place. I walked up to her with a smile and loudly read the four big words printed on her greasy apron: “Big Mike’s Burgers.” “Good job, sister. Come help me put in an order.” Sienna gritted her teeth so hard her jaw trembled, her eyes wide with fury. “Blair, don’t push it!” I gave her a look of pure innocence. “I just came to see how your ‘Romance of the Century’ is going. How is that pushing it?” With that, I happily took a seat inside. Because Sienna stood there fuming instead of working, she got chewed out by the manager. Watching her hustle back and forth, occasionally getting harassed by drunk customers, I sipped my soda and clicked my tongue. She was probably still fantasizing about her sweet billionaire romance. Little did she know, this was going to be the easiest part of her life. At least right now, her life was still in her own hands. 6 After returning home, I found Silas’s contact info in the neighborhood HOA group chat and added him. [I’m really sorry about today, and thank you.] [I only said that because I had no choice. I sincerely apologize again.] I stared at my phone for a long time, but there was no reply. Was he actually mad? He was the untouchable elite of the old-money circle. Countless socialites and heiresses had been rejected by him. This was probably the first time he’d ever been treated like an Uber driver. Since we were neighbors, we were bound to run into each other. I bit the bullet and typed: [How about I cook some of my signature dishes and bring them over as an apology?] An hour later, my phone finally pinged. Silas: [Okay.] I picked some fresh, organic vegetables I had grown in my yard to show off my culinary skills. When I brought the food over, I had a standard, polite smile plastered on my face. But I didn’t expect Silas to invite me to stay and eat with him. I smiled and tried to decline, because looking at a table full of nothing but leafy greens, I really had no appetite. But before I could come up with an excuse, several high-end takeout bags arrived at his door. Truffle shrimp, Wagyu beef, and a massive glazed sea bass. Silas gave me a cool glance. “If you’re not going to eat, take your vegetables and go home.” “I’m eating!” How could I reject such generous hospitality? We ate the meal in total silence, but I was incredibly satisfied. After interacting with him a few times, I realized Silas wasn’t the cold, unfeeling robot the rumors made him out to be. Makes sense. How bad could a guy who practices mindfulness and eats organic greens really be? 7 Another month passed, and the news of the downtown eminent domain buyout finally hit. That very day, I received a call from Sienna. “Hahahahaha! Bet you didn’t see this coming, did you?! The tables have turned! “Let me tell you, my apartment is getting bought out! I’m getting ten million in cash and two new luxury condos! “Blair, let’s see how you compete with me now!” A cold smirk played on my lips as I looked in the mirror, faking an exaggerated, hysterical tone: “What?! “No! Sienna, a piece of that buyout money belongs to me!! You have to give me my share! If I hadn’t let you have the apartment, that money would be mine right now!” There was dead silence on the other end of the line. I held back my laughter. Sienna was probably stunned by my sheer audacity. Two minutes later, Sienna roared into the phone: “You shameless bitch, in your dreams!” “You just sit in that empty mansion and watch me become the ultimate elite!!” With that, she violently hung up. I chuckled and tossed my phone aside. Did she really think getting a buyout made her untouchable? To a Wall Street Crown Prince who grew up with unimaginable wealth, ten million was just pocket change for a weekend in Vegas. In my past life, the moment I got the money, I immediately threw it into high-yield investments. It took six months of multiplying my assets before Tristan Astor finally noticed and aggressively pursued me. With Sienna’s absolute lack of business sense, that path was a dead end. I stared thoughtfully into the mirror, sinking into deep thought. In the past life, Tristan appeared to love me to death. But in reality, he just needed my pristine financial record and assets. His true love, Daphne, was caught in a massive corporate embezzlement scandal. After Tristan met me, he took me to his corporate lawyers, and shortly after, launched his aggressive romantic pursuit. The second week after I agreed to date him, I was forced into a sham marriage. When the feds came knocking, I was the one legally bound as the CEO of the shell companies, taking the absolute fall for Daphne’s crimes. In other words, Tristan just wanted a clean, naive scapegoat to legally bleed dry to protect his true love. As long as the person had clean assets and no powerful backing, he would pursue them. The problem now was that I was still a perfect target. For my own safety, I needed to build my wealth and power fast, so Tristan wouldn’t dare mess with me. 8 Using my memories from my past life, I began investing again. But my current capital was way too small. Even if I pawned all the antique vases in the mansion, it wouldn’t be nearly enough. After some agonizing thought, I called a luxury real estate agent the next day. I was selling the mansion. This lifetime, if I was going to play, I was going to play big. As I was walking the agent out, I bumped into Silas returning home. He parked his car in front of my gates and looked over. “You’re moving?” I smiled and nodded. “I need cash urgently. I’m selling the house and downsizing.” Silas didn’t say a word, but his eyes darkened. “Where’s the new house?” I threw my hands up. I hadn’t even sold this one yet, how could I buy a new one?! “Haven’t found one yet. Maybe we’ll be neighbors again someday.” With that, I went back inside to pack my things. I planned to pack slowly, but that very night, the agent called to say there was a buyer. They didn’t even negotiate the price! “Did we find a sucker?” The agent chuckled awkwardly. “Rich people don’t care about a few million here or there…” “So when do they want to view the house?” The agent paused for a second. “The buyer doesn’t plan on viewing it. We can just sign the contract.” Was this a scam? I verified everything three times before finally signing my name. That night, my account balance skyrocketed by thirty million dollars. I kept a million to buy a luxury condo, and immediately sank a large chunk of the rest into a tech startup I knew was about to go public. The rest went into producing a few streaming shows that I knew were going to be massive hits. Six months later, my liquid capital had fully recovered and multiplied, making me even richer than I was in my past life. As for Sienna… I heard she was spending her days desperately trying to sneak into the exclusive VIP clubs that Tristan Astor frequented. Her fantasy “Romance of the Century” had made zero progress, and she was burning through her buyout money fast. Seeing her struggle so much, I decided to give her a helping hand. 9 Just like in my past life, my rapid rise in the business world quickly caught Tristan’s attention. When I received the exact same gala invitation as I did in my past life, my breathing hitched. It was at this very gala that Tristan pretended to fall in love with me at first sight. In my past life, I was forced to sign piles of fraudulent documents, watched my assets get seized, and was locked in a penthouse while the legal noose tightened. Tristan had imprisoned me, cutting off all my contact with the outside world. Even though I had some money, my foundation was weak. I had no family to back me up and no loyal allies. The one assistant who tried to look for me eventually gave up. I was bled dry financially, left completely defenseless against Tristan’s cruelty. Remembering all of that, my heart raced, and my blood boiled. After calming myself down, I took a picture of the gala invitation and texted it to Sienna. Her reaction was explosive: [Where the hell did you steal that ticket?!] [Someone like you doesn’t belong at an event like that!!] [Tell me! Tell me right now!!] [Blair, why don’t you just die?! You already seduced Tristan in the past life! Can’t you just let me have him this time?! You’re so toxic, you should just die!!] Reading her increasingly venomous messages, whatever shred of pity I had left evaporated. I replied: [What if I said I wanted to bring you along as my plus-one so you could experience it?] There was a long silence. Two minutes later, Sienna replied: [Hmph, getting cold feet? Even you know you can’t hold your own in a room full of real elites, right?] I scoffed and tossed my phone onto the bed. We had the same mother, but I truly had no idea how Sienna’s brain was wired. 10 The next day, I brought Sienna into the gala. Compared to my elegant, understated gown, she had clearly blown a massive amount of cash on an extravagant styling team. The moment we walked in, I spotted Tristan surrounded by a crowd of sycophants. My gaze lingered on him for barely a second, but Sienna violently yanked the fabric of my strapless gown. She glared at me, hissing a threat: “Blair, I’m warning you. Tristan is MINE!” “If you dare try to seduce him, I will strip you naked right here and make you the laughingstock of New York high society. Try me!” Honestly, I was tense. Ripping my dress to expose me in public was absolutely something she was crazy enough to do. The second her grip tightened, I grabbed her hand to stop her. “Don’t move! “Fine, fine, I promise!” Sienna let out a cold snort, released my dress, picked up her heavy skirts, and began marching toward Tristan. But while I promised I wouldn’t seek Tristan out, I never promised he wouldn’t come looking for me. Sienna had barely taken a step when Tristan broke away from the crowd and started walking in our direction. Sienna paused, looking back at me with a smug, provocative smile. I raised an eyebrow, watching calmly as her dream man walked right past her, brushing her shoulder, and stopped directly in front of me. “Miss Blair.” I swallowed my burning hatred and offered a polite smile. Sienna ground her teeth, glaring daggers at me. Then, she quickly hitched up her dress and scurried back to my side. These two were birds of a feather. I was more than happy to play matchmaker. I exchanged a few brief pleasantries with Tristan, then smoothly introduced Sienna to him. “This is…” Feeling Sienna’s hostile glare burning into the side of my head, I said, “This is my relative, Sienna.” With how aggressive and proactive Sienna was, Tristan didn’t even have a chance to decline. I successfully extracted myself from the situation. I stood by the sidelines, sipping champagne, watching the two of them draw closer and closer. Just as I was about to take another sip, a large, elegant hand smoothly plucked the champagne flute from my fingers. I turned my slightly dizzy head. It was Silas. He was in a sharp tuxedo, and he clicked his tongue in disapproval. “You’re drunk.”

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During finals week, the campus queen bee was caught cheating. Crying, she claimed I forced her to do it. She even pulled out medical records, falsely accusing me of driving her to depression. “Why won’t you just admit it? Are you trying to force me to die?” With those words, she took another step toward the edge of the roof. My boyfriend didn’t even ask for my side of the story before demanding I take the blame: “Riley, that’s a human life! How can you be so cold-blooded?” Everyone around me urged me to remember that a life was more important than anything else. I gave a sinister smile. “Isn’t it just dying? Come on, let’s die together.” I lunged forward, grabbing the terrified queen bee, and we tumbled off the roof together. Of course, I wouldn’t die. Because down below, I had already prepared an inflatable rescue cushion. Sorry, but I’ve been reborn. 1 I was shaken awake by the proctor. Staring at the unfamiliar yet familiar exam hall, I was dazed for a moment. Wasn’t I dead? Mia’s carefully orchestrated cyberbullying campaign not only stole my guaranteed grad school admission but also doxxed all my personal information online. In an instant, I went from a straight-A student favored by professors to public enemy number one. I was pushed to the center of the storm by self-righteous internet vigilantes. I lost my education, couldn’t find a job, and eventually died under the wheels of a car driven by one of Mia’s extreme admirers. How could I be sitting in an exam room for finals? Before I could figure it out, I saw a small piece of paper drop to the floor diagonally in front of me. That was Mia’s seat. Looking closely, Mia seemed a bit younger than I remembered. She didn’t have the heavy makeup or the head-to-toe designer brands from my past life. Looking at the scene before me, I felt a sense of unreality. I never thought I’d actually experience the reincarnation trope you only see in novels. I was reborn. Back to my college days, on the day of finals. The very day that marked the turning point of my destiny. In my past life, in this exact same scenario. I discovered Mia cheating. When she bent down to pick up her cheat sheet, she met my gaze. She turned pale with fright. In a panic, she put her hands together in a pleading gesture, begging me to stay quiet. Living by the principle of minding my own business, I didn’t do anything. I just lowered my head and continued my exam. It was just a regular final exam; passing was enough. It wasn’t some life-altering test. College exams… they were what they were. But to my surprise, she was so focused on copying that she was caught red-handed by the proctor. This particular professor was notoriously strict in our department. He exposed her right there in the dead-silent exam hall. Mia had always maintained the persona of a beautiful, brilliant scholar. Being caught cheating on the spot—if it were any other student, they might have just laughed it off and taken the makeup exam. But to her, it was a matter of life and death. Her persona collapsed instantly. “I can’t believe the campus queen’s ‘genius’ persona is fake!” “Who knows if she cheated on all her previous exams too. No wonder she didn’t get the grad school recommendation this time.” “So fake. She doesn’t look like that kind of person. She looks so innocent… do you think she smokes and drinks in private too?” In my past life, on the day the university issued the disciplinary notice, I had just received my offer for a master’s program at an Ivy League university. I was immersed in the joy of my admission, completely missing the venom in her eyes. I never expected she would go to such lengths just to destroy me. In my past life, I couldn’t figure it out. Just because I saw her cheating, she had to ruin me? Was it just because I was an orphan with no backing? Only after I died, when I hovered around her as a ghost, did I find out. She did it because I had discovered her secret. —I had once seen her getting into a black Mercedes that had a bottle of water placed on the roof. At the time, I hadn’t realized what she was doing. “You can’t blame me, you can only blame yourself. Who told you to see something you shouldn’t have seen?” She had muttered to herself, her face showing not a shred of guilt. A person with a dark heart sees darkness in everything. The memory of being crushed under those wheels, the agonizing pain of my body shattering, was still fresh in my mind. Right now, the campus queen was playing the victim, hands clasped together, begging me not to report her. I smiled at her. What are you thinking? If I lived this second life like a coward again, I’d want to slap myself. I glanced over and saw the proctor walking toward us. Under her terrified gaze, I raised my hand, feigning confusion. “Professor, there seems to be something on the floor.” “It looks like it belongs to Mia… but maybe I’m mistaken.” I pretended to be unsure, my tone hesitant, but I practically threw the culprit right under the bus. And I added a layer of uncertainty to the situation. In my past life, this was exactly how the campus queen had cleared her own name. I was just a fast learner. The proctor also happened to be our major’s professor. She picked up the paper from the floor, opened it, and then her gaze shifted to Mia. She escorted her out of the classroom. This time, the disciplinary notice came much faster than in my past life. When I returned to the dorm, Mia was lying on her bed sobbing, while our roommate Chloe was comforting her. Seeing me, Chloe immediately started pointing fingers: “Riley, what is wrong with you? So many people cheat, why did you have to target Mia?” Chloe came from a wealthy family, but despite her princess temper, she was easily manipulated by Mia. She was her loyal pawn. In the same scenario in my past life, because I didn’t expose Mia, Chloe still blamed me: “Riley, your grades are so good, why didn’t you clear Mia’s name?” Back then, I actually internalized it, doubting if I had truly done something wrong. Now I understood that no matter what I did, it would always be “my fault” in their eyes. They didn’t care about my perspective. So, instead of reflecting on myself, it was better to blame others. If they wanted to drive me crazy, then no one was going to have a good time. I put down my textbook, pointed to the recording app on my phone, and opened the university’s online forum. I sneered darkly: “So you mean to say she cheated, and I should take the blame? Am I her mother or her father that I have to be so considerate of her?” “I’ve posted what you just said on the forum. Let’s see what everyone else thinks.” Probably not expecting me to be this unhinged, both Chloe and Mia looked up at me simultaneously. Mia panicked and lunged to grab my phone. I shoved her away, looking down at her from above. “If you want to act like a spoiled princess, go work at a hostess bar. Don’t mess with me.” After speaking, I looked at the two girls who were too scared to respond. I smiled slightly and added, “By the way, I do have a mental illness, so stay out of my way. You wouldn’t want my condition to worsen and make me start talking nonsense, would you? Like that day I saw…” I trailed off, but I knew Mia had a guilty conscience and would definitely overthink it. That was enough for now. In my past life, I suffered so much. I was going to pay it all back, item by item. I wouldn’t expose everything right away. A game of cat and mouse. It’s only fun if you play it slowly. 2 While I was sitting in the library recalling key events from my past life, Liam suddenly appeared in front of me. I almost forgot—at this point in time, he hadn’t hooked up with Mia yet. The library’s heating was cranked up, so I was only wearing a thin sweater. Without a word, he grabbed my hand and dragged me outside. It wasn’t until he pulled me onto the roof that I truly felt the reality of my rebirth. It was still winter. The wind on the roof bit into my face, sharp and painful. Mia stood at the edge of the roof, screaming hysterically. At the entrance of the roof stood our academic advisor and the dean, acting as mediators. “Why won’t anyone believe me?!” “I didn’t cheat! She framed me! She threw her cheat sheet onto my desk, and I just opened it out of curiosity! I really didn’t copy!” She looked like a fragile, broken doll. Her hair blew in the wind, giving her an aura of tragic beauty. Every man present wore an identical look of pity on their faces. She seemed acutely aware of her own beauty. She took a step back, her hands gripping the railing tightly. When she looked at me, the despair in her eyes deepened. Her lips trembled, and tears fell like broken pearls. “You already got the grad school recommendation, why won’t you let me go?!” “What did I do wrong?!” “Will you only be satisfied if I die?” I noticed the probing gazes of the people around me, just like in my past life. My boyfriend, Liam, pushed me forward, shoving me into the spotlight. His tone was frantic. If I didn’t know about his dirty little secrets, it would be hard to tell that his anxiety was directed at her. “Riley, say something!” I looked at him coldly. “I didn’t do anything. What am I supposed to admit?” Liam looked at me with deep disappointment, as if condemning me. In my past life, I never understood why my boyfriend sided with Mia. I only found out later that the person he initially confessed to was Mia. After being rejected, he settled for me. He thought being close to me would give him a better chance with her. His heart and eyes were completely occupied by his unattainable campus queen. Hearing my words, Mia acted as if she had suffered a massive blow, shaking her head and frantically repeating that it wasn’t her. The dean, hearing my response, grew anxious: “Riley! A human life is at stake here!!” Then, the dean turned and looked at Mia gently. “Mia, don’t worry. I promise I will give you a proper explanation and clear your name. Don’t do anything impulsive.” Even the students watching started whispering, accusing me of being cold-blooded and heartless. “I knew Mia wouldn’t cheat. Someone definitely framed her.” “Yeah, she wouldn’t joke around with her life over one final exam.” In my past life, I was morally kidnapped by these people, roasted over an open fire. I was forced to confess to a crime I didn’t commit. Later, the university actually turned the fake confession into reality, pinning the cheating scandal entirely on me. The incident blew up online. I was cyberbullied. The entire internet claimed I was a bully who drove my roommate to jump off a building. I lost my grad school offer. I lost my boyfriend. I lost everything. As for Mia? By using the threat of death to prove her innocence, she was praised by netizens as a principled, brilliant student. She started livestreaming and gained massive traffic. She harvested a huge fanbase and made a fortune. I was cyberbullied, spat on, couldn’t find a job, and died tragically under the wheels of a car. Even after my death, she capitalized on my tragedy. She pinned the label of “suicide out of guilt” on me. She turned it around, saying I was mentally fragile, and questioned why I framed her in the first place if I couldn’t handle the consequences. Why would someone who genuinely wants to die give others the chance to save them? She never intended to die. She just wanted to blow things out of proportion, pretend to risk her life to prove her innocence, and win sympathy. In reality, a rescue cushion had already been set up downstairs. Even if she really jumped, she wouldn’t have been hurt. Mia’s theatrical, hysterical screaming continued. It was a shame she wasn’t an acting major. The accusations and noise around me intertwined with the phantom pain of my body being crushed by tires in my past life. The blood vessels in my temples throbbed erratically, a roaring sound filling my ears. I rubbed my temples and let out a low, sinister laugh. I snapped. I didn’t care if she was faking it or not; new hatred and old grudges surged into my mind. The string of my sanity broke. Ignoring everyone, I sprinted toward Mia. Amidst her struggles and screams, I grabbed her tightly and dragged her off the roof. “You cheated, you got caught, so why pretend?! I already got my offer, why would I bother framing you? Who the hell do you think you are? Are your brains bound up like old foot bindings? “You want to die? Come on, let’s die together! You want to jump? Don’t know how? Come on, I’ll teach you!!” 3 The feeling of weightlessness lasted for a few seconds before our bodies landed on the pre-prepared rescue cushion. Under the massive momentum, our bodies bounced a few times before coming to a stop. Mia sat dazed on the cushion, her lips pale. “You… you lunatic.” Everyone from the roof rushed downstairs. Liam was the first to arrive, pulling Mia off the cushion. She looked so pitiful and helpless. He was thoroughly enchanted by her fragile facade. “Riley, are you crazy?! That was the 4th floor! “Apologize to Mia right now!” I looked at this man, who even needed my connections in the department to find an advisor for his senior thesis. A wave of disgust hit me. I dry-heaved, successfully making the faces of the people in front of me turn even uglier. “First of all, you’re not my boyfriend. “Secondly, how does someone who cheated have the audacity to ask for an apology? I’m not the one who got caught cheating.” Hearing my words, Mia’s face grew even paler. Ah, youth is great. You don’t even need foundation. Liam’s neck stiffened, his face flushed with anger. “Apologize to Mia, and I’ll take you off my block list.” I just remembered—before the cheating incident, Liam and I had been fighting. The reason was that during our relationship, he constantly tried to fish for information about the campus queen. I couldn’t tolerate it anymore and started an argument with him. Two things stacked together, my disgust meter was maxed out. I raised my hand and slapped Liam across the face: “What are you barking about? Are you that excited to see this piece of trash you call a queen?” He didn’t anticipate my action and was completely stunned. Supported by a classmate, I stood steady, glaring at the scumbag and the bitch in front of me, letting out a cold snort. “You’re a piece of trash, and you belong perfectly in the dumpster. “We’re breaking up! Who do you think you are, trying to cheat on me?!” The jumping incident caused a massive uproar at the university. Because I didn’t take the fall, Mia was pointed at and gossiped about wherever she went. Before this, she always had a horde of simps following her around. She was idolized everywhere she went. She reaped all the benefits of her pretty privilege. People naturally gravitate toward beautiful things, but they also subconsciously distance themselves from them—it’s a psychological manifestation of underlying insecurity. Previously, the persona Mia established at the university, besides being beautiful, was being intellectual, generous, and having great grades. Professors naturally favored her. I heard Mia also applied for the grad school recommendation this time. If my daily GPA hadn’t been so high, it really would have been a toss-up as to who got the offer. Mia’s previous goddess image was deeply rooted, raising people’s expectations of her accordingly. The slightest mistake would cause her image to collapse. But this was only the first step of the plan. I was going to systematically destroy the things Mia cared about most. Whether in the present or the future. 4 Chloe came to find me a few times, constantly questioning why I was harming Mia. I looked at this naive rich girl who saw the world in strictly black and white. I remembered how in my past life, Mia climbed the social ladder using my tragedy. She didn’t even spare her best friend. I don’t know how she hooked up with Chloe’s childhood sweetheart and fiancé, giving Chloe a green hat right under her nose. The funny thing was, Chloe had absolutely no idea her best friend had already hooked up with her fiancé. When Mia chose to enter the entertainment industry, Chloe even went out of her way to protect and support her career. In the end, she not only lost her fiancé but also dragged down her entire family’s business. Her pitiful state was no less than mine. Me harming Mia? Looking at the naive rich girl in front of me, I smiled faintly and said nothing. Chloe, with her princess temper, blocked my way and demanded, “What are you laughing at? How can you laugh when you’ve made someone so miserable?” I raised an eyebrow: “I’m laughing at someone who is so blind they can’t even tell if the person next to them is a wolf or a tiger, and in the end, they’ll lose everything.” Seeing Chloe still looked confused, I sighed. “If I were you, I wouldn’t let Mia get close to anyone around me.” Chloe was about to ask something else, but I turned and walked away. Sometimes, what I said wasn’t important; what was important was planting the seed of doubt. Let it take root and sprout. From what I knew, on the current timeline, Mia had already hooked up with Chloe’s fiancé, Julian. The car she got into last time was the one Julian often used to pick up Chloe from campus. And Chloe… She wasn’t very smart, and she was hopelessly in love. If I told her the truth directly, she would just think I was lying to sow discord. It was better to let her discover it herself. She would become my sword, thrust right at Mia. But just as I finished laying out this plan. I realized I was being cyberbullied. First, I mysteriously received a lot of extra packages at the mailroom. Opening them revealed the corpses of small animals. Then, strangers started calling me and sending abusive messages. A sudden realization hit me. I opened the short video app I rarely used, and countless direct messages flooded in. Following the netizens’ directions, I landed on a specific video. The person leading the cyberbullying against me was none other than Mia. 5 A series of “clarification” videos were posted on her account’s homepage. In the videos, she looked incredibly wronged. Dressed in a long white dress with delicate, light makeup, the room’s decor suggested she was in a high-end hotel. “I really didn’t cheat. Here are my college grades; everyone can see I’ve always scored very well. Why would I cheat? My family sent me to college so I could study hard and find a good job. “Riley forced me to do this. She was jealous of my grades and afraid I would steal her grad school recommendation. “What do I have to do for you all to believe me?” At the end, her tears fell like broken pearls. Her pitiful appearance was enough to move even me. Let alone the netizens watching the video. The comments under the video were mostly abusing me and comforting her. Soon, I was completely cyberbullied, and even my university was dragged into the trending searches and cursed at. The netizens believed Mia’s one-sided story. They left comments and DMs on my long-abandoned accounts. She took the opportunity to play the victim and win fans’ sympathy. Plus, she was already pretty, and with beauty filters, she quickly amassed 100,000 followers. I saw that she had already opened an e-commerce showcase on her homepage, linking to products. She also opened a secondary account. I tuned into her livestream and saw people constantly sending virtual gifts. The corners of her mouth curled up, a smile she couldn’t hide. “I’ve received everyone’s kindness! Thank you so much for your support! “I will donate all my livestream earnings to schools in remote areas, so more children can receive a fair education.” Her facade of kindness successfully harvested another wave of goodwill, and the gifts in the chat never stopped. In contrast. My situation was quite miserable. Under the pressure of the cyberbullying, the university had the academic advisor talk to me several times. The underlying message was that they hoped I would take all the blame. The advisor tried to persuade me gently: “If you take the blame, the university will protect your grad school recommendation. Otherwise, with your current reputation, the Ivy League school will rescind your offer anyway.” I looked at the advisor’s hypocritical face, my expression blank: “So even though I didn’t do it, I still have to take the fall? If I also jumped off a building and cried on the internet, would the university take my side?” I had always been humble and polite, never this aggressive. The advisor’s face instantly displayed a spectrum of colors. The university just wanted me to take the fall and then burn the bridge. Leave me to be cyberbullied. Help Mia push me to a dead end. I sneered. First, I went to the hospital’s psychiatric department and got a diagnosis for depression. In my past life, my mental state had completely collapsed, so the doctor easily confirmed the diagnosis. Then, I downloaded all of Mia’s “clarification” videos from her homepage and saved them on my phone. The view counts were already well over ten thousand. Mia clearly had no legal knowledge. —Using the internet to defame someone. If the defamatory information is clicked or viewed more than 5,000 times, or forwarded more than 500 times, and the victim—me—suffers a mental breakdown. I wanted to see how she would explain her way out of this. Stupid people need to taste the bitterness of their own stupidity. Those who try to manipulate public opinion will eventually be devoured by it. 6 I took the evidence and reported it to the police. The reason I gave was that Mia had a crush on my boyfriend, used underhanded methods to steal him, and now wanted to destroy me. At the police station, I [cried and sobbed], explaining the whole situation in absolute agony. The jumping incident had already caused a massive uproar online, so the police had heard about it too. After seeing my evidence and hearing my story, the female police officer comforted me with a look of deep sympathy. Mia was brought into the police station looking completely bewildered. The moment she saw me, she adjusted her facial expression. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Riley, what exactly do you want? Will you only be happy if I die? “If this is about Liam, I can just give him to you.” But before she could finish her sentence, the police had already collected evidence from the university. They pulled up the surveillance footage from the exam. And, of course, they saw the entire process of Mia cheating during the exam. Watching the video, the color drained from Mia’s face. Playing the victim, right? Playing the weak one? I could do that too. With a pale face, I looked up at Mia: “What did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this? Not only did you threaten to kill yourself on the roof, but you’re also cyberbullying me online. “Will you only be happy if I die?” Then my body swayed, and I “collapsed” into the arms of the female police officer beside me. She took me to the resting room. Mia was left on the side to be interrogated. Not long after, while resting, I suddenly heard a commotion. A familiar voice reached my ears, and I slowly curled my lips into a smile. Before coming to the police station, I had sent anonymous texts to Liam and Chloe, urging them to come to the police station immediately to rescue their girlfriend (or best friend). If my guess was right. Mia would definitely call her rich lover to resolve this matter. When these three clashed. I couldn’t wait to see what a beautiful scene it would be. In her past life, she got away with everything. In this life, it was time she was trampled into the dirt. 7 When I walked into the mediation room, the slap mark on Mia’s face was clearly visible. She stood pitifully with her head bowed behind a strange man. Chloe’s face was livid, her shoulders held down by the strange man. As for Liam, he stood next to Mia, his face looking equally terrible. Of course it looked terrible. The goddess he obsessed over had played him for a fool. His masculine pride was trampled on the ground; how could he feel good? “I treated you like my best friend, and you hook up with my fiancé?! How can you be such a slut? Was Liam not enough to satisfy you?” Mia trembled and shrank further behind the man. Chloe charged forward like an angry little beast, only to be firmly held back by the man in front of her. This man must be her legendary childhood sweetheart fiancé. The man frowned, looking displeased: “Speaking so vulgarly, you have no manners. Is this how Uncle Miller raised you?” At that sentence, I almost burst out laughing. Chloe’s fiancé was also quite the blind fool. Chloe’s expression froze, staring at the man in disbelief. “I’m sorry, Chloe, but I just couldn’t control myself. I truly love him. I’d die if I had to leave him.” Her words successfully made Liam’s face turn another shade uglier. In a corner where no one was paying attention, my heart bloomed with joy. What a glorious disaster. What a dramatic “I’ll die without him.” What a classic soap opera of stealing your best friend’s boyfriend. The female police officer cast a look of utter disgust at Mia and sternly maintained order. Even though the others were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to sit down obediently. I sat to the side, and an unfriendly gaze landed on me. I looked up and realized it was Chloe’s fiancé looking at me. Having navigated the business world for a long time, he could surely see through the underlying schemes. He definitely knew I was the instigator. So what? If you’ve done something wrong, you shouldn’t be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. Reborn into this life, I never planned to suffer in silence. With Mia, it was a fight to the death. I looked at Mia with a half-smile: “Threatening to die over cheating on an exam, threatening to die over stealing my boyfriend, and now threatening to die over stealing your best friend’s fiancé. “Your life really isn’t worth much, threatening to end it so casually.” Mia’s face stiffened. Karma isn’t absent; it’s just waiting for the right time.

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Tristan Reed had just won the championship at the international violin competition, and I rushed over to his celebration party. But outside the private room, I heard someone ask him: “Who is ‘Porsche Doormat 3.23’ in your contacts?” Tristan sounded completely nonchalant: “Exactly what it says.” My hand, reaching for the door handle, froze. I drove a red Porsche. My birthday was March 23rd. 01 Before I even had a chance to flee in humiliation, another voice echoed from the room: “I heard you had a childhood sweetheart. Isn’t her birthday in March?” Tristan was silent for a long moment before letting out a dismissive scoff. “Ugh!” “Her grades are incredibly average.” “She’s completely tone-deaf. She can’t even read sheet music.” “How could I possibly like her?” “It’s entirely one-sided. But she enjoys playing the pathetic groupie, so let her.” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Tristan and I had been childhood friends for twenty-four years. And in the end, all I amounted to was a “pathetic groupie.” To be fair, Tristan had always been the golden boy of our school. He never paid attention in class, never studied after school, yet somehow aced every single exam. In his free time, he would lean against the bleacher railings, playing a violin solo from above, drawing the absolute adoration and screams of countless girls. The year of our college admissions, Tristan caused an absolute sensation. He had the grades to get into any Ivy League school he wanted, but he stubbornly chose Juilliard instead. He had smiled so arrogantly: “Wherever a genius stands, that is the stage.” And he truly had the talent and capital to be that arrogant. In just a few short years, he had won the gold medal at the Apollo International Music Competition. The media hailed him as a “High-IQ Violin Virtuoso.” Compared to him, I was incredibly dull. My grades were average, and I had absolutely zero musical talent. The only thing I really had going for me was my looks and my outgoing personality. I was popular on campus and had been voted Student Body President. So, after getting my bachelor’s, I didn’t go to grad school. I dove straight into the corporate world. Tristan, unsurprisingly, was offered a full ride for his Master’s at Juilliard. When he moved into his new dorm, I took time off work and drove him to help carry his luggage. When we arrived outside his building, Tristan stopped me from going up. “I can carry it up myself. You can head back.” I froze. It took me a moment to ask: “Do you feel like having me as your girlfriend is embarrassing in front of your elite circle of musicians?” Tristan scratched the bridge of my nose, feigning helplessness. “What are you talking about? I’m hiding my beautiful girlfriend away so those guys don’t try to steal you from me.” Several times after that, I asked to meet his classmates. Tristan always found an excuse to reject the idea. Until this time. Tristan assumed I was still stuck in a business conference in Manhattan, so he casually posted the location of his celebration party on his Instagram Story. Inside the room, the topic had shifted. They were now discussing Fritz Kreisler and Yehudi Menuhin. It was a world I could never blend into. Just as I prepared to turn and run, the heavy doors to the private room were abruptly pulled open. A girl in a flowing white dress looked me up and down with a hint of haughtiness: “Huh? Who are you?” “Did you walk into the wrong room?” 02 The room fell dead silent for a moment. Tristan’s eyes landed on me. A flicker of panic crossed his face, but he quickly regained his composure. “When did you get here? Weren’t you at your conference in Manhattan?” I hesitated for exactly 0.1 seconds before acting completely nonchalant. “Just got here. I was just looking for the right room.” Even I couldn’t explain why I acted that way. Maybe it was the instinct of a Corporate Business Director—always leave yourself an out, never show your bottom line too easily. Or maybe I just wanted to lie to myself one last time. As long as I didn’t expose the truth, there was still room to salvage this. Tristan smiled and introduced me to the room: “This is Cadence Sterling.” “She’s… my friend.” Friend. I chewed on the word in my mind. A bitter taste spread across the back of my tongue. The atmosphere in the room was incredibly delicate. Everyone’s eyes dropped to the Porsche keys in my hand, their expressions practically screaming, Oh, so that’s her. But the girl in the white dress quickly broke the tension. “Haha, Cadence. That’s kind of ironic, don’t you think?” “What a waste of a musical name on someone who’s completely tone-deaf.” Me: “?” Before I could even react, Tristan had subtly stepped between us. “Chloe, you’re always running that mouth of yours.” “Always yapping away.” “Just go eat your food.” On the surface, it sounded like a reprimand, but his tone was dripping with affection and protectiveness. Chloe Mercer stuck her tongue out at Tristan in an annoyingly cute way and skipped over to the fruit platter. Chloe Mercer. That name wasn’t unfamiliar to me. For the past six months, Tristan had brought her up constantly. He said a “returning piano prodigy” named Chloe had joined his program. Whether it was her musical sense or pure talent, she was entirely his equal. She was the new darling of all the professors. He would complain, half-joking, “I feel like I’m losing my favorite child status.” It was a complaint, but I could always hear a deep sense of appreciation in his voice—the kind you only have for an equal. One of Tristan’s classmates waved for me to sit, casually joking: “Tristan, man, if you have such a gorgeous ‘good friend,’ why haven’t you introduced us?” “If you don’t want her, let her hit the open market.” Tristan’s face instantly went black. He spat out a heavy, furious: “Piss off.” He successfully pushed the room’s awkwardness to its absolute peak. Tristan casually grabbed the scarf I had draped over my chair and tossed it over my legs. “You’re dressed like you’re attending a gala.” “You’re trying way too hard.” “Besides, it’s not safe to wear something like this at night. I’ll drive you home later.” I smiled, just about to explain, when Chloe suddenly let out a sharp gasp! Tristan whipped his head around. Chloe was holding a fruit knife in one hand. Her other hand had a tiny, superficial scratch, barely oozing a drop of blood. Tristan panicked instantly. “I told you your hands are meant for the piano!” “Don’t I always peel the fruit for you?!” 03 Chloe looked incredibly wronged. “Why are you yelling at me?” “I was just worried Cadence would be mad!” As she spoke, Chloe’s eyes rimmed red. She pulled off a perfect soap-opera performance: I want to cry, but I’m bravely holding back my tears. Tristan’s head snapped toward me, his eyes full of unconcealed accusation. But I literally hadn’t done a single thing. Why was it that the second she uttered two sentences, you immediately assumed I was the villain? Favoritism can be blatant, but how could he be so blindly irrational? In that moment, Tristan had already scooped a terrified-looking Chloe into his arms. “I’m taking you to the ER!” As he rushed past me, Chloe’s leg—which had been hanging limply—suddenly swung out, her foot nearly kicking me right in the face. I instinctively dodged backward. What I didn’t realize was that an askew chair was right behind me. Caught completely off guard, I crashed to the floor, letting out a low gasp of pain. Tristan paused. He looked like he was about to check on me. But Chloe softly whimpered: “I’m so sorry, Cadence. I didn’t mean to.” “It’s just that my hand hurts so badly… sob… I’m so scared I won’t be able to play the piano anymore.” Tristan’s brows knitted together tightly. He comforted her gently: “Don’t be scared. I’m taking you to the hospital right now.” “It’s not your fault she fell. It’s her own vanity. She didn’t need to wear those ridiculous heels.” With that, he walked out without looking back. The silence in the private room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. After a long moment, one of Tristan’s classmates said awkwardly: “Ah, well… Tristan isn’t usually…” He trailed off, clearly realizing there was no defending that. He helplessly asked if he could drive me to the hospital. I shook my head and declined, limping my way down to the underground parking garage. Vanity. I couldn’t deny it. I was definitely vain. I worked my fingers to the bone in the corporate world. Within three years, I had clawed my way up to Business Director. I fought to be the best in everything. I wanted to be a cut above the rest. I bought a luxury condo, drove a nice car, wore Chanel suits, and insisted my diamond rings had to be at least three carats. I loved new things and discarded the old. I loved the expensive and despised the cheap. It seemed the only “old” thing I had ever held onto in my entire life was Tristan. When I was little, my parents divorced. They both started new families. Neither of them wanted me. I was kicked back and forth between them like a burden. If I wanted living expenses, I had to endure their cold mockery and eye rolls. My only comfort back then was Tristan. Whenever I hid downstairs to cry, he would gently play his violin for me. He would share his breakfast buns and milk with me. When kids at school called me an unwanted stray, he would stand firmly in front of me and protect me. I grew up starved for affection, and he was my only source of warmth. That was why, for all these years, I couldn’t bear to let him go. A sharp, sleazy whistle snapped me out of my memories. Without realizing it, I had limped my way into a completely deserted section of the parking garage. A group of aggressively dressed, sketchy-looking guys were eyeing me up and down. “Hey beautiful, all alone?” “Ooh, driving a Porsche, too.” “Think she’s some rich guy’s sugar baby?” “If she’s keeping one guy company, why not keep us boys company too?” 04 They started walking toward me. I instinctively took a step back, frantically digging in my purse for my car keys. In my panic, the keys slipped and clattered to the concrete floor. Just as I bent down to grab them, a hand with long, distinct knuckles appeared out of nowhere and snatched the keys first. An arm draped casually over my shoulders. “I told you to wait for me. Why did you come down by yourself again?” I looked up. It was a face I had never seen before. He looked to be in his late twenties, dressed simply in a white T-shirt and jeans. But on his wrist sat a limited-edition Vacheron Constantin watch—the kind of piece you couldn’t buy just by having money. Other than that, he wore no accessories. The thugs beside us muttered a few curses and backed off. The man naturally opened my car door. “Get in. It’s cold out.” He smoothly slid into the driver’s seat, pulled out his phone, and tapped out a quick message before starting the engine. It wasn’t until the car merged onto the brightly lit main avenue that he finally spoke. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. My apologies for overstepping.” “Don’t worry, I’m not a creep.” “Shall I drive you home?” I forced a weak smile. “I know. The watch on your wrist is worth more than my entire car.” “Thank you for back there.” Following my directions, the man merged onto the highway. He thoughtfully stayed quiet, letting me close my eyes and rest. We arrived at my condo building quickly. I felt a bit awkward. “How are you getting home? Should I call you an Uber?” The man chuckled. “No need. My assistant came to pick me up.” “His car has been following us the whole time.” I looked up. A sleek black Bentley was parked right next to us. A man who looked like an executive assistant handed him a pharmacy bag. “Mr. Cole, the items you requested.” The man took it and handed it to me. “Your knee was bleeding. I had him buy some antiseptic and bandages.” “But if it’s serious, you should really go to a doctor.” It was only then that I realized the delayed, throbbing pain. I had scraped my knee badly when I fell in the restaurant. The man turned and opened his door. “Go inside. Girls should be careful at night.” “Or better yet, have your boyfriend pick you up.” I couldn’t help but let out an incredibly ugly, bitter smile. “My boyfriend is… very busy.” Watching the man get into the Bentley, I hurriedly thanked him again. “Thank you again for tonight.” The man looked up at me, a sly smile playing on his lips. “You’re very welcome, Director Sterling.” With that, the Bentley sped off into the night. Leaving me standing there, stunned: How did he know my last name? 05 Based on my extensive experience, whenever Tristan and I fought, we usually had a cold war for a few days. When I finally couldn’t take it anymore and crawled back to apologize, he would hit me with his three trademark, arrogant questions: “Do you know what you did wrong?” “Where exactly did you mess up?” “Will you do it again?” But for some reason, this argument felt different. I wasn’t scratching at the walls, checking my phone every five minutes like I usually did. I had zero desire to reach out to him. What I didn’t expect was that this time, Tristan would be the one to break first. It all started because a video went viral. During a break at my Manhattan conference, I had specifically visited the famous Kolstein’s string shop. I wanted to pick out a high-end violin to give to Tristan as a gift. As luck would have it, while I was browsing, a popular music influencer was live-streaming a tour of the shop. She enthusiastically interviewed me: “Miss, you’re buying such an expensive violin! You must be an incredible player!” “Could you play a piece for us?” I had smiled honestly. “I’m completely tone-deaf.” “This violin is a gift for my boyfriend.” “He’s incredibly talented.” After the video blew up, netizens flooded the comments: [I’m so jealous of her boyfriend! A $340,000 violin, and she bought it without blinking!] [She’s so gorgeous! Did you see how her eyes literally sparkled when she talked about her boyfriend?!] [Hey, when you’re ready for a new boyfriend, hit me up! I’m first in line!] Putting the pieces together, Tristan finally realized the truth. I had finished my conference in Manhattan and raced against the clock to buy him a violin. Then I flew back without stopping to rest, didn’t even adjust to the jet lag, and didn’t even have time to change my clothes. I had rushed to see him, only to be turned into a total laughingstock. Tristan finally couldn’t take the silence. He texted me: [You around? Let’s grab dinner tonight.] Even when bowing his head, the aloof god of music still made it sound like an arrogant act of charity. But my pathetic, hopelessly attached self replied: [Okay.] 06 I thought it was going to be a romantic, candlelit dinner for two. Instead, it was a massive group party. Tristan brought me to a loud, upscale bar. Chloe spotted us immediately and waved wildly at Tristan. “Over here!” Tristan grabbed my hand and pulled me over, smiling, completely ignoring the fact that my expression had already turned thunderous. A few drinks in, Tristan got up to use the restroom. Right on cue, someone brought up the viral video, giving me a thumbs-up. “Badass! $340,000! That’s the most expensive violin on campus right now!” Before I could even say a word, Chloe let out a loud scoff. “What’s so great about being willing to spend money on a man?” “A man being willing to spend money on you—that’s true love.” As she spoke, she casually, oh-so-deliberately, brushed her hand against her collarbone. A diamond necklace was resting there, showing off. Chloe lowered her voice, dripping with provocation: “Tristan gave it to me.” “What has he ever given you? Tsk tsk, he can’t even remember your birthday unless he puts it in your contact name. I doubt he’s ever bought you a gift, right?” “In a relationship of three, the one who isn’t loved is the real third wheel.” I smiled, casually running my finger around the rim of my glass. “H-color. One carat.” “Barely acceptable. Must have been on clearance, right?” Knowing Tristan’s financial situation, I knew he didn’t have much disposable income. Where did he get the money to buy Chloe diamonds? Chloe looked visibly enraged. “Tristan and I are a perfect match! We’re meant to be!” “The first time I saw him, I knew he was mine.” I saw Tristan walking back from the restroom in the distance. An expensive tailored suit, a high-end dress shirt, and meticulously manicured skin and hands. He looked as elegant as a prince. A prince that this “idiot Cinderella” had worked herself to the bone to package and fund. It definitely gave him a massive, magnetic appeal on a college campus. I swirled my drink. “Little girl, you don’t like Tristan.” “You like the flawless persona I bought and paid for.” Unfortunately, she didn’t grasp my genuine advice. Instead, a flash of pure malice crossed her eyes. She violently grabbed my hand—the one holding my glass—and shoved the liquor down her own throat. She immediately started choking and coughing violently. With tears streaming down her face, she cried to Tristan, who was rushing over: “I told her I didn’t know how to drink, but Cadence forced me!” “When I refused, she practically poured it down my throat!” Her acting was unbelievably clumsy. It was like watching a cheap circus act. But some people were more than willing to be the audience. Without a second thought, Tristan reached out and shoved me hard. “Are you insane, Cadence?!” “Chloe actually suggested I bring you here to relax tonight!” “Are you comparing yourself to her? She’s just a young girl, how could you force her to drink Bourbon?!” I violently grabbed the hand he used to push me. Staring at his suddenly bare wrist, I asked him, word by word: “Where is the couple’s watch I gave you?” 07 Tristan instantly froze. He pulled his hand back with an expression of deep displeasure, clearly trying to mask his guilt with anger. “You gave it to me, so it’s mine to do what I want with.” “Why do you care so much?” As he spoke, his eyes involuntarily darted toward the diamond necklace resting on Chloe’s chest. I almost laughed out loud. “You sold the watch I gave you so you could buy diamonds to coax this little pick-me girl?” “It’s a waste that you use those hands to play the violin. You should be an accountant with how well you calculate!” I didn’t keep my voice down. Everyone nearby turned to look. A few of Tristan’s classmates let their jaws drop, staring at him in shock. They seemed unable to believe that their elegant, aloof “Prince” was actually a calculating opportunist. Honestly, I didn’t care about the money. But that watch meant everything to me. When Tristan and I got together, I was the one who confessed first. From start to finish, he always maintained an attitude of “whatever.” He was fine being together. He’d be fine breaking up. He’d be fine if I was replaced by someone else. Until one year on my birthday. It coincided with Tristan being out of town for a performance. I was sulking, buying my own cake, blowing out my own candles. Just as the clock struck midnight, the melodious sound of a violin drifted through my window. I leaned out, unable to believe my eyes. Tristan was standing downstairs, still wearing his slightly wrinkled performance tuxedo. He looked up at me, his eyes shining with a boyish, ‘Bet I surprised you, didn’t I?’ pride. Tristan was always so cold and aloof. That was one of the few times he ever showed such youthful, genuine emotion. It struck me right in the heart. Later, we split the entire cake between us. He nuzzled into my neck, sounding a bit aggrieved. “The second my performance ended, I rushed back.” “I even had to hitchhike in the back of a farmer’s truck for a few miles! Just so I could make it back for your birthday.” Tristan told me that the piece he played that night was an original composition. He titled it “Splendor.” After Tristan left, I twirled around my room in pure joy. I thought, maybe, just maybe, Tristan actually did love me. The next day, I took my entire project bonus and bought us a set of luxury couple’s watches. When Tristan took his, he looked surprised. “It’s not a holiday. Why the sudden expensive gift?” I happily grabbed his hand. The two watches sparkled on our wrists, perfectly complimenting each other. “You wouldn’t understand.” The memories from that time were crystal clear, but we could never go back. Seeing the increasingly weird, borderline disdainful looks his classmates were giving him, Tristan finally snapped. “Enough! I’ll pay you back in cash!” “We’re breaking up!”

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The unforgettable “first love” who went to study abroad is finally coming back. Bad news: I came back too late. The elite social circle had already been completely won over by the so-called “Cinderella protagonist.” Everyone was on high alert, preparing to tear me—the impending “first love”—to shreds. Even worse news: rumor had it that I was a beautiful but brainless, self-sacrificing fool who only cared about a man. So, when the “Cinderella” put on her pitiful, teary-eyed act in front of me, I just smiled: “You don’t need to try so hard. I know exactly what you’re doing. I used to be a fake-innocent manipulator, too.” 01 When I paused outside the VIP lounge of the country club, the mocking voices inside drifted clearly into my ears. “Serena Sterling is coming back today. Want to make a bet?” “Let’s bet on when she’ll come crawling back, begging for Carter’s attention.” “Hahaha, I can’t wait. If she finds out Carter is getting engaged to Mia, she’ll probably turn green with envy.” The waiter standing next to me gave me a cautious look. He was about to speak up, but I waved my hand, gesturing for him to stay quiet. The next second, a timid voice came from inside: “Does Serena… still love Carter?” “Mia, don’t worry. Serena is just a brainless Barbie doll with nothing but a pretty face. We will always support you.” “You’re so sweet and kind. She’s not even a tenth of the woman you are.” Listening to this, the smirk on my lips grew wider. “Put everything they ordered in that room on my tab.” The waiter froze. “Miss…” “If they ask, tell them the ‘brainless Barbie doll’ paid for it.” I carelessly brushed my hair over my shoulder. The Sterling family was at the absolute top of the social food chain in Manhattan. The trust-fund kids sitting in that lounge all belonged to families that relied heavily on our business connections. If they found out I caught them talking trash about me red-handed… Let me guess, how stiffly would they bow their heads when they came to apologize? 02 I, Serena Sterling, had left for Paris five years ago. Back then, I was heartbroken and depressed after a massive fight with my ex, Carter Hayes. But on my private jet heading overseas, I had a very long dream. In the dream, I realized I was just a cannon-fodder “first love” in a cliché romance novel. I was nothing but a plot device used to stimulate the relationship between the male lead, Carter, and the female lead, Mia Jenkins. When I woke up and realized this, I finally understood how stupid my desperate clinging to Carter had been over the past few years, all dictated by some invisible plot. What a joke! The Sterling family was a top-tier billionaire dynasty. Carter was just the illegitimate son of a secondary branch in his family. Why would I ever lower myself for him? Not to mention, this so-called “female lead” was simply the daughter of our family’s housekeeper. Thinking about this, I frowned in annoyance. I unlocked my phone, sat back in the driver’s seat of my newly delivered Bugatti, and snapped a selfie. In the photo, my hair fell casually over my shoulders. I stared coldly into the camera, my features striking and flawless. I tapped the screen a few times and posted it to my Instagram story. It was time to let them know. Forget being a tragic “first love”—I was a villainess who was going to tear them all to shreds. 03 When I returned to my familiar Upper East Side penthouse, my parents had already prepared a massive welcome-home feast for me. I greeted them warmly and said I needed to go upstairs to unpack first. I’ve always hated people invading my personal space, and my family knew it. Aside from the professional cleaning staff, no one was allowed in my suite. So, with just a quick glance, I immediately noticed— My jewelry vanity had been touched. I have countless designer bags and jewels filling several walk-in closets. Whoever took it probably thought I wouldn’t remember. But I knew exactly which diamond necklace was missing. I lowered my eyes and let out a cold laugh. My Instagram story already had tons of likes and comments, but the usual loudmouths from the lounge were dead silent. I knew the waiter had successfully delivered my message. As I scrolled casually, my eyes suddenly stopped. They had all posted group photos of Mia and Carter. In the picture, Mia was wearing a pure white dress, smiling sweetly in front of a cake. Carter stood next to her, arms crossed, a faint smile on his lips. At first glance, they really did look like a perfect couple. Their captions were incredibly pointed: [I’ve never met a girl as pure and kind as Mia. She pulled Carter out of a toxic past.] [I used to say a lot of fake things to flatter a certain someone, but now, I truly hope Mia and Carter are happy.] My gaze fell on the necklace resting against the girl’s collarbone in the photo. Did these idiots really think flaunting my ex’s new romance would make me stomp my feet in anger? Or was it because, lacking the looks and family background to challenge me directly, they had to parade a man I discarded around like some kind of grand prize? I locked my phone, slowly walked downstairs, and approached my parents, instantly putting on a teary-eyed, deeply wronged expression. “Daddy… they’re all bullying me…” Like I said, I understand the game perfectly. I used to be the ultimate manipulator. 04 After coming back, it was only natural for me to return to the most elite private university in the city. This university was co-founded by the top families in our circle. Unlike regular colleges, it operated on a fixed-cohort system for the elite. When I got the class roster, I unsurprisingly saw a few familiar names. I pushed my gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of my nose. I hadn’t seen Mia around for the past few days. I wondered if it was because my father had thrown a massive fit over my “bullying,” making her feel too guilty to show her face. But it didn’t matter. I stared at the bold name Mia Jenkins on the roster. Though I was highly confused as to when our housekeeper’s salary became high enough to afford this tuition, I was still looking forward to campus life. After all… my necklace was still with Miss Jenkins. 05 When I walked into the classroom, no one seemed surprised. It made sense. Their parents had practically tripped over themselves rushing to my house with expensive gifts to apologize. When those kids went home, their parents definitely read them the riot act, warning them to take good care of me at school. During the break, I was lazily leaning back in my chair, spinning a pen and scrolling through my phone. Suddenly, a shadow fell over me. I looked up to see a highly anxious Mia. Mia’s features weren’t breathtaking, but put together, they gave off an aura of innocent vulnerability. She looked soft and obedient. “Hi, Serena…” She bit her lip, looking incredibly conflicted. “About what happened a few days ago, I’m so sorry… Are you still mad at us?” I tilted my head. “Mad? Why would I be mad?” She froze, her eyes instantly turning red. “You don’t have to pretend. I know everything… It’s all my fault. If you’re angry, take it out on me, but please don’t blame Blair and the others…” Blair Kensington. Before I left the country, she used to follow me around everywhere, sweetly calling my name. I lifted my chin slightly. “Oh? What did I do?” “It’s just that you lost control of your emotions when you saw your parents, and it caused a huge misunderstanding…” I blinked, a harmless smile spreading across my lips. Blair couldn’t sit still anymore. “Serena Sterling, stop acting! If it wasn’t because you were jealous of Carter and Mia and went crying to your daddy, why would…” Perhaps realizing that her parents having to apologize was too humiliating, her voice cut off abruptly. My smile widened. “Why would… what?” “Are you talking about your parents coming to my house with gifts to apologize?” I crossed my arms. “And what does that have to do with Mia? It’s just normal networking between high-society families. Have I been out of the country so long that a new ‘Jenkins Dynasty’ suddenly popped up?” Mia was visibly shaken by the malicious humiliation in my words. She instinctively took a step back, tears welling in her eyes. “How could you be so mean?!” “Right.” As if suddenly remembering something, I placed my phone softly on the desk and slowly stood up. “There is one thing… you actually do need to apologize to me for.” 06 The moment I spoke, Blair angrily interjected: “Mia is a wonderful person! It makes perfect sense for Carter to like her. They love each other! Why should she apologize to you?!” “Do you think Carter is obligated to only like you for the rest of his life? When he was with you, it was just a dark mistake in his life!” I didn’t get mad. I just narrowed my eyes and smiled. “Blair, didn’t you use to say that Carter was madly in love with me? That I was beautiful and kind, and we were a match made in heaven?” Seeing her choke on her words, I shifted gears, feigning confusion. “And why do you guys assume Mia owes me an apology because of some romantic drama?” I took a step closer to Mia, my smile never wavering, but my hand shot out and violently grabbed the necklace around her neck. She lost her balance and almost crashed to the floor, her eyes wide with shock. “Miss Jenkins. Why is my necklace around your neck?” Mia’s eyes darted around in a panic, but she kept up the lie. “Don’t falsely accuse me! This is my necklace! My mom gave it to me for my birthday!” At that, my smile finally cooled into something mocking. I didn’t loosen my grip. “My necklace sits in your house for a few days, and suddenly it belongs to you?” I pulled harder, and large teardrops began spilling from her eyes. The entire classroom fell dead silent. After a long moment, someone tried to step forward, but I stopped them dead in their tracks with an icy glare. “My family is cleaning up a thieving servant. Does this involve any of you?” My tone was freezing. I turned my attention back to the sobbing girl in front of me. “Miss Jenkins, are you going to take it off yourself, or do you need my help?” 07 Mia cried until her face was flushed red. I didn’t lessen my grip. My dark eyes stared right through her. “Serena, is this really necessary?! Even if Mia accidentally took it, you have so much jewelry! Do you really care about one necklace?!” Blair didn’t dare step closer, but she couldn’t resist running her mouth. “What a joke. She dirties my belongings, and I’m supposed to be the bigger person? Where is the logic in that?” I scoffed disdainfully, looking lazily at Mia. “Do I need to pull the security footage from my estate?” Looking as if she had suffered the ultimate humiliation, Mia clenched her fists. Her snow-white neck bore a red mark from where I had pulled the chain. “I’ll take it off! But Miss Sterling, humiliating me like this is going too far!” I released my grip. She yanked the necklace off and shoved it toward me. Hiding deep resentment and indignation beneath her teary eyes, she wiped her face and quickly ran back to Blair’s side. Blair patted her back, comforting her in a low voice. “It’s okay, we all believe you. When Carter gets back, he’ll definitely help you.” They thought they were whispering, but they deliberately made sure I heard. I let out a light snort. “Great. I can’t wait to see how he helps.” Did she really think I wouldn’t crush him? With that, I casually tossed the necklace to my quiet deskmate, who was watching me with starry eyes. “It’s yours. It’s a bit dirty, so throw it away if you don’t want it.” Then, under the gaze of the entire class, I turned and walked out of that toxic room. 08 A few days later, I finally realized something. My little deskmate wasn’t a stranger either. Audrey Collins. Carter’s first love. I clicked my tongue. Wow, this class really collected Carter’s first love, his ex, and his current girlfriend. While I was still brainwashed by the plot, I had known Audrey’s name. Combining that with the memories of the novel, I knew a fair bit about her. She used to be Blair’s friend. Coming from an ordinary background, she was only admitted to this elite school because of her top-tier grades. She had secretly harbored a crush on Carter for a long time. When Carter happened to want a distraction, he dated her. But after they got together, Carter acted aloof and emotionally abusive, literally driving an innocent girl to the brink of insanity. When Carter finally dumped her, she begged him for a long time, becoming a laughingstock for Blair and the others. As for her current situation in the class… well, I didn’t even need to guess. When Carter was with me, Blair used to whisper poison in my ear, saying Audrey was just a gold digger who wouldn’t stop harassing Carter. She always made sure to add: Serena, Carter truly loves you so much! When he was with Audrey, he barely even looked at her. Thinking about it now… I laughed out of sheer anger. I slammed my pen onto the desk, startling Audrey, who was quietly doing practice problems. “What a piece of trash.” If you don’t like someone, why date them? And then bite them back at the end. I frowned, deeply questioning the plot. How did a classless man like that end up being the male lead? 09 The class was in chaos, but the source of the drama, Carter Hayes, was conveniently absent, attending a National Rowing Championship out of state. This annoyed me immensely. When he returned, Blair couldn’t wait to run to him and tattle. Hearing this, Carter raised an eyebrow, and the corner of his mouth even twitched upward in a subtle smirk. Knowing the original plot, I knew exactly what he was thinking at a single glance. Carter getting together with Mia was just a ploy to stimulate my return. To him, my hostility toward Mia was just a jealous tactic to win back his affection. It actually inflated his ego. Fine. Let him be arrogant for a minute. I couldn’t wait to show him how I was going to ruin him. Ex. Boyfriend. 10 To encourage well-rounded development, the university regularly held talent showcases. In the original plot, this was a minor turning point. According to the story, I would choose to perform my strongest skill: the piano. Coincidentally, Mia also chose the piano. But since I was trained by world-class maestros from a young age, she naturally couldn’t compare. During rehearsals, Mia would run away crying after hearing me play. After being chased down by Carter and the others, she would tearfully confess her insecurities. At that time, Carter hadn’t realized his feelings for Mia yet, but he felt an uncomfortable pang in his chest. So, he set out to hire my former maestro to teach her. In the end, Mia would stun the audience with her drastically improved skills. She would lose to me by a narrow margin, but win the hearts and support of everyone else. Blair would even throw shade publicly: “A strong, resilient girl like Mia deserves everyone’s love. She is sincere and brave. Some people win the competition but lose their integrity, while Mia did the exact opposite.” Recalling this, I signed my name on the registration form without hesitation. A narrow margin? What a joke. 11 Everything proceeded exactly as the plot predicted. Except when Carter tried to hire my maestro for Mia, he was flat-out rejected. The reason the maestro gave was: “I said it years ago. Serena will be my very last student.” In the original plot, the maestro rejected him the same way, but was somehow moved by Mia’s determination later. But naturally, that wouldn’t happen this time… The reason? Before all of this, I paid a visit to my beloved mentor. During our casual conversation, I intentionally dropped a few facts. Just the detail about Mia stealing my necklace was enough for the maestro to blacklist her completely. But… I didn’t expect this: Carter actually had the audacity to come confront me about it.

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I transmigrated into a novel, taking on the role of the vicious female supporting character, Harper. Harper was originally a wealthy heiress, engaged to the male lead’s best friend and secondary love interest, Carter. Because Harper’s and Carter’s parents were old friends, the Carter family didn’t immediately call off the engagement when Harper’s family suddenly went bankrupt. But Harper was blindly in love with the male lead. She constantly sabotaged the female lead, made a string of terrible mistakes, and was eventually despised by everyone, meeting a miserable end. I transmigrated right at the moment Harper’s family declared bankruptcy and her parents fled back to their hometown in the Midwest. I just wanted to live a normal, peaceful life, but I was suddenly bound to a “System.” The System demanded I maintain Harper’s original persona, or I would face severe punishments. Me: [What persona?] System: [The spoiled, high-maintenance heiress persona.] I looked around the tiny, dilapidated apartment in a walk-up building with no elevator. It was bare to the walls, and the total square footage was smaller than my previous life’s bathroom. I was utterly speechless. The System kindly offered a suggestion: [Actually, there is another way.] Me: [What is it?] It said: [You can choose to seek refuge with your fiancé, Carter.] Carter. The cold, ruthless, billionaire CEO. In the original book, although Carter and Harper were engaged, they absolutely loathed each other. He found Harper spoiled, temperamental, and annoying. Harper found him to be an unfeeling iceberg. Even though I was 100% sure Carter would throw me out on the street, it was my only option. With no other choice, I dragged my suitcase and rang the doorbell of Carter’s mega-mansion in Beverly Hills. When Carter opened the door, that devastatingly handsome face stared at me expressionlessly for a few seconds. Just as he reached back to slam the door in my face, I quickly wedged half my body inside and greeted him with overwhelming enthusiasm: “Hello! Good evening! The moon is so round today! Long time no see, you’re still as dashing, suave, and universally loved as ever…” “Shut up,” Carter interrupted. “Speak English.” I instantly put on my most pitiful face, looking at him with tear-filled eyes: “Carter, can you please take me in for a little while?” 02 Carter’s eyes looked like they were shooting ice beams, ready to freeze me into a statue. Then, he let out a cold scoff: “In your dreams.” Seeing that he was about to physically push me out the door, I squeezed my eyes shut, steeled my heart, and clung to his leg like my life depended on it, throwing away all dignity: “I’m begging you! If you don’t, I’ll go beg your parents! Your mom and dad would definitely say yes! “My parents were always so good to you, weren’t they?! They bought you gifts every Thanksgiving and Christmas when we were kids! Aren’t you going to take care of their precious daughter?” Hearing me bring up our parents, Carter wavered slightly, but he still ground his teeth: “Let go!” “Promise me, and I’ll let go!” My life was on the line; my pride was worthless now. “Please! I’m very low-maintenance, I won’t bother you at all! Please, please, please!” We were right at the front door, and a neighbor happened to be walking their dog. They stared dumbfounded as I cried and clung to Carter’s leg. Their face practically screamed: “Kids these days are into some weird roleplay.” Carter’s face turned red, then purple. Probably sweating under the neighbor’s judgmental gaze, he quickly dragged me inside the courtyard and slammed the gate shut. He took a deep breath: “If you don’t let go right now, get out.” Catching the underlying meaning in his words, I quickly let go, beaming brightly: “Thank you! You’re a saint! You’re going to live a long, prosperous life!” Carter completely ignored me and walked straight into the house. I followed right behind him. Carter went up to the second floor, pointed to a guest room, and said: “You’re staying here.” I was just about to thank him when, suddenly, the System spoke: [No good.] Me: [What’s no good?] System: [The bedding isn’t pure silk.] I didn’t process it at first: [Huh?] The System explained: [It violates the persona.] Me: […] Even though I was completely exasperated, I had to force myself to speak: “Carter…” “Stop whining,” Carter frowned. “What now?” I pointed at the 100% Egyptian cotton bedding: “This isn’t silk. I can’t sleep on this.” If looks could kill, I would have been sliced into a thousand pieces by Carter. He threw down a “Then don’t sleep” and walked away, completely ignoring me. I was out of options. I figured I’d just try sleeping on it; maybe nothing would happen. Before bed, following the System’s requirements, I went looking for warm milk. Carter was in the living room. I approached him cautiously: “Um, do you happen to have any warm milk?” The more I spoke, the guiltier I felt, and my voice grew quieter. “I need a glass of warm milk before I can sleep.” “No.” Carter was ice-cold. “I don’t drink milk.” “What about almond milk? Soy milk? Oat milk might work too.” “No.” I let out a very disappointed “Ah”: “Why don’t you have anything in this huge house?” Carter had reached the end of his patience: “Who was the one who just said they were low-maintenance?!” 03 Ultimately, Carter had someone from a luxury delivery service bring over fresh, organic milk. I heated it in the microwave and got the warm milk the System required. As I drank the milk, I buttered Carter up: “Carter, you’re the best. You’re like a modern-day superhero! If they don’t nominate you for Time’s Person of the Year, the system is rigged!” Carter replied with just three words: “Save it.” After finishing the milk and taking a shower, I lay happily in bed, ready to sleep. However, barely ten minutes later, my entire body started to itch and sting. I turned on the light and looked. Everywhere my skin was exposed, there was a dense, terrifying rash. I asked the System: [Is this the punishment?] System: [Yes, dear.] I wanted to cry but had no tears left. With no other choice, I knocked on Carter’s bedroom door. Carter opened the door, looking furious. Before he could start yelling, I struck first, holding out my arm for him to see: “Look! I wasn’t lying to you, was I?” Carter looked at the horrifying red rash and frowned. Seeing a glimmer of hope, I pressed my advantage, pulling my collar down slightly to reveal the large, angry red patch on my neck: “And here too! Look! It’s all red! Don’t you feel sorry for me?” Carter’s gaze swept over my neck, then quickly darted away. He coughed unnaturally: “Do you think you’re the Princess and the Pea?” He walked to the living room, found a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit, and handed it to me: “Apply it yourself.” I took the ointment with overwhelming gratitude, then looked at him with a face full of expectation: “The sheets…” “It’s the middle of the night. Where am I supposed to find you a pure silk bedding set?!” “Um…” My eyes kept darting toward his bedroom. “The sheets in your room… they look like pure silk.” “Impossible.” Carter cut me off decisively. “Absolutely not.” Half an hour later. I was lying comfortably in Carter’s massive king-sized bed. The touch of pure silk against my skin was cool and soft. Carter, what a guy! A truly great guy! 04 When I woke up, Carter had already left for work. There was breakfast prepared by the housekeeper on the dining table. After eating, I got ready to leave for work too. However, just as I reached the entrance of the subway station, my feet suddenly felt like they were magnetized, glued firmly to the pavement. I couldn’t move an inch. I called out to the System in panic: [System! What’s happening to me?!] The System replied very calmly: [Dear, the original Harper would never take the subway to commute.] Me: [?] Confused, I turned around and tentatively took a step away from the station. It worked. I tried again. As long as I didn’t walk toward the subway station, any other direction was fine. I didn’t give up. I tried to take the bus. The bus just wouldn’t arrive. I tried to rent a City Bike. Either the app glitched, or the bike was broken. Every attempt was met with failure. Seeing that I was about to be late, I opened my Uber app: [Then I’ll just call a car, okay?!] System: [That is acceptable.] Three seconds later, the System glanced at my screen and spoke again: [Dear, UberX Share is also not allowed.] With tears in my eyes, I deselected the [UberX Share] option. Rush hour commute. Uber Black. It cost me 80 bucks. When Carter got home from work, I was hugging four bottles of Evian water, staring blankly at the double-digit balance in my bank account. Haha, I was laughing at my own poverty. Seeing him return, my eyes lit up, and I rushed over: “You’re back? “Did you have a hard day? Are you tired? Thirsty? “Want some water?” I opened a bottle and eagerly handed it to him. “It’s five dollars a bottle.” Carter was about to take the water, but pulled his hand back: “Where did you get this?” I remembered the look the Uber Black driver gave me when I got out—a look that said, ‘You must be really thirsty.’ “I snagged them from the car.” Carter: “?” “That’s not the point.” I maintained my eager posture. “The point is, could you maybe give me a ride to and from work from now on?” The System said that according to my character setting, I had to be chauffeured to and from work. However, my bank balance wasn’t even enough for one more Uber ride. After thinking about it, hitching a ride with Carter was my only option. The corner of Carter’s mouth twitched: “No.” I immediately said: “A real man never says no.” Carter: “…” 05 After exhausting all my efforts, I finally secured a VIP seat in the back of his Porsche Panamera. To thank Carter, I wanted to buy him a gift. On payday, I enthusiastically invited Carter to go to the mall with me. “Why the mall?” “To buy you a gift!” I was very sincere. “You’ve been so good to me, I have to repay you! So I’m picking out a gift for you!” Carter squinted at me, then gave a meaningful smile: “Alright.” I was fully prepared to be rejected. I didn’t expect him to agree so readily. It wasn’t until we arrived at the high-end mall in Beverly Hills that I understood the reason behind that smile. Because this was an unmissable, perfect opportunity to thoroughly mock me. He took me to a luxury boutique, sat on the plush sofa, and said casually: “This store is fine. Pick whatever you want. I’ll take it.” I looked at the cheapest pair of cufflinks in the store—priced in the four digits—and despairingly closed my eyes. What a coincidence. My entire paycheck was also in the four digits. When I first got my paycheck, I thought it was a refund for something I had bought. The sales associate looked at me expectantly. I furiously turned my head to glare at Carter. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you!” Grief overcame me. “Did you really think I couldn’t afford this?!” He looked at me with absolute certainty. So, fueled by anger, I got angry for a second. “How are you so smart?! “I really can’t afford it.” Carter let out a light chuckle and stood up from the sofa: “Alright, let’s go. Nothing caught my eye today anyway.” I felt a massive wave of relief: “If you’re not buying, then I’m not buying either.” “You don’t need to get me a gift.” After walking out, Carter led me to another store. “If you really want to thank me, help me pick out a bag for my mom. She didn’t like any of the ones I gave her before; she said I have terrible taste.” That was easy! I quickly picked out a classic, elegant handbag. It was simple and generous; Carter’s mom would definitely like it. After picking it out, I browsed the store casually and accidentally caught sight of a pink crocodile skin Birkin. I couldn’t walk anymore. Not because my heart couldn’t take it, but because my physical body literally couldn’t take it. My legs were completely immobilized! I asked the System: [You’ve got to be kidding me…] The System replied happily with an [Mhm]: [As a distinguished, wealthy heiress, how could you not own a crocodile skin handbag?!] Perhaps noticing that I was staring at the bag without moving, Carter walked over next to me: “You want it?” He understood me so well! I nodded vigorously. Carter smiled, his eyes crinkling: “Then keep wanting.” Me: “…” 06 Carter was about to walk away, but I immediately grabbed him. “Please.” I wanted to cry but had no tears. “I will be your loyal servant for the rest of my life, I will definitely repay you!” The sales associate approached very enthusiastically: “Ma’am, you have excellent taste! This is a limited edition. We only had three in the entire city, and this is the very last one!” So it was a limited edition. No wonder it cost almost seven figures. “Let’s go.” Carter ignored me, took the bag the associate had packaged, and walked out the door. Leaving me alone, standing like a statue in front of that pink crocodile skin bag. The associate was overflowing with enthusiasm: “How about it, ma’am? If you like it, you should take it!” I pretended to be nonchalant: “It’s fine, don’t worry about me. I’m just browsing.” After standing in “time-out” for ten minutes, the associate came over again: “Are you still considering it, ma’am? Is there something on your mind?” Nothing much. My biggest concern was just that I was broke. During the twentieth minute of my time-out, someone else walked up beside me. I thought it was the associate again: “Miss, could you please let me look at this masterpiece for just a little longer?” To my surprise, Carter’s voice sounded: “You’ve been staring at it for 20 minutes. Haven’t you seen enough?” Not only had I seen enough, I was completely over it. I felt like my legs were turning to wood, but I couldn’t move. I could only stare pitifully at Carter. The next moment, Carter pulled a sleek black Amex from his pocket and handed it to the associate: “Please wrap this one up for me as well.” The moment his words landed, my legs returned to normal. Holding the packaged bag, I followed behind him: “Carter, you’re the best. How can you be so amazing?” “Stop sucking up,” he didn’t even turn his head. “Just consider it a return favor for the birthday gifts your parents gave me when we were kids.” He was tall and had long legs, walking very fast. I tried hard to keep up, but because I had been standing for so long, my legs weren’t listening. I couldn’t take more than a few steps before I had to sit down on a bench in the mall corridor. Carter walked a short distance, noticed I wasn’t following, and gave me a look that said, “What kind of drama are you pulling now?” I smiled awkwardly: “I can’t walk anymore.” “How many steps did you even take?” Carter laughed in exasperation. “I’ll wait for you in the parking garage. If you’re not there in 10 minutes, find your own way home.” The thought of a massive Uber bill gave me a sudden burst of energy. However, it didn’t last three seconds. I was frozen in place again at the entrance of a boutique. All because I took one extra glance at a new designer gown displayed in the window. 07 In the end, I didn’t dare look left or right. Carrying the bags for the purse and the dress, I walked with my head down, staring at the floor like a thief, and finally made it home smoothly. Carter looked at me, exasperated, with an expression that said he wished he didn’t know me: “How many years in prison do you get for looking up while walking where you’re from?” Me: “…” I sentence you to life without a wife! I have to say, this System was really inconvenient. I couldn’t drive. If the chauffeur wasn’t available, I couldn’t leave the house. Even when I did leave, I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t go to high-end malls; if I did, I turned into a statue in front of luxury boutiques and would probably be carried away by security guards thinking I was a mannequin thief. I couldn’t go to flea markets either; it said it violated my character setting. On a Saturday night, Carter had a dinner engagement. I was so bored at home I was growing mold, so I decided to take a casual stroll around the gated community. I hadn’t walked far when a torrential downpour suddenly started. I didn’t bring an umbrella, so I quickly ran to the nearest gazebo to wait out the rain. However, amidst the deafening roar of thunder and rain, I thought I heard the faint meow of a cat. The sound was weak and feeble, sounding incredibly pitiful. I looked around and noticed a tiny figure huddled under a bush not far away. I braved the heavy rain and rushed over. It really was a kitten. It looked like a stray, skin and bones, with a bloody wound on its leg. Without thinking twice, I immediately picked it up, wanting to take it to the nearby veterinary clinic. The System tried to stop me: [The spoiled, high-maintenance Harper would never get herself this drenched and messy for a stray cat.] It was true. I was soaked to the bone, my clothes covered in mud, completely violating the character setting. But I couldn’t care less. Even though my feet felt glued to the ground, a surge of limitless energy seemed to well up inside me. I forced my legs to move, struggling toward the main gate. I finally made it to the entrance of the community and pulled out my phone to call an Uber, but in this weather, getting a ride was impossible. Occasionally, a passing taxi would see how muddy and wet the kitten and I were and refuse to take us. Just as I was panicking, unsure of what to do, a familiar Porsche Panamera pulled up in front of us. The rear window rolled down, slowly revealing Carter’s face. “Harper?” Seeing me in this state, his expression tightened. “What happened?” He quickly opened the car door. I got in, showed him the kitten, and spoke urgently: “Can we go to a nearby vet clinic first? The kitten looks like it’s not going to make it.” Carter didn’t hesitate. He told the driver: “To the vet clinic first.” I knew Carter was a neat freak, so I didn’t dare sit too close to him. But he didn’t seem to mind, pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to me. “Wipe yourself off.” Carter took the kitten from my hands, freeing me up to dry my clothes. He draped his suit jacket over my shoulders and instructed the driver, “Turn the heat up.” I don’t know if it was because of the cold, but the kitten kept shivering. I wanted to take off Carter’s jacket to wrap the kitten’s body. As soon as I moved, as if he knew what I was about to do, he stopped my hand: “Keep it on.” Then, he pulled a dress shirt out of a shopping bag at his feet. It looked newly bought, the tags still attached, showing a five-figure price tag. Carter ripped off the tags and gently wrapped the kitten in the oversized, luxurious shirt several times. He patted my shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry. We’re almost there.” Soon, we arrived at the vet clinic. My anxious heart only settled slightly after the doctor rushed the kitten in for emergency treatment. However, just as I let my guard down, a wave of dizziness hit me, and I stumbled, almost falling over. Carter caught me with quick reflexes. His large, warm hand pressed against my forehead: “Why are you burning up?” Through the dizzy haze, I thought: I’m done for. The punishment for violating the character setting had arrived. 08 The high fever lasted all night, and it wasn’t until the next day that it finally broke a little. Carter had the housekeeper make some chicken noodle soup, but I had no appetite and didn’t eat. He came home briefly in the afternoon and saw me still in bed: “Feeling better?” “A bit.” I coughed twice, then asked, “How’s the kitten doing?” He unlocked his phone and showed me a video of the kitten obediently drinking milk: “It’s fine. Still at the vet.” I breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s great. Sob.” I wanted to watch it a few more times, but Carter locked the screen: “Stop looking at the screen. Get more rest.” He probably noticed the untouched food and asked, “You didn’t eat?” I shook my head: “Didn’t have an appetite earlier.” “You haven’t eaten all day?” Carter frowned. “Do you have an appetite now?” Feeling a bit better, I nodded: “Yes.” Carter benevolently brought the soup over and placed it on the nightstand. Carter: “Eat.” Me: “Okay.” Then we stared at each other in silence for three minutes. Carter: “?” I wanted to eat. But the System told me that Harper, the spoiled, wealthy heiress, required someone to feed her during such a fragile moment of illness. I didn’t want to suffer any more punishments, so I bit the bullet and said: “My hands are too weak.” “…” A look of blank disbelief flashed across Carter’s face. “You don’t mean what I think you mean, do you?” I nodded: “I probably mean exactly what you think I mean.” Carter was speechless for a moment. A fierce internal struggle seemed to be taking place in his mind. But soon, as if accepting his fate, he let out a long sigh, picked up the bowl, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and brought it to my lips. My stomach was rumbling with hunger, but my mouth refused to open even a fraction of an inch. Carter saw that I wasn’t moving: “What now, Princess?” I deadpanned the absurd reasoning the System fed me in my head: “There are green onions.” “What?” “Green onions.” I didn’t dare look at Carter’s face, afraid he would shoot laser beams from his eyes and vaporize me in the next second. “I don’t eat green onions.” Carter went silent. After a few seconds, I sneaked a peek at him. I thought he was secretly slipping laxatives into the soup. Instead, Carter had his head bowed, meticulously picking out the tiny pieces of green onion. Looking at his quiet profile as he picked out the onions, my heart inexplicably skipped a beat. It’s true what they say: a domesticated man is the best eye candy. “Hehe.” I forced myself to shift my attention, shamelessly flattering him. “You’re so good. You’re the most handsome guy in the whole wide world.” Carter didn’t even look up, continuing to pick out onions: “Besides that line, what else do you know how to say?” I immediately unleashed the barrage of compliments I had memorized earlier: “You’re not just handsome, you’re the epitome of aesthetic perfection! “You’re so handsome! It’s a miracle of the golden ratio, like the statue of David come to life! I want to scream and cry, burst out of a mountain, run across all the national parks, climb Mount Everest, and drop to my knees in a spiral! I weep for your beauty, my tears forming the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Ocean, nourishing the entire world!” Carter finished picking out the onions, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and shoved it into my mouth: “Stop talking nonsense and eat.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “417812”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My boss, a wealthy businessman originally from the East Coast, hired me as the company’s “lucky charm.” My daily responsibilities consisted of eating, drinking, playing video games, and occasionally showing my face at major events to cut a ribbon or pull a raffle ticket. But the new CEO’s mistress—who was air-dropped into the company—thought I was useless trash and actually fired me. Heh. You clearly have no idea how destructive a lucky charm can be. Before leaving, I even watered the money tree to death. Without me around, this company is probably going to go bankrupt real soon~ 01 After the New Year holidays, I went to the CEO’s office as usual to collect my red envelope bonus. A woman I had never seen before pointed her finger at me and demanded, “Are you Chloe Vance? That useless piece of trash?” I immediately flared up. “And who the hell are you?” Mia Evans also flew into a rage. “You dare talk back to me? I’m the new executive assistant to the CEO! I’m telling you right now, you’re fired today!” “Hmph, by whose authority? Yours? You’re not qualified. Tell Richard to come out and talk to me!” Richard Sterling was the CEO of our company, though I usually just called him Richard. “Mr. Sterling is on a business trip and hasn’t returned yet. While he’s away, I am in full charge of company affairs. Considering you’ve ‘contributed’ to this company for three years, go to the finance department and collect this month’s salary.” Mia tried to dismiss me with a few light words. Picking up her water cup, she said arrogantly, “Get out.” I wasn’t going to humor her. Relying on her status as the CEO’s little mistress, she was throwing her weight around the office, making life difficult for colleagues who didn’t suck up to her, and scolding people left and right. I had been on a business trip recently, followed immediately by my annual leave. I had just gotten back and hadn’t met her face-to-face yet, but I’d heard plenty of complaints about her from my coworkers. In the past, because Richard treated me exceptionally well—even preparing three times the holiday gifts for me compared to other colleagues—she showed me some respect to my face. But behind my back, she bitterly cursed me out, calling me a homewrecker who stole the affection Richard was supposed to have for her. Hilarious. Who exactly was the homewrecker here? Talk about a thief crying “Stop thief!” Richard treated me well because I was the “lucky charm” personally appointed by the big boss (the founder), protecting the entire company’s financial fortune. And her? She barely graduated from some eighteenth-tier college abroad, lived off her parents for three years, and finally managed to latch onto Richard’s leg. Richard’s legal wife was living abroad with their kids, which gave Mia an opening. But to be honest, Richard was a pot-bellied, balding, greasy middle-aged man. I don’t know how she could even bring herself to kiss him. “Kicking me out? Firing me without cause means you have to pay me a hefty severance package.” I wasn’t short on money, but my main goal was to disgust Mia. After all, for a selfish, mean-spirited, and unreasonable person like her, giving an employee even a single extra cent of salary was equivalent to killing her. “Money? You still have the nerve to ask for money? Tell me, what exactly have you contributed to this company?” At the mention of money, Mia’s face indeed changed. Did she really think she owned the company? “I’ve seen your file. In the three years you’ve been at the company, if you aren’t shopping, eating, or drinking, you’re in the breakroom chatting and playing games. You haven’t participated in a single project or done a single piece of actual work.” “I don’t know what kind of potion you fed the big boss, but you do absolutely nothing and still get paid tens of thousands a month—after taxes! And he even occasionally buys you cars, houses, and gifts.” She looked me up and down disdainfully. “Who knows what filthy methods you used.” “That’s rich. People with dirty minds see dirt everywhere.” I understood instantly. She was jealous of me. She probably originally wanted to hook the big boss but failed, so she settled for Richard. Mia flew into a rage, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Get out! Get the hell out of here!” You tell me to get out, and I just get out? How much face would I lose? “I was hired by the big boss. If you want to fire me, have the big boss tell me himself.” I was certain that firing me was entirely her own wicked idea. After saying that, I pretended to accidentally knock over Mia’s water cup. Water spilled all over the documents on the desk; it would take her quite a while to clean up. “Oops, my bad, knocked it over. Assistant Evans, please clean it up yourself. I won’t be keeping you company.” Mia’s face turned black. “You did that on purpose! I’m going to dock your pay!” I sneered, “Go ahead and dock it.” Every cent deducted from the lucky charm’s salary would be paid out from the entire company’s financial fortune. 02 I was born with the astrological destiny of the God of Wealth. However, my constitution was weak. My body couldn’t handle it, and I was often sick. A renowned master once said that with such a prosperous destiny, living in a peaceful and prosperous era, it was best for me to act as a “lucky charm” for others to disperse the wealth. Otherwise, I wouldn’t live past 25. Even though I had money, I valued my life. I immediately connected with the big boss of this company and was hired with a high salary to be their lucky charm. Every day, I dutifully watered the company’s money tree. Now that it was growing lush and green, it had ironically become proof of my “uselessness.” I immediately called Richard, speaking calmly: “Richard, I heard you want to fire me?” Richard hemmed and hawed on the other end of the line, speaking vaguely. It seemed Mia had whispered plenty of sweet nothings into his ear. “The main issue is that the current economic situation isn’t great. The company is under a lot of pressure. Or maybe we could just reduce your salary?” Hilarious. He must think I’m blind and foolish. The company had just signed several contracts worth over a hundred million dollars a few weeks ago and even held a massive celebration banquet. Even if the industry wasn’t booming, our company was definitely highly profitable. Both Richard and Mia were from out of state. Even though the big boss had repeatedly instructed them to treat the lucky charm with the utmost respect, seeing me get paid so much for just doing easy, face-showing tasks definitely unbalanced them. They were probably insanely jealous. He didn’t know that a lucky charm’s salary couldn’t be deducted. I bore the weight of the company’s fortune, which naturally offset my own excessive fortune. But the big boss had lived overseas for years and had limited involvement in domestic affairs. I’d heard from colleagues earlier that Richard had recently sought out a master, seemingly looking for someone with a matching destiny. My guess was that they had colluded to kick me out and profit from it. After all, the big boss listened to me unconditionally and gave me whatever I asked for. “Heh, are you sure? You know who I am.” Richard sounded dismissive. “It’s just being a lucky charm. That’s just superstitious nonsense. The company’s ability to operate steadily and land big contracts is all thanks to my sleepless nights building relationships with clients.” “Hahahahahaha…” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He was so incredibly confident. If mere petty profits were enough to land massive contracts and fool clients, there wouldn’t be so many bankrupt companies. A company’s fortune depends on its foundation in the short term, but in the long term, it depends on destiny. If a company is destined to lack fortune, it will go under sooner or later. And me? Because of my innate God of Wealth destiny, I bring prosperity wherever I go. Even a pig bathed in my fortune would fly into the sky. Seeing I didn’t believe him, Richard used his trump card. “It’s just a lucky charm. Without you, there are plenty of others. I already had a master perform a ritual to find someone, and I’ve found a suitable candidate.” “As for the big boss, I’ll give him an explanation. He’s currently recuperating from an illness and can’t manage things anyway, right?” So that’s how it is. I was wondering why the big boss hadn’t reined them in. It turned out they were taking advantage of his vulnerability. It looked like they were going to burn the bridge after crossing it. I stared intently at the company’s money tree and shook my head secretly. For a company of this size, you could say it had strength, but it wouldn’t have signed those massive contracts so easily. The only reason I was still guarding this place was out of years of loyalty; otherwise, it would have gone under long ago. Did they really think I was just a freeloader? “Fine. Once the severance pay is in my account, I’ll leave.” I had been here for three years. Adding unpaid bonuses and other things, it amounted to over two million dollars. This was money I was supposed to take to disperse my fortune. “There’s no money. The company’s accounts are tight right now! Considering you’re a veteran employee, I’ll make an exception and give you a thousand bucks for travel expenses. If you don’t want it, you get nothing.” Richard’s tone suddenly turned vicious, rejecting me outright. These two lunatics were competing to see who was the bigger idiot. “Do you think you’re dismissing a beggar?” I wasn’t someone to be messed with. “If the money isn’t in my account, I won’t leave.” “If you don’t leave, you can guard the company’s door for free, then.” I narrowed my eyes. “Guess whether you’ll even qualify for the new bidding conference?” Richard fell silent for a moment. “Chloe Vance, are you threatening me?” I said lightly, “I’m just stating a fact.” Turning around, I put on the jade pendant that suppressed my fortune. Without me, the company was about to face some serious bad luck. 03 In the spring month of March, the annual bidding conference was approaching. It determined the industry’s direction for the entire year. In previous years, the big boss would just have me stroll through when I had nothing better to do. Because my fortune was too strong, I’d easily sweep the board and bring back a grand slam. But this year, I heard the attendees were changed to Richard and Mia, and they even brought a small team to make an appearance. They called it: “This is the company’s grand event at the beginning of the year. Naturally, we must do our absolute best. We can’t just let idle personnel like Chloe Vance show her face. We have to show respect to the organizers.” As for me, I swaggered out the front door right on time every day, drove my Rolls-Royce to a high-end custom beauty salon, threw my black card at the receptionist, and said, “Give me the most expensive treatments you have here. All of them.” Just as I was applying a facial mask worth thousands of dollars, Mia called. I marked it as a “spam call” and hung up, feeling refreshed. The phone rang again. I set it to ‘Do Not Disturb’ and continued my spa treatment. Only after I emerged beautifully from the salon did I have the leisure to check my phone. Oh my, over a hundred missed calls already? Such strong perseverance. If they had put this much patience and resilience into the company, working diligently, the company might have made it to the Global Fortune 500 without needing a lucky charm like me! Ring ring ring. This time, Richard called. He said furiously: “Chloe Vance! What are you doing during working hours?! Why aren’t you answering your phone?!” I stretched lazily and yawned. “What? I didn’t get enough sleep. Can’t I catch up on it?” It sounded noisy on the other end, like the site of a bidding conference. Checking the date, that was indeed today. As if remembering something, Richard’s attitude took a hard, unnatural 180-degree turn. He asked flatteringly, “Chloe, dear, have you slept enough then?” “No.” “Then come over to the bidding conference. I’ll book a king-size room for you so you can sleep as much as you want.” How did he even have the nerve to say that? In previous years when I attended the bidding conference, I always stayed in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel because I’m a germaphobe and refuse to settle. I unleashed a barrage of sarcasm. “Not going. An idle person like me doesn’t deserve to appear at a bidding conference.” “Ahem, that’s not how you should put it. The company wants to train its employees too. This is a great opportunity for you to show what you can do! Opportunity knocks but once.” I lost interest in playing games with them and pierced right through the facade. “I’ll have opportunities at other companies. Our company has always emphasized fair competition. It’s better to properly demonstrate your own strength and not rely too heavily on the lucky charm.” A sudden silence fell over the phone. I took the opportunity to quickly skim through the work group chat. It turned out that on the first day of bidding, they hadn’t won a single bid! Other companies had secured at least two or three, but our company came up completely empty-handed. No wonder they wanted to call in their reinforcements—me. Sorry, I don’t accept moral kidnapping, and I’m not a reinforcement who saves people in emergencies. “Chloe, let’s talk this over nicely. The big boss also gave instructions for you to rush to the site and participate in the bidding ASAP. Why don’t you pack up quickly? I’ll book you the earliest flight. Oh dear, only economy class is left. Just make do for now. After it’s done, the company will have a dinner party.” Begging for help yet being so dismissive. My eyes were truly opened. Who cares about your fifty-dollar-per-head company dinner? It’s laughable. My pet dog casually eats meals worth five figures. Didn’t he say the big boss was recuperating from an illness? Now that the fire was burning their eyebrows, they knew to bring the big boss out. “I never fly economy. Besides, my besties are taking a helicopter to a private island and invited me to join them. I’m not going.” I hung up the phone directly. The next afternoon, just as I was scuba diving off the private island, Mia’s direct messages exploded into my phone: “Chloe Vance! You really don’t know how to appreciate a favor!” “Do you think the company can’t function without you?! You’re way too confident!” “Just a charlatan pretending to be ghosts and gods. Who do you think you are? Even without you, we still won the bid!” Oh my, my, look at that little mouth going off. I was actually quite curious. When I opened the work group chat with amusement, I found out they had indeed won a bid. But compared to my grand slams in previous years, it could only be described as a fingernail-sized bid. Only a brainless amateur like Mia would be ecstatic over it. Without major clients stepping in, I’m afraid this year will be tough. And she can still smile. I typed a message and sent it over: “I remember the deadlines for the final payments on those multi-hundred-million-dollar contracts from last year are approaching, right? Assistant Evans better hurry up and collect them, otherwise be careful they don’t turn into bad debts~” In an instant, the group chat went dead silent. Everyone knew that if the final payments on those contracts weren’t collected, the capital chain would break, and the company wouldn’t be far from failing to pay salaries and going bankrupt. 04 Ten seconds later, a group notification popped up: You have been removed from the group chat by the administrator. Mia angrily unleashed a barrage of texts on my WeChat: “Chloe Vance, you really are vicious. Knowing we won a bid, you got jealous and actually cursed our projects.” “You’re full of malice. Our clients are major corporations with excellent industry reputations. Why would they default on final payments?” “Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to come to the company anymore! Our company doesn’t need someone with such crooked intentions.” I wanted to curse back, but Mia was fast at deleting people. When I hit send, it had already turned into a red exclamation mark. It didn’t matter; it saved me from waking up early. I went back to the company once to grab my things. Passing by the reception desk, I glanced at the money tree. Without the blessing of my fortune, its leaves were already showing signs of turning yellow. “Tree, oh tree, it’s not that I don’t care about you. It’s just that the weather is getting cold, and the company is about to go bankrupt.” Mia had long since cleared out my desk and thrown my things into a corner. My empty seat was immediately given to a newly recruited employee. That new employee’s clear and foolish eyes conveyed one message: “This company is so grand!” She didn’t know that this company, which still had some prestige in the industry from the outside, was already rotting from the inside out and couldn’t be saved. Child, you better start preparing your resume and applying for your next job soon. I gathered the discarded lucky ornaments from the corner and packed them into a box. Back then, I had genuinely wanted to help the company achieve good results. This was something I had spent a lot of money to have consecrated by a master, precisely so it could protect the company’s continuous fortune even when I was on business trips. Richard hypocritically came over to offer fake condolences: “Chloe, it’s not that the company doesn’t want to keep you. It’s just that the company’s finances are tight, and we can only optimize the workforce. You won’t blame us, right?” I couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. “Wait for arbitration.” Finding no satisfaction, Richard’s face instantly darkened. Mia rushed out of her office, looking like she was enjoying a good show. With her arms crossed, she mocked me heavily: “Arbitration? A toad dreaming of swan meat. Keep dreaming. Our company’s legal department isn’t full of freeloaders like you.” “Back then, I politely asked you to leave, and you refused. Now look at you. No monthly salary, no thousand-dollar severance pay. They say it’s easy to go from rags to riches, but hard to go from riches to rags. What are you going to do in the future?” Mia hinted pointedly. It was truly crocodile tears. I rolled my eyes at her. “Legal illiterate. Just wait and see.” “Chloe Vance, you’re really refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Let me tell you, once you step out of the company doors, your future in the design industry is completely ruined. No HR will dare hire you.” “Who do you think you are? You say ‘blacklisted’ and I’m blacklisted? You’re just a half-baked amateur who couldn’t even figure out your own graduation project, howling like a ghost here. Do you think you’re the Queen of England?!” I had asked someone to look into Mia. Her graduation project was utter garbage. Plagiarism aside, she hadn’t even grasped basic industry terminology. “Those who know, know you climbed up as a mistress. Those who don’t might think you’re just ugly but play dirty.” I looked at Richard with disgust. “He really must be starving to eat anything.” Richard tugged at his tie, instinctively retorting: “Chloe Vance, you can’t spew vicious words just because you were optimized out. Assistant Evans and I are completely innocent. Besides, I was very handsome when I was young and had many fangirls. You can’t resort to personal attacks. Who doesn’t get old?” Mia added: “Exactly, you can’t just open your mouth and spread rumors. I’ll sue you for defamation.” “Whether it’s true or false, people know clearly in their hearts. Also, Richard, your wife is about to come back from abroad, and you still don’t know, do you?” Richard’s pupils quaked. “She’s coming back? Why don’t I know?” I turned back to Mia. “Wouldn’t it be better to just rely on yourself to earn a living? Why rely on a man who built his fortune by living off a woman? If his heart isn’t with her, wouldn’t she know? She’s definitely going to divorce you sooner or later. Mia, what do you rely on to sit in the executive assistant position? Seduction? Where is your strength, your talent?” Hearing this made Richard unhappy. “If you don’t want to help, then don’t help. You don’t have to be so heartless.” “I’m just stating facts. Facts are never pleasant to hear.” Mia gritted her teeth. “Richard, we won’t beg her. We’ll fight for it ourselves.” Richard’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out. “How are we going to fight for it? The big boss said he wants us to pay ten million dollars in compensation. How can we afford that?” “Could you really not put in a few good words for us with the big boss? Even just talking to the clients to get them to release the payments would be good.” I knew those few clients. They looked like established brands, but if you actually studied their financial reports, you’d know there was infighting, and their good days were numbered. Last time I calculated, I kindly warned them, but they were narrow-minded and couldn’t tolerate people, kicking me right out of the company. Otherwise, if I were still there, I could still have sustained them enough to pay the final installments. “Now they are already bankrupt, and there is nothing I can do.” “Fine, we’ll figure out a way ourselves. We won’t beg you. I don’t believe that without you, we can’t accomplish anything!” Beep beep beep. The phone hung up. I shook my head and continued doing my own things. But feeling a bit guilty towards the big boss, I still sent him a lush, thriving money tree. He expressed his deep apologies. He had been sick recently and hadn’t had time to manage the company, which led to me being wronged. “You don’t need to take the company’s bankruptcy to heart. It was my poor judgment of character. I didn’t protect you well. I have many other companies under my name. If you ever find it interesting, you’re welcome to come play.” “Okay, but now we’re competitors.” The big boss smiled amiably. “The younger generation is truly formidable.” 07 The next time I saw Richard and Mia was several years later at an overseas bidding conference. They had begged everyone they could to scrape enough money together to open a tiny studio and hired a few freshly graduated, inexperienced designers. At this moment, they were full of ambition, hoping someone with a discerning eye would be willing to collaborate with them. When they saw me at the venue, Richard was clearly stunned. Mia, however, refused to be outdone: “Chloe Vance, what are you doing here?! You can’t get into a bidding conference of this caliber. Leave quickly, before someone else comes to kick you out. If word gets out, I’d be ashamed to say you were my former colleague.” The conditions for this bidding conference were very strict. You could almost say that if you weren’t a leader in the industry, you couldn’t get in. Richard and Mia obviously used connections to sneak their way in. I ignored her and walked straight inside. Mia frowned tightly and simply blocked my path: “You are not allowed to go in. You going in will only ruin our business.” Her eyes, however, darted unnaturally to the side. Only then did I notice that she had a timid-looking young girl next to her. The girl had faint runic markings on her. It looked like they had invited a master to help boost their luck. I smiled and greeted the little girl. “Oh, a colleague.” The little girl was their newly hired lucky charm. Back then, Richard and Mia had claimed that lucky charms were just superstitious nonsense. Now, they seemed quite obsessed with this sort of thing. Mia bit her lower lip, standing defensively in front of the little girl as if facing a formidable enemy. “This is my distant cousin. She specifically came to help us kick-start our business. The master said her zodiac sign is a perfect match with mine and Richard’s. She can greatly boost our fortune.” Richard also reached out to stop me. “No matter what, you cannot go in today.” I found it amusing. “What if I insist on going in?” Seeing I was alone, Richard grew bold from his malicious intent. “Then I have no choice but to offend you.” He stepped forward and forcefully grabbed my wrist. The disparity in strength between a man and a woman meant I was instantly immobilized. I said coldly, “Let go, or I’m calling for help.” “I’ll let go when you leave.” A staff member who recognized me saw this and hurried over, shouting, “What are you doing? Why are you being so rude to the organizer?” “Organizer?” Richard’s grip loosened, and I immediately broke free. The two of them stared dumbfounded at the staff member, then looked at me rubbing my wrist. He pointed. “She’s with the organizers? Buddy, you wouldn’t be lying to us, would you?” The staff member frowned. “How do you not even know President Vance?! Have you been working in the deep mountains and ancient forests? The design industry requires keeping up with the times. President Vance is a superstar in our design industry.” “She is the famous Designer K. You haven’t heard of her, right? She’s won several major design awards and was specially invited by the organizers as a guest this time. More than half of the sponsorship for this bidding conference is provided by President Vance’s company.” I was young and willing to learn. In my free time, I read, studied, and traveled around the world to visit places, improving my aesthetic capabilities. After submitting to several world-class competitions, I became completely famous. To avoid unnecessary trouble in my life, I used the pseudonym “K”. It’s safe to say there wasn’t a single person in the design industry who didn’t know the resounding name of “K”. But Richard and Mia would get angry whenever they saw my name in their daily lives, deliberately avoiding any occasion where they might encounter me. Fundamentally, they didn’t believe I was capable of producing excellent designs, so why would they actively collect information related to me? So it was perfectly normal that they didn’t know I was K. The staff member made a “please” gesture. “President Vance, please come this way. The organizers are already waiting for your speech.” I nodded and walked in confidently and calmly. Mia was still in shock, muttering to herself: “How is it possible? How could it be her? She was, at best, a slightly lucky vase. How could she be K?” I looked back into her eyes. “Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t.”

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The reality show went live, and my inner voice was accidentally broadcast to the entire world. [Holy crap, is it over yet? I want to die. How can they talk so much? I just want to eat!!] [There are so many hot guys here. Their bodies are top-tier.] [How do I ask one of them to grab dinner with me? I’m losing my mind here!!] The A-listers, the chart-toppers, and the heartthrobs—everyone on set turned their heads in unison to stare at me. [Did I commit a crime? Why is everyone looking at me?] The live stream chat exploded. Everyone had a look of pure amusement on their faces. Except for one man. His face was thunderous. 1 I was the “comparison bait” of this reality show. My job was to play the resident “Pick-me girl.” Everyone implicitly agreed: Riley Miller was a tool. Wherever the show needed a target for hate or a point of drama, they threw me in. Unlike other actresses who struggled with being “black-listed” or “the internet’s villain,” I accepted the role with open arms. The reason was simple: I didn’t care about being famous, and the production team paid me a ridiculous amount of money. When others carried heavy water jugs, I would act weak and pretend I couldn’t lift them. When others did manual labor, I’d put on a dainty voice and say I was a princess whose hands shouldn’t touch dirt. When others played volleyball, I said I was afraid of the ball hitting my face and leaving a scar—or worse, getting a tan. Just like that, I successfully gathered a massive army of haters! “Why did the producers hire her? Are they trying to kill the show? She makes my blood boil!” “Everyone else is working. Why is she special? Does she really think she’s royalty? Get her off the screen!” “Last time she ‘accidentally’ fell into Liam Harrison’s arms and said it was a total coincidence. Like, why his arms specifically? God, this fake act is disgusting.” The live comments were like a light tickle to me. They didn’t matter. The more they hated me, the better I was doing the job the producers gave me. The better I did, the bigger my paycheck. Thinking about the money, I started grinning like an idiot. Tiffany Vance, sitting next to me, nudged me with her elbow. “Riley, what are you smiling about? Everyone is having a serious discussion, and you haven’t said a word.” The feeling of being snapped out of a beautiful daydream was annoying. My mood flattened. I wanted to snap at her, but I remembered the cameras and held it in. Before I could start my performance, a strange sensation—like a mild electric current—pulsed through my body. Something felt different. But I didn’t care. I was too busy coming up with my next “Pick-me” script. Ah, I got it! 2 I furrowed my brows and looked at Tiffany. “I don’t really have anything to add. Everyone’s ideas are so progressive and profound. Unlike me, I’m not very smart. I probably shouldn’t have even joined this roundtable discussion…” My inner voice: [Damn it, it’s lunch time. Why is everyone yapping so much? And why cue me? So annoying.] [Hahaha, somebody just slap them all and let’s go!] While no one was looking, I even threw a quick, sharp roll of my eyes. Suddenly, everyone froze. They stared at me, their faces etched with shock. Jessica Sterling, sitting across from me, let out a dry laugh and addressed the group. “Well, let’s end with one last question, then we can go eat. The question is: What is your current dream?” “I’ll go first,” Jessica continued. “My dream is to land three lead roles in major films over the next two years, and at least one of them has to be an Oscar contender!” “By the way, Riley hasn’t participated much. Riley, why don’t you share yours?” Ugh, again? Can they just leave me alone? I rolled my eyes (internally, I thought) and cleared my throat. Then, I put on my highest, most artificial “baby voice.” “My dream is to become a philanthropist. I want to help so many people in need. Even though I’m far from that goal, I’m going to keep working hard for it!” The comments sections went ballistic again: “I’m done. She is so fake!” “Philanthropist? More like a hypocrite. Does she ever speak without a script?” “Kill her with kindness, boys! Let’s burn this girl down!” But the very next second, my inner voice projected: [My dream is to make bank, then eat. Eat the best food. Like, I should be eating right now, but instead, I have to listen to this group of people talk about ‘dreams.’ I am literally having a minor mental breakdown!] [I wonder if I can invite one of the hot guys here to dinner. Honestly, there are quite a few who are worthy of dining with me.] I rested my chin on my hand, staring at the table and daydreaming about where I could go out for a massive meal after filming ended for the night. When I looked up, I realized everyone was staring at me with the weirdest expressions. There was surprise, panic, confusion, amusement, mockery, and even fear! [Why is everyone looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong? Is it a capital crime now?] I reviewed my performance. I had followed my “Pick-me” script perfectly. I was a flawless villain. It had to be them. They were the ones being weird! Instead of doubting myself, I decided to judge them! The expressions on their faces shifted from complex to purely entertained. The live chat was losing its mind: “NO WAY. Why is she so different inside? She’s a legend!” “Did you guys see that? Why are her thoughts appearing above her head? There’s a literal chat bubble floating there!” “Her mental state is so relatable. She wants to destroy the world every second.” “Wait, can everyone on set see that bubble too?” At that moment, only Liam Harrison—the top-tier heartthrob—remained dark-faced, fiddling with a silver ring on his finger. The others were whispering amongst themselves. Liam, acting as our “Town Mayor” for the episode, spoke coldly. “Fine. It is time for lunch. Everyone is dismissed.” Hell yes! 3 The news of “food” was something I caught instantly. I practically bounced out of my seat, ready to bolt. I was so happy I started babbling. “Thank you, Mr. Mayor! You’re a saint! Love you!” People started filtering out of the hall, but I could still feel their eyes glued to my back. Just as I was about to charge out like a bull, Liam blocked my path with his arm. He stood right in front of me, staring into my eyes. “Feeling bold, are we? Already planning dinner with a ‘hot guy’? Hmm?” He was a head taller than me. His voice seemed to vibrate right above my scalp. I didn’t dare look up. I took a sharp breath. Liam was my complicated ex. We had broken up six months ago after a massive blow-up fight. Looking at his face up close, I could see his sharp, handsome features. He was… undeniably a “hot guy.” But he was definitely excluded from my dinner list. Because as the saying goes: A good horse doesn’t turn back to eat old grass! Despite the lingering feelings of the breakup—and the fact that I had cried through two or three boxes of tissues back then—once it’s over, a woman shouldn’t look back. Gearing up for a performance, I met his gaze and started acting. “Oh, no, no! I wouldn’t dare dream of eating with a handsome guy like you. I just want a simple meal here. Some eggs, corn, maybe a salad. I don’t want to waste the town’s limited resources, considering how little food we harvested…” That’s right. In this “Small Town Challenge,” we had to provide for ourselves. All our personal money was confiscated at the start. We had to earn our own way to buy groceries. We had spent all day in the sun harvesting corn, and we only made about eighty dollars for the whole group. Liam narrowed his eyes. “Oh? So you do know our resources are limited?” I nodded vigorously, biting my lip. “I’m very considerate. If I eat less, others can eat more. That’s a kind of happiness too.” Internal Riley: [Rolls eyes violently] [Since I joined this crappy show, I haven’t had a single bite of real meat. Now I’m being interrogated just because I’m hungry!] [Screw that. I hate salads. I want junk food. I want fried chicken, burgers, hot pot, steak, and a massive feast!] [It’s tragic. I’m not even asking for much. Just give me some fries. Living is basically just going to the pier to get some fries. I’d settle for my favorite French fries.] Liam seemed to stare at the top of my head for a long moment. Then, he spoke slowly. “Let’s go.” He pulled his hand back. His sudden change in attitude left me dazed. He turned and walked out, gesturing for me to follow. I hurried after him like a broken record. “Where? Where are we going? Where?” His eyes crinkled slightly, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness. “To get you some fries.” 4 One second: A good horse doesn’t eat old grass. The next second: Damn, this grass is delicious! Previously, everyone had paired up to cook and eat together, but I was always the odd one out. No one ever invited me. I knew why. My “Pick-me” persona was too annoying. I had offended everyone who could be offended. Honestly, they were being very polite. If I saw someone like me fluttering around every day, I’d want to slap her too. I had spent my days like a pathetic puppy, trying to scavenge food from the different groups. “Jessica, what is that? It looks so red and yummy!” “Tiffany, I haven’t eaten all day. Can I just have one bite? Just a tiny one!” “Austin, do you need help with anything? I can prep the veggies or wash the dishes. I just can’t cook… you know, last time I made something, even the stray dogs wouldn’t touch it. If you could just give me a taste…” “It’s dinner time again! Is there any kind soul who will give me a scrap of food? Hunger! Food! Now!” Seeing this, the internet trolls had written a poem for me: Riley Miller, the Queen of Fakes. A cockroach that hunger never breaks. Title: Just one bite, for God’s sake. So, when Liam said he’d make me fries, my internal excitement was beyond words! Liam went to a clean prep station, pulled out some fresh potatoes, and tied on an apron. I watched him pull a massive sack of potatoes from a lower cabinet. I was stunned. “So many?! Where did you get those?” Liam didn’t look at me. He began methodically taking the potatoes out. “These weren’t part of the communal stash. I helped the old man next door with some farm work after dark last night. He gave me these as payment. I thought you… I mean, you all liked them.” His eyes were downcast, his long lashes fluttering slightly. His movements were steady. I knew Liam could cook. He was top-tier in the kitchen. His kindness made me feel a little guilty. I walked over quietly, intending to help peel the potatoes. The “Pick-me” lines were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t get them out. Just as I reached for a potato, he stopped me. “Just sit down. You’ll cut your hand, and it’ll hurt.” I froze. My heart skipped a beat. A cameraman was filming us, so I leaned into my script. “Well… yeah. Cutting my hand would be bad. My hands are meant for hand-modeling. I can’t risk a scar. You’re rugged and tough, you should definitely do the peeling!” 5 After saying that, I even put my hands on my hips for effect. Liam’s fans exploded like a landmine, trashing me in the chat: “What a spoiled brat! Liam is cooking for her, and she’s complaining? She can’t even peel a potato?” “Liam is ‘rugged’? LOL. He grew up in a wealthy family with a dozen maids. Since when does he do manual labor?” “Only one question: Why is Liam cooking for her? Usually, she’s the one begging for scraps. Is the sun rising from the west today?” “What is their deal? They aren’t even friends, right? Is something going on? Guards! Bring me my private investigators!” Tiffany Vance walked by and heard me. She couldn’t help but chime in. “…Liam, you really have a heart of gold.” I felt a little guilty after saying those words. But Liam didn’t seem surprised or angry. “She’s right. Riley has the most beautiful hands.” Tiffany: “?” Me: “?” My inner self was having a breakdown: [Liam is being so nice, making me fries, and I’m still being a total bitch. I am literally a villain. I am the worst.] [He actually accepted my fake attitude and agreed with me… I’m going to want to slap myself in the middle of the night for this.] [Liam, after this show is over, I promise I’ll be a better person! I’m tearing up!] My inner monologue was a non-stop drama, scolding myself from every angle. Liam glanced at me, the corner of his mouth curling upward. “Let’s hope so.” I was confused. Why was everyone looking at the top of my head today? Was there something wrong with my hair? I pulled a small mirror from my pocket and checked my reflection, specifically looking for anything weird on top. The cameraman wiped sweat from his brow and zoomed in on me. I let out a soft cry, ruffling my hair, and said with exaggerated vanity: “After careful inspection, I am indeed still stunningly beautiful!” But in reality, I had noticed something wrong with the top of my head. My hair… it was thinning a bit. [This is the first time I’ve seen my bald spot so clearly. It’s hideous. I have instant looks-anxiety. Someone help me! What if they notice? My hair has been falling out so much lately. I only have like five strands left.] [I need to wear a hat next time before anyone else discovers the secret of my thinning hair.] The live stream chat was dying: “I didn’t know about the bald spot, but now the whole internet knows! Hahaha!” “Why does she always say the opposite of what she thinks? She’s so insecure inside, but she acts so narcissistic.” “I’m crying. Does she really not know we can see her thoughts?” “Wait, I actually find her kind of cute now? Someone wake me up! I was her #1 hater yesterday!” “Stay strong, Hater Army! If she gets redeemed, who are we going to troll?” Tiffany leaned in and whispered, “Do you… really not know we can see your heart voice?” 6 I was completely confused. What did she mean, “see my heart voice”? Was this some new reality show gimmick? I activated my “improv” skills and replied naturally, “Of course I know! It’s the new theme of the show!” Whatever game the producers were playing, I was going to play along! Tiffany pursed her lips and walked away without another word. Liam’s fries were fresh out of the oil. The sizzling sound filled the kitchen, and the aroma reached every corner of the room. He didn’t just fry my favorite fries; he also made braised potatoes, spicy potatoes, garlic potatoes, and cheesy potatoes. It was a potato feast. I sat down immediately. Looking at the table full of food, I felt like this was the highlight of my entire miserable reality TV life! I wanted to grab my fork, but then I realized Liam hadn’t sat down yet. I put the fork back and sat up straight. “Mr. Harrison, don’t worry about the rest. Please, sit and eat. I’ll do the dishes later.” [It smells so good. I’m literally ascending. Sit down so we can eat! I’m starving! I love potatoes so much!] Liam took off his apron and sat down, gesturing for me to start. I took a bite of a fry. The crunch was so satisfying it felt like a direct hit to my soul! I looked up and caught Liam’s eye. His gaze was full of raw expectation. “Is it good?” I paused. In that moment, I forgot my “Pick-me” script and replied with a hint of feigned indifference, “It’s okay. Edible.” [It’s so good! It’s amazing! It tastes just like it used to. Liam makes the best fries—so crispy. The potatoes are so fresh. It would be perfect if there was some ketchup!] Liam suddenly got up, went to a cabinet, and placed a bottle of ketchup on the table. “Here, make do with this.” My eyes lit up. At this moment, Liam was basically a god in my eyes. The live chat was losing it: “‘Just like it used to’? Did Liam cook for her before? Something is fishy here. What did I miss?” “Liam, be careful. You’re showing too much love. Anyone can see how much he favors Riley.” “They are actually kind of cute together. If Riley acts normal, I can ship this.” “Hehe, two tsunderes. I am living for this!” The moment of bliss didn’t last long. Others followed the scent and naturally brought their own bowls over. Jessica joked, “I’ve never seen you cook before, Liam. Turns out your secret talent was only for her. Can I… have a taste too?” 7 Tiffany chimed in with a smirk, “Liam made this specifically for her. I saw them earlier. Well, technically, Liam did all the work while Riley just watched… but then again, Riley is the ‘princess’ of this show. She doesn’t have to lift a finger.” She giggled behind her hand. I put down my fork, my mouth twitching. “I was actually going to call everyone to eat, but you guys got here so fast! Join us!” Inner Riley: [Get lost. What do you mean I’m the ‘princess’? Last time we were harvesting corn, you all complained about being tired after ten minutes. I’m worried about your health. You have the bodies of 60-year-olds and the emotional maturity of toddlers.] [If I hadn’t worked on a farm as a kid, we wouldn’t even have this much corn. I worked my ass off while you all did nothing.] [God, I hate that face. I hate people who are passive-aggressive. If I ruled the world, I’d lock these people up and force-feed them their least favorite foods every day! Garbage people!] Just thinking about it made me feel a bit better. The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Tiffany’s face turned several shades of red and purple. Jessica couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “I never knew Riley was so… funny and cute?” Liam noticed Tiffany’s changing expression and added another blow. “You didn’t know? I did.” “Wait, what?” Why was their conversation so confusing? Tiffany’s breathing became ragged. She frowned and said, “Fine, I won’t talk. Can I at least have a fry?!” Before her fork could reach the plate, Liam pushed the entire dish of fries toward me. “You can eat anything else. The fries stay here. She likes them.” Tiffany was fuming. I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. I said generously, “It’s okay, Tiffany. Do you want some? I can share. It’s a lot; I probably can’t finish them all anyway.” [Actually, I could finish them all. If you guys didn’t show up, they’d be gone by now! Acting with you is so exhausting. One more word and I’ll dump this plate on your face.] Tiffany turned on her heels and stormed off in her designer heels without another word. Jessica gave me a big thumbs-up, smiling broadly. The audience felt like their justice had been served: “Yes! Keep roasting her! I’ve hated Tiffany for so long. Riley is my spirit animal!” “Polite on the outside, insane on the inside. I think I love her. Her mental state is iconic!” “Can we disband the Hater Army? I can’t even troll her anymore. She’s the most honest person in Hollywood. I’m a fan now.” Liam was looking down, smiling. His tone was almost fond. “Little liar. Not a single honest word out of your mouth.” 8 After lunch, we had the most dreaded part of the day: the group challenge. We were split into teams to sell the corn on the street. Whatever money we made belonged to the team, and the team that sold the most would get an extra two hundred dollar bonus from the producers. When I saw the random teams, I nearly lost it. I was teamed with Austin Brooks and Tiffany Vance. The worst luck ever. Tiffany sat on a wooden bench outside, slowly touching up her makeup. The other teams had already left. We were the last ones. I nudged her. “We should go. Otherwise, we’re definitely going to sell the least, and we won’t have enough money for dinner.” Tiffany reluctantly followed me. There was one basket of corn that required two people to carry, which wasn’t an easy task given we had to walk over a mile to the town square. After carrying it with Austin for twenty minutes, Austin complained his hands were sore. Tiffany immediately took over. “I’ll help!” I looked around. Of course—the camera was directly on her. Under the blazing sun, everyone was sweating. Tiffany was wearing leather gloves, sun-sleeves, and holding a small portable fan. Less than five minutes later, Tiffany slammed the basket onto the ground. “It’s too heavy! I’m done!” I looked at Austin. He waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t want to carry it either. It’s too heavy. I need a break.” I stood there, alone in the wind. Are you serious? A wave of rage washed over me. I suddenly remembered all those group projects in college where teammates would just “go MIA” and leave me with all the work. They take the easiest tasks and do the least work. And because we were “colleagues,” I couldn’t just curse them out. I used to just vent on my private social media. But now, I was in the industry, on a reality show, and I had to deal with this again. Fine. The audience was confused. Why was I the only one willing to carry the basket? “This team is going to fail. They won’t even reach the square before dark.” “This is why teammates are important. If you have dead weight, you’re screwed.” “Why is Riley so calm? Is she giving up too? I thought she wanted to eat?” “I feel like she’s planning something big…” I took a deep breath, squeezed out a few fake tears, and started sobbing. “I just… I just want to make some money. I want to buy good food. Why is it so hard? I’m so pathetic. I don’t have enough money for a decent meal, I’m getting so skinny, and my blood sugar is low. I’m so dizzy…” I used my “Pick-me” skills to fight fire with fire. But my inner voice was screaming: [I’m actually dizzy from rage! I will destroy anything that stands between me and my dinner! If you two try to slack off one more time, watch me explode. I’ve held it in for too long. Do you think I’m a monk? I’m actually very strong. I could knock you both out with one punch!] Tiffany and Austin looked at each other, then at me. “Riley… fine. We’ll carry it. You just follow us and rest.”

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The second the elevator doors closed, I received a text message: [Be careful. There is a murderer in the elevator.] I was staring at the other five people in the elevator, stunned. After a sudden, terrifying plunge. The elevator broke down. 01 The girl standing near the door lost her patience first. She smashed the emergency button a few times. When nothing happened, she started frantically pounding on the elevator doors. The little kid next to her was terrified by her actions and burst into tears, burying his face into the chest of his curly-haired grandmother. To my left was a man in a business suit. He originally wore black-rimmed glasses, but the violent jolt of the elevator’s sudden drop had sent them flying. In the chaos, someone had stepped on them, crushing them to pieces. To my right was a guy who looked like a college student. He wore a black canvas backpack and stood on the left side of the elevator, knees bent and back hunched, cowering in the corner without daring to move an inch. I slowly stood up from the floor. I remembered the digital display showing the 30th floor right before the lights flickered twice. And then we were in a freefall. It was faster than a drop-tower ride at a theme park. No one had time to react. The impact of the sudden stop threw us all to the floor. The main lights in the elevator were dead. Only a tiny emergency light in the back corner cast a pale, weak glow over us. 02 “Do any of you have cell service? Hurry up and call 911.” The college kid was the first to speak up as he gathered his bearings. The others quickly remembered to pull out their phones to call for help. But me? I was staring at the last text message on my phone. Lost in thought. [Be careful. There is a murderer in the elevator.] Just a few simple words, enough to make anyone’s blood run cold. The message came from an unknown number the exact second I stepped into the elevator. But right now, none of us had any signal. I couldn’t reply to ask what it meant. I quietly swiped the message away. I stood in the furthest corner. Silently observing everything. 03 There were six people in the elevator. The trendy, fashionable girl was named Ashley. She was a live-streamer. The little boy was Toby, about four years old. The woman with him was his grandmother, Martha. The guy in the suit lived on the 32nd floor. He was a mid-level manager at a corporate firm, and everyone called him Rick. The guy next to me was a college freshman. He lived on the same floor as Rick. His name was Kevin. And me? I just moved into this apartment building. I lived on the top floor. I had seen them around before. But we weren’t close. Right now. I stared at them, my mind wandering. Is there really a killer in here? But I didn’t have time to dwell on that. We needed to get out first. “I don’t have any service. What about you guys?” The others silently looked at their screens, their expressions unreadable. But I knew. They had received that text message, too. 04 “What the hell is this? A murderer?” Ashley said impatiently, “Is this some kind of hidden-camera prank show? This is so lame.” She started pacing around the small space, looking high and low. “Let me find the hidden cameras.” Rick’s glasses were broken, so he had to hold his phone inches from his face. His squinting eyes suddenly focused. A flash of pure terror crossed his face: “Are one of you a murderer???” The older woman sitting on the floor rolled her eyes at him. “I slaughtered a fish this morning to make stew. I’m a fish murderer, not a people murderer.” The others had similar reactions. They assumed it was a sick prank. No one took it seriously. “Do you guys have a signal?” Kevin asked, turning his phone on and off repeatedly. “I don’t.” “Me neither.” “The emergency button isn’t working either. What the hell is going on?” “I don’t know. The HOA sent an alert in the building app this morning saying the security camera wiring burned out. They said they were fixing the cameras, not the elevators.” “So… the cameras in here are dead too.” Ashley looked up at the camera dome in the ceiling. “Could there really be a killer?” … Everyone started talking over each other, the small space echoing with noise. Kevin, growing impatient, walked over to the elevator doors, trying to pry them open with his bare hands. Just as he managed to pry a tiny crack open, I quickly stopped him. “Stop! Do you know what floor we’re on? You can’t just force the doors open!” “What if we’re between the 9th and 10th floors? You pry that open and you’ll fall straight down the shaft.” Hearing me, he stopped what he was doing. I was right. During the freefall, the digital display flickered and died. We had no idea what floor we were actually stuck on. This apartment building had 35 residential floors above ground and 3 levels of underground parking. Regardless of where we were, forcing the doors open was a death wish. “The safest thing to do right now is stay put,” Rick said, understanding my point. “Let’s just wait. When other residents realize the elevator is broken, they’ll call 911.” Ashley shifted over to the elevator doors. She took off one of her high heels and started banging the pointed heel against the metal door, over and over. The sound of metal clashing travels far. I pressed my ear against the door and listened for a long time. “The speed of sound is 340 meters per second. Listen to the echo—it sounds hollow.” “We’re at least seven or eight floors above the ground.” Kevin clearly didn’t believe me, his face screaming: Are you for real? I ignored him. “Don’t believe me? Try opening the doors and stepping out, then.” He pressed his lips together and went quiet. By this time, the little boy had stopped crying. The elevator had dropped so fast that his lollipop had flown out of his hand and landed on the floor. He wiped his runny nose. He crouched down to pick up the lollipop. But suddenly, he pointed at a dark puddle behind Kevin and giggled. “Hehehe, Grandma, look! Ice cream. The ice cream melted into water.” 05 Everyone followed his finger. Kevin was leaning against the elevator wall. The black backpack on his shoulders… Drop by drop, a dark red liquid was seeping out of it. The dark red liquid slid down the elevator wall and pooled into a red puddle on the floor. At the same time. A metallic, metallic stench silently crept through the enclosed space. The smell mixed with Ashley’s heavy perfume. It made my stomach churn. The atmosphere turned incredibly eerie. Ashley gasped. Everyone stared at the dark red puddle, a collective, terrifying silence falling over us. In that moment, the text message flashed in my mind again: [There is a murderer in the elevator.] Martha quickly pulled Toby close to her. I silently took a step back. Rick held his briefcase up like a shield. “Holy shit, what’s in your bag? Why is there so much blood?” 06 The elevator was dead silent. Everyone was waiting for Kevin’s answer. The red liquid pouring from his bag, combined with the heavy stench of blood… It was hard not to let our imaginations run wild. Kevin frantically waved his hands. “No, no, no! You misunderstand! I bought steak, it’s in my bag. I got trapped in here before I could put it in the fridge. It’s been too long, it thawed, so the blood water leaked out.” Ashley lowered her high heel. “Really?” But Rick was still on high alert. “I don’t believe you. Open it and show us.” Ashley scoffed. “You’re so paranoid. Who hides a body in a backpack? Besides, what could fit in there? A severed head?” As soon as she said it. She seemed to realize how horrifying her own words were. The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. Her voice trailed off completely. She shrank back, standing closer to Rick. “Y-Yeah… I think Rick is right. Open it… let’s see.” “It… it wouldn’t actually be a head, right…?” She took a sharp breath after her last sentence. 07 “Why should I show you?” To our surprise, Kevin flatly refused. “I have personal items in my bag. You’re invading my privacy.” His refusal caught everyone off guard. If it really was just thawed steak. Why wouldn’t he show us? He stood in the corner, hiding the backpack behind him. “I’m not a murderer anyway. This is ridiculous. Do you guys actually believe that text message? It’s obviously a scam. Didn’t you see the web link at the end of it? Phishing texts always do that. You click the link, and they drain your bank account.” Kevin wasn’t wrong. At the end of that short, ten-word message, there was indeed a string of characters that looked like a URL. But no one could click the link right now. Because there was absolutely zero signal in the elevator. Hearing Kevin’s explanation, the group relaxed their guard just a fraction. But my eyes never left his black backpack. I was too curious about what was inside. 08 The elevator had been broken for over two hours. There was zero movement from the outside. It felt like no one had even noticed we were trapped in here. Even though Kevin’s explanation sounded plausible, everyone was still wary of him. Because he stubbornly refused to let us see what was in his bag. Martha squeezed closer to me with Toby in her arms. The burly, broad-shouldered Rick felt like the safest person to be near. Rick swallowed hard, clutching his black briefcase against his chest. I quietly pulled the keys out of my purse. It was the only thing I had to defend myself. The elevator was dead silent. Only the sound of the little kid sucking on his lollipop could be heard. Right then, the emergency light flickered twice. After the third flicker. Pop. The light died completely. The elevator, suspended in mid-air. Plunged into pitch-black, suffocating darkness. 09 In the dark, fear multiplies. An adrenaline spike sent my heart racing, and my body began to tremble slightly. The warning text and the puddle of blood. It pushed everyone’s emotions to the absolute limit. Even the slightest rustle would make us scream. When the only light in the elevator died. Ashley instinctively lunged toward Rick for safety. The sudden darkness made everyone forget they had flashlights on their phones. 10 I don’t know how much time passed until someone finally remembered their phone’s flashlight. A blinding beam cut through the dark. Ashley turned on her light. Rick stood up, following the beam of light. “Damn property management. They collect so much money every year, and the elevator’s been broken for two hours without anyone coming to fix it.” He got on his tiptoes and smacked the emergency light a few times. After a few good thwacks, the light miraculously flickered back to life. “This light probably won’t last long. We need to get out of here fast.” Once my eyes readjusted to the light, I rubbed them. That was when I felt a heavy weight pressing against my leg. I turned my head and saw Toby’s grandmother leaning against me. She was slumped against my leg, sitting on the floor, perfectly still. Toby was in her arms, happily chewing on his lollipop. I shifted my leg slightly, and she collapsed flat onto the floor. Looking closer. There was a massive pool of blood spreading from beneath her. 11 Toby’s grandmother was dead. Right here in the elevator. Her carotid artery had been cleanly sliced open. She died right next to me. It was unimaginable. Just a few minutes ago, she was talking to me. And now, she was dead. She died without making a sound. Her features were twisted, her eyes unfocused, staring wide open in dull, lifeless terror. But she was right next to me the whole time. How could she not have fought back at all? I was paralyzed with shock, my mind going completely blank. Toby clearly didn’t understand what was happening. Once I snapped out of it, I quickly pulled him into my arms. Ashley had collapsed onto the floor in sheer terror. Rick, keeping his cool, took off his jacket and draped it over Martha’s body. Kevin stood frozen in place, trembling violently. When the emergency light had gone out. He was the closest to Toby’s grandmother. He was shaking from head to toe, beads of cold sweat rolling down his forehead. “It… it… it wasn’t me.” “It… it was her own fault. She tried to grab my bag.” “It wasn’t me, I didn’t mean to. I just pushed her away. It wasn’t me.” He frantically waved his hands, desperately denying it. 12 “You did it on purpose! You killed her! You were right next to her!” Rick roared at him. His eyes were bloodshot, like a rabid beast. “I said it wasn’t me! Don’t you fucking frame me!” Rick, fueled by adrenaline and rage, punched Kevin in the head. Kevin’s lip instantly swelled up. “You’re a fucking psychopath! I saw you arguing with her down in the courtyard this morning. I never thought you’d actually use this chaos to murder her!” “Grab his bag! Quick! The murder weapon is definitely in his bag. We’ll be heroes when we get out of here! We caught a murderer barehanded in an elevator!” Ashley snapped out of her daze and quickly assisted. While Kevin was dazed from the punch, she snatched his black backpack. The scrawny Kevin was no match for the burly Rick. He was quickly pinned to the ground. “Search his bag. The weapon is in there.” “I… I’m too scared to open it.” Ashley kicked the backpack over to me. “You… you open it.” I looked at the blood-soaked backpack. Fighting back my nausea. I slowly unzipped the peeling zipper. The moment it opened, a putrid stench hit my face. Disgusted, I grabbed the bottom of the bag and dumped everything out onto the floor. But when it all spilled out. Everyone froze. The dark, mangled mass wasn’t a steak, and it wasn’t a knife. It was a black cat that had been gutted and mutilated. The dismembered cat had originally been stuffed into a plastic bag. But the turbulence of the falling elevator had caused it to tumble out. The bloody water from the bag had soaked through the entire backpack. This was what Kevin was hiding from us. He had a sick fetish for torturing and killing animals. And he didn’t want anyone to find out.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “417809”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My mother is a sociopath disguised as a brilliant scientist. She devoted her life to proving a twisted hypothesis: that those born into poverty are inherently incapable of possessing true virtue. To prove this, she turned me into an experimental control subject, separating me from my glamorous twin sister right after birth and sending me to live in an impoverished, secluded area in the Appalachian mountains. I worked myself to the bone, even selling plasma illegally just to scrape together a thousand dollars for tuition and a bus ticket out of that hellhole. On my way, I ran into a disabled woman who claimed she had lost her money. It was a setup arranged by my mother. I ruthlessly refused to help her. Meanwhile, back in the city, my sister—raised in luxury, the golden child—didn’t hesitate for a second to give the woman all her allowance. My mother decided I was cruel and cold-blooded. She cut off the meager monthly stipend she paid to my adoptive parents in the mountains. Left with nothing, during my senior year, they quickly married me off to the town drunk—a widower rumored to have beaten his first wife to death. Later, after the experiment was declared a resounding success, my mother wept tears of joy as she embraced my sister on national television. She didn’t even remember she had another daughter, beaten to death just days before. When I open my eyes again, I am back to the moment I met that disabled woman asking for a bus ticket. And the hidden camera on her button is broadcasting my choice to an audience of millions worldwide. 1 “Excuse me, dear, I’m lost… could you spare some money for a bus ticket home?” The woman standing before me had a dark complexion from working in the sun, and she walked with a heavy limp, leaning on a cane. She held up a disability certification card. Before I could even process the phantom pain of my brutal death, lines of scrolling text suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. [LiveChat] [Is this the older sister? The control subject? She looks so miserable compared to the sister. I wonder if she’ll help.] [Look at her clothes. They look like handouts from twenty years ago. She’s obviously poor as dirt; there’s no way she’s got a good heart.] [That disabled woman looks so pitiable. Why is the older girl just staring? Her sister in the other stream is already in tears.] I blinked. Looking down, I could only see my own hands—rough, calloused, and covered in dirt from farm work. The LiveChat was real. I wasn’t dreaming. In my past life, I had run away from my adoptive parents, who kept me under lock and key, just to scrounge up enough money for college. I had spent days on the road, hitching rides on tractors, covered in dust, finally making it to the county seat. Luckily, in that small, desperate place, the illegal plasma banks didn’t check IDs. I managed to sell enough plasma to get a thousand dollars. Who knew that on my way home, I would encounter this so-called disabled woman. She claimed she lost her travel money and wanted to go home. Sobbing, she begged me to buy her a ticket. I didn’t agree. Aside from the fact that she immediately asked for nine hundred dollars when the cheapest bus ticket was barefly three hundred, I saw something. The gold bracelet on her wrist. It was worth at least five thousand. The woman flashed her disability card like it was a royal decree, practically shoving it in my face. She was clearly hoping I wouldn’t notice it lacked the mandatory government seal. In my previous life, I was severely anemic after selling blood. My natural resting-bitch-face, combined with a face white as a sheet, actually intimidated her. My cold stare forced her back a few steps. She cursed at me and stomped away. Later, I found out it was all a setup by my so-called mother, a woman obsessed with her manicured “scientific research.” She wanted to prove that poor people are inherently immoral. To do that, she made me the control subject against my sister’s pampered life. As soon as I was born, I was banished to an isolated, poverty-stricken rural town. Here, surviving was a struggle, and college was an impossible dream. But I refused to give up my only chance to change my destiny. Even though my adoptive parents forced me to work in the fields every single day, whether it was freezing or burning hot. Even when they tried to make me drop out to farm the overgrown, desolate half of their property. I studied like my life depended on it. That thousand dollars meant everything to me. But my sister was different. She had been pampered since infancy, enrolled in elite ballet, piano, and singing lessons. Wearing a custom-made princess dress, she took the stage under dazzling spotlights and confidently won the title of the youngest champion in a national piano competition. And I? I could only stand in the dusty town square on market day, staring at the television through the window of a wealthier family’s home, eyes full of envy. 2 [LiveChat] [Why is the older sister just standing there like a statue? She obviously doesn’t want to give up the money.] [Ugh, boring. I’m switching to the other sister’s stream.] The chat stream scrolled by, and someone posted a video link. Curiosity got the best of me, and I clicked it. It was my sister’s stream. The same setup. A disabled person who had lost their travel money. But the scene was entirely different. My sister was wearing a tailored private school uniform, her face beaming with health. With a tearful, sympathetic look, she gently helped up a woman with a fake limp. Without hesitation, she handed over her bulging wallet. I caught a glimpse inside—it was packed with hundred-dollar bills. At least two or three thousand dollars. The audience, seeing my sister’s glistening eyes, absolutely lost their minds. [LiveChat] [She’s an angel. Truly beautiful inside and out. I heard she’s also top of her class at that elite Academy. The older sister doesn’t even look like a student; she’s probably failing.] The chat stream was flooded with praises for my sister. I noticed my sister subtly moving, adjusting her angle so her face was perfectly in frame, away from a direct view of her backpack. But a tiny, faint, specific cold light—the blue light unique to an iPhone screen—was reflecting out from a corner of her open bag. As soon as she sensed the chat was completely on her side, the corners of her mouth twitched. Her eyes curved into triumphant crescents. Of course. This experiment was rigged from the start. Knowing she was being watched, my sister would obviously make the perfect choice for the camera. Only I was kept in the dark. I had been living a lie, thinking I could escape these mountains and fly toward my own sky. I never imagined my life was just a massive production of The Truman Show. Seeing the LiveChat grow impatient again. [Older sister is a total dud. No virtue, just like the hypothesis says. Discard.] The disabled woman seemed to get her cue. She started rolling on the ground, wailing, trying to emotionally blackmail me. “Young people have no heart! Won’t even help an old woman get home. I can’t get back to my three-year-old son! He’s probably crying for his mommy right now!” Her wailing attracted a crowd. Passersby who didn’t know the full story started pointing fingers at me. They accused me of being cold-hearted, disrupting public order by causing a scene in the street. I didn’t care. In front of everyone, I walked over to the public payphone booth and dialed 911. Fortunately, in this country, a 911 call is always free. “Yes, I need to report a scam. There’s a woman outside the bus station committing fraud.” [LiveChat] […] The woman pretending to be disabled froze, the LiveChat came to a grinding halt. A split second later, the chat exploded. [LiveChat] [Are you kidding me? Who calls the cops for this?! Bitch!] [Wait, fraud? Did she actually notice something? I’m dying to know how.] When the police arrived, the disabled woman finally snapped out of it and tried to run. She was no longer acting weak and helpless; her “limp” miraculously cured. “Look, kid, just let me go. I was just trying to make a buck. Why did you have to involve the cops?” The woman was practically begging now. As the silver cuffs were clicked onto her wrists, her legs suddenly became perfectly fine. The officer looked at me, curious. “How did you catch on?” I was polite. “She claimed to be local, but her accent was completely wrong. It sounded like she was faking it.” “A disabled person with a severe limp wouldn’t leave home without a crutch or cane. It would make walking too difficult.” “And because the weight distribution on her feet would be unequal, the soles of her shoes would be worn down unevenly.” I managed to crack a smile, though it probably looked forced on my anxious face. “Most importantly, a legitimate disability ID card must have the proper government seal.” The officer looked impressed, praising my sharp eye. The previously silent LiveChat finally reacted. [LiveChat] [Holy… that logic was solid. The sister is actually smart!] [Her face isn’t bad when she smiles. If her skin was better, she’d be identical to her sister.] [But wait, comparing them… is it just me, or is the younger sister actually kind of stupid? Who hands their entire wallet to a random stranger? That’s not kindness, that’s just dumb.] The chat stream was suddenly swinging completely in my favor. I let out a breath, thinking I had escaped the agonizing fate of my previous life. But then, my sister’s fanatical followers woke up. They unleashed unadulterated malice online. [LiveChat] [LMAO, she thinks she won. Rumor has it the Director is pissed that this choice didn’t prove the control subject hypothesis. There’s going to be a ‘bonus’ test.] [The older sister won’t pass this next one.] 3 Seeing the text, my breath hitched. I didn’t understand why, despite being my biological mother, she treated us so differently. In my past life, based on this rigged experiment, she had casually labeled me as inherently evil with no possibility of redemption. She stopped the monthly thousand-dollar check to my adoptive parents. And in the middle of my critical senior year… They put a sack over my head, tied me up with thick rope, and delivered me to the widowed town drunk who had already beaten his first wife to death. I still remembered that day was my birthday. The town’s public loudspeaker was broadcasting my mother’s birthday wishes for my sister. To celebrate her golden child’s eighteenth birthday. She had purchased airtime on every radio channel globally to broadcast a “Happy Birthday” song in over a dozen languages. And while that happened, I was being forced onto a filthy, cold grass mat, heavy fists smashing into my body, one after another. Until I could no longer hear the words: “Happy Birthday, Penelope. Mommy loves you so much, baby…” My chest felt tight with a bitter, old ache. For a split second, I wanted to run to the city and scream in that cold-blooded woman’s face. But a second later, I noticed a surge in the crowd around the station. Strangers with the “Vance Labs” patch on their sleeves were closing in on me from all sides. They were blocking every entrance and exit, sealing off any chance of escape. [LiveChat] [Is she thinking of running? She was looking at the tickets for a long time.] [Nah, where would she run? Vance Labs security will grab her and throw her back in.] I lowered my eyes and walked back onto the path toward “home” with a blank face. I couldn’t run. Not like this. Not totally unprepared and defeated. One day, I would claim my freedom out in the open. 4 Because I got home so late, I got a vicious beating. A switch was used on my already scarred back. After the foster father beat me until he was out of breath, he looked at me with an unusual expression. “Neighboring Graves family is bringing a new bride tomorrow. You help out over there.” The LiveChat, which had been mostly people commenting “too brutal to watch,” immediately perked up. [LiveChat] [The test is here. Rumor has it this one is impossible. Good luck to the bitch.] I touched my collar. Something hard was hidden in the fabric. A lab technician must have attached it without me noticing. I didn’t rip it off. I let them watch. The next day, a luxury black Mercedes pulled into the dusty village. It seemed absurdly out of place. A young girl in a white dress jumped out of the car. Her expensive shoes hit the mud, sending splatters onto the leather. Her face immediately twisted in disgust. A second later, she put on a beaming smile, transforming back into a perfect, innocent girl next door. [LiveChat] [Penelope is here?!] [Live chat is lit! Her fan base is exploding.] [Don’t get it wrong, guys. Mom lied to Penelope, told her she was filming a reality TV show about rural life. She definitely doesn’t know about the experiment!] [I heard Penelope is playing the role of a kidnapped college student. So excited to see how the sister handles this.] Penelope smiled into the camera, looking radiant. Then her gaze flickered toward me. My foster father stood next to me, shrinking back self-consciously. He laughed awkwardly and scurried over to Penelope to suck up to her. My foster mother shoved me hard. “Go serve her.” Inside the cool, dark mud-brick house, I handed Penelope a cup of water. She casually took it, her fine, pale hands showing they were accustomed to piano keys and expensive lotions, not labor. She took a sip before speaking slowly. “Can you help me?” [LiveChat] [The test is beginning!] She said, looking embarrassed, “Actually, I’m a college student who was kidnapped. They’re saying they want to marry me off to one of the town bachelors.” A flash of malice darted through my sister’s eyes. “You look around the same age as me. Could you marry him instead of me?” The “bachelor” she was talking about was the widower who would kill me in my past life. His family was dirt poor and drowning in gambling debt. He didn’t have the money to buy a bride, nor could he afford a Mercedes. The only way he could get a bride was if someone else paid for her. Or, perhaps, if he was part of an elaborate setup. I looked at the perfectly manicured, perfectly innocent-looking girl, and then at the chat where people were cheering. “Sure.” I didn’t even look up. “If you are actually being kidnapped.” Regardless of the reasons, kidnapping is a serious, horrifying crime. It shouldn’t be entertainment. It shouldn’t be reduced to a “reality TV” choice in a sick mother’s game. “I’ll take you to see a woman who actually was kidnapped.” 5 “Let go of me! You are insane! Where are you taking me?” Penelope’s expensive shoes were struggling through the thick, muddy paths of the village. In the most neglected corner of the village. Inside a place that was essentially a pigpen. Lived a woman whose mind had broken long ago. The putrid stench of waste hit us. Penelope instinctively covered her mouth and nose, dry-heaving. [LiveChat] [Why did the experiment stop?! The control subject is being so aggressive. Where is she taking poor Penelope? Someone stop her!] [Is she trying to mug Penelope? She probably wants her expensive accessories.] The chat only went silent when the woman in the pigpen suddenly stood up and the camera got a direct shot of her. Yellow and red stains covered her filthy body, and pieces of it fell onto Penelope’s dress as she stumbled. Penelope shrieked and ripped off her expensive private school blazer. She hissed, “You filthy bitch! Do you know how much this jacket cost?” The woman kept acting out, grabbing at things. But I calmly reached out, holding the woman still and using my own old jacket to wrap her exposed, filthy skin. “Auntie Evelyn, your chance to escape is here.” Evelyn’s chaotic, unfocused gaze suddenly cleared. She looked at me in disbelief. “Really?” I nodded. When I was three years old, a beautiful woman arrived in the village. Rumor was she was a college student. She was a rarity in this backward place. Back then, I was treated like a wild dog by my foster parents, chained to a wooden stake, sleeping in a crate. They used to mutter inside their house. “She says they just need enough to live. We can barely afford to feed her, and she wants to live in a real house? We barely have enough space for ourselves.” I used to think I was a wild dog, grateful for any scraps I got. Until Evelyn Reed reached her tolerance limit. She broke her own confinement one night, broke into my crate, and held me tight. She told me. “You are a little girl. You have a long, beautiful life ahead of you. You are not meant to be caged in this horrible little village.” Auntie Evelyn taught me to read, taught me morality and philosophy. She begged me to study hard, to use education to claw my way out of this hell and fly to a bigger, broader world. She had been a teacher and gathered a few of the village kids together, starting the very first rudimentary “school.” But on the day I “graduated” the eighth grade, Evelyn ran. She hid in the truck of a pig farmer heading to town, buried under filthy animal waste. When the villagers caught her, they beat her until she only had one breath left. Her hair was torn out; she looked insane. Her “husband” had pointed righteously at their few-months-old son. “You heartless bitch, how could you run? The baby is so small! I’m going to beat the run right out of you!” I was forced outside, but I could hear Auntie Evelyn screaming. She sobbed, her voice raw. “I have years of education from a top university! I wanted to be a federal judge, to be near my parents, not trapped in this hell, reduced to a breeding cow…” After that, Auntie Evelyn went insane. She volunteered to live in the pigpen. She preferred living among waste than ever going back to that man’s house. But I knew she wasn’t insane. She secretly continued my education, preparing me for high school in the town. Auntie Evelyn gave me her secretly hidden gold bracelet, telling me to sell it for tuition. Later, the money ran out. I had to illegally sell plasma to pay for my senior year. I had been right on the edge of the Dawn, ready to take the entrance exam for that same university she went to… and then I died just before I could take the first step. 6 In this mountainous, secluded village, trying to escape by foot was a death sentence. I wanted to use the live stream. I wanted to force Penelope’s Vance Labs production crew to take Auntie Evelyn with them. They had security people everywhere. Buying her freedom would be effortless. [LiveChat] [Oh my god… Evelyn is so pitiable. Penelope is so kind, she’ll definitely save her.] [She was a top university graduate! This is horrifying.] Chat comments started urging Penelope to help. Penelope couldn’t see the chat. She bit her lip. “But… this isn’t right.” “Doesn’t Auntie Evelyn have a child? That poor little boy won’t have a mother. So sad.” “She’s a mother! Women are weak, but mothers are strong. For her child, she can just endure it, right?” My rage, which I had been suppressing, finally exploded. I knew Penelope was just afraid of the hassle. She didn’t want a filthy, crazy-acting woman as baggage. But a child is not an excuse for a mother to endure torture. It is the chain that binds her freedom. “It was not a voluntary child, so it is not a reason to endure! It is the shackle that imprisons her!” I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, finding the hidden camera lens. I got right in her face. “If you don’t take her with you, I will announce right now, to that camera, that you know your mother is conducting this entire experiment.” “Your LiveChat followers are all saying you’re an innocent angel, right?” “If they find out you were just acting, will they abandon you? And then, you will be the one mother discards as the ‘failed’ experiment.” Penelope stared at me, her eyes wide with shock. She couldn’t understand how I knew everything. “You crazy bitch! You are insane! No wonder Mom threw you away and left you here for ten years!” Penelope stomped her foot. Utterly powerless rage. 7 The day Penelope left, Auntie Evelyn was in the luxury Mercedes with her. I wanted to see her off, but I was blocked by her son. A fifteen-year-old punk, already taller than me. He glared at me, muttering slurs, saying I let his mother escape. “Then why didn’t you go see her? Who lets their own mother live in a pigpen?” His expression didn’t change. He said logically, “It’s her own fault for running. My dad said if she ran again, he’d break her legs!” He was already rotten to the core. I picked up half a brick from the corner and got into a fight with him. Dust flew. I heard Auntie Evelyn shout from the car. She said she would find a way to come back for me. She told me to never give up. I pinned her son to the ground and hammered him with my fists. Auntie Evelyn, I hope your future path is smooth. Be free. When we meet again, we will both be the people we were meant to be. 8 [LiveChat] [I mean, older sister passed the test, right? She really is a good person. Was Catherine Vance’s experiment a complete failure?] [Is this experiment even ethical? The older sister deserves a better life.] Chat streams supporting me appeared. They started attacking the scientist mother. They questioned her morality and scientific ethics. And it was also the first time I saw my biological mother’s face in my new life. A link to a Vance Labs press conference appeared in the chat. I clicked it. I saw a woman with elegant features, wearing a tailored business suit, speaking at a podium. “I am Dr. Catherine Vance, director of this study, and the biological mother of both subjects.” “Everyone, please calm down. I have seen the online opinions. However, human nature changes based on its environment. This is undeniable.” “My biological daughter’s cruel nature was already evident back in middle school.” My chest felt tight. Before I could even feel wronged, a massive screen behind her lit up. The scene was a principal’s office. A skinny, dark-skinned girl who looked malnourished was hugging her chest, glaring aggressively at the teachers. Next to her, a perfect, doll-like girl was sobbing, hiding in her mother’s embrace. “Teacher, Chloe Vance isn’t paying attention in class and keeps pulling my hair.” “Mommy, she even threw the new backpack you bought me into the school septic tank. She said I was a spoiled brat who didn’t deserve a mother!” The principal frowned. “Chloe Vance, how many times is this? I’ve already received complaints about you cheating on exams. That’s the only way you got top of the class, right?” [LiveChat] [Holy shit… Older sister isn’t a good person after all. Cheating? Bullying? She’s pure evil!] [Everyone supporting her was totally fooled!] Catherine Vance saw the noise she created and smoothly switched the video. The scene was a bright, clean classroom. Penelope was standing in front of a bullied girl, bravely facing down an aggressive male student. She looked fragile and sweet, her eyes moist. “Please don’t bully our classmate, okay?” The male student looked instantly smitten. He waved his hand, impatiently sending his friends away. He pulled out his phone. “Hey, what’s your number? Let’s connect.” Penelope looked completely taken aback, her face blushing bright red. She softly recited her phone number. The atmosphere was so sweet it looked like an idol drama. [LiveChat] [Aww, Penelope is so cute! Get away from her, you punk!] [That blush! I can’t handle it!] [School bad boy vs. innocent girl? I’m totally shipping it!] I was carefully analyzing the video, looking for the bullied girl. But there was no one. The scene focused only on Penelope. The girl who had been doused with trash and left shivering was discarded by the camera in a corner. Forgotten by everyone. The terrifying act of bullying was suddenly transformed into a romantic plot. It made me sick. My mother stopped the video there. She stated that while I had passed two of the “reality TV” tests, my inherent nature was unchangeable. She announced that I would be subjected to stricter tests. [LiveChat] [Isn’t this going too far? Sister hasn’t even finished high school yet. Let her take her entrance exams.] That one sensible comment was instantly swallowed by Penelope’s fanatical base chanting “Support the Experiment.” [LiveChat] [Don’t even try. Bullying is bullying. She was this evil in middle school, she’ll be worse in society.] The LiveChat was swinging back to Penelope. Then, a user with an icon of a hydrangea flower dropped a link. [LiveChat] [You are all being manipulated by Catherine Vance. The older sister didn’t bully anyone. The girl she supposedly bullied in high school was actually expelled for being the bully!] The user’s video was grainy, like it was a security camera footage, not professionally filmed. But it was clear. In the blurred video, I was holding my own red, swollen face in the principal’s office. I was speaking calmly. “Teacher, Sarah Jenkins threw my textbook into the boys’ bathroom urinal.” “She told me to bark like a dog. She slapped me when I refused.” The principal was looking at test papers, never even lifting his head. He just waved his hand, dismissing me. Back then, I had truly believed he would handle the situation. I didn’t know the principal was a teacher from a school near our village who had worked hard to get a job at the elite private school. He had always resented me because I was beating his own daughter, whom he spent a lot of money tutoring, as the top student in the class. When I was being severely bullied, I went to his office. He said dismissal. “Why is it always you being bullied, and not others? Every fight has two sides. Learn to self-reflect.” I realized I was completely alone. So, when Sarah Jenkins tried to stab my palm with a mechanical pencil again during class, I grabbed her by her ponytail and slammed her to the floor. After class, she threw my textbooks into the septic tank. So I grabbed the expensive custom designer backpack her mom bought her from New York and threw it into the open, filthy sewer main in front of her face. [LiveChat] [OMG. Honestly, that was amazing! Older sister is a badass!] [Principal is a POS. “Every fight has two sides”? I’ll slap him on one side and see if that fight has two sides!] Public opinion flipped again. Mother, on the screen, looked visibly panicked. I just wanted to sneer. It turns out she knew all along about the abuse I endured. She knew the suffering of those ten years. She was willing to pay people to film my suffering, but she wasn’t willing to save her own biological daughter from that hell. The very last sliver of hope I had for a mother was gone. I touched my wet eyes and looked away. I noticed in the LiveChat, more and more users with the hydrangea icon were appearing. They were screaming: [ live stream is rigged! Older sister needs to be removed from the mountains. Give her the same education as her sister!] I suddenly remembered. Auntie Evelyn loved hydrangeas. In our culture, the flower symbolizes hope and light. She had actually come back for me.

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I was reborn, brought back to the exact minute before I was supposed to choose my fiancé. Our family had an old pact to marry off the daughters, and now it was time to make the choice. My socialite sister’s eyes were filled with a mix of shock and absolute ecstasy. The moment our elders finished speaking, she let out a sharp, triumphant laugh: “Dad, Mom, I choose the Harrington heir! I want to marry into the Harrington family!” I instantly realized she had been reborn, too. She wanted to steal my life. In our past life, she chose the cold, untouchable “Saint” of Manhattan high society, only to discover his terrifyingly obsessive and ascetic nature. Unable to endure his monastic lifestyle, she cheated on him. As punishment, he imprisoned her for the rest of her life until she died of severe depression. Meanwhile, I married the playboy prince of Wall Street. Despite his flaws, I attended high-end galas and lived a life of absolute luxury, envied by everyone. Looking at her crazed, triumphant smile, I let out a breath of relief. Compared to a cheating, scum-of-the-earth playboy who would literally sell his wife for business, a possessive but deeply loyal ascetic was exactly what I wanted! 01 “Dad, Mom, I choose the Harrington heir! I want to marry into the Harrington family!” My parents frowned. “Clara, think this through. The Harringtons are facing several massive lawsuits right now; they aren’t as powerful as they used to be. Didn’t you always prefer the Sterling family’s heir?” My sister practically beamed. “Liam Harrington has the power to fix everything. You don’t need to worry about me.” Her words confirmed my suspicions. The reason Clara was practically begging to marry Liam was that she was terrified of repeating her miserable past life. In our previous life, she struck first, choosing the cold, noble “Saint” of Manhattan—Arthur Sterling. She got her wish and became Mrs. Sterling. But before she could even enjoy her endless wealth, she was shipped off to a secluded, heavily guarded mountain estate to “cleanse her soul.” The rules were incredibly strict, the diet completely vegan, and the estate was devoid of any entertainment, filled only with the sound of silence and ringing chapel bells. Not to mention, the wild, passionate fantasies she had about seducing the “untouchable saint” were crushed. Arthur never even touched her. Clara, who was used to a glamorous, vibrant nightlife, couldn’t stand such a dull, suffocating existence. One day, she made a phone call and sneaked two of her ex-boyfriends into the estate. While the three of them were in the middle of a wild session, the estate’s staff heard the noise and caught them red-handed. Rumor had it Arthur was so disgusted he took a vow of silence for a month. On his orders, Clara was locked inside a villa at the foot of the mountain for the rest of her life, strictly forbidden from leaving. She eventually died of severe depression. Arthur never physically abused her; he simply banned her from going to clubs to find young men. But Clara watched me accompany the Harrington heir to elite parties and ultimately developed a fatal heart condition out of pure jealousy. No wonder the moment she was reborn, she chose the Harrington family she had previously looked down upon. Clara felt my gaze. She shot me a provocative glare, then dragged me into the bedroom. “Don’t even think about fighting me for the Harrington heir, or I’ll kill you myself!” I feigned concern. “But the Harrington family is facing a huge crisis right now. Are you really going to sacrifice yourself, sister?” Clara raised her chin, her expression full of contempt. “You don’t need to worry about me. The Harrington family is going straight to the top!” She shoved me hard. “You’d better worry about yourself. I hope you enjoy living like a nun in a cloistered convent for the rest of your miserable life.” Watching her strut away, a genuine smile spread across my face. Did she really think the Harrington family’s resurgence was due to Liam, a man whose only talents were drinking, gambling, and sleeping around? Liam Harrington was the kind of man who would personally deliver his own wife into another man’s bed just to secure a contract! I’ll gladly take the obsessive, devoted “Saint” over that piece of trash! 02 Though slightly reluctant, my parents agreed to Clara’s choice. Then, they turned their eyes to me: “Eleanor, since your sister wants the Harringtons, you will marry into the Sterling family.” They didn’t give me a chance to object, casually sealing my fate. Clara gloated. While applying heavy, club-ready makeup, she mocked me: “Eleanor, just accept your fate. Careful not to spend your whole life chained to a prayer mat!” I leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Sister, I hope you don’t end up chained to a bed, constantly servicing different men!” She thought trading marriages meant trading destinies. She had no idea that a person’s destiny is determined by their own choices, not by which man they marry. Clara froze, then raised her hand to slap me. I dodged backward with a smile, replacing it with a perfectly polite expression. “Mom, it’s getting late. Didn’t you say you called Arthur? He should be here to pick me up soon. I’m going to change.” After finalizing the engagements, my parents notified the Sterlings and the Harringtons, subtly suggesting we spend some time together to cultivate feelings. The Sterling estate was only a thirty-minute drive away. Arthur had agreed to take me out. As for Liam, he was probably blackout drunk in some VIP club right now. He didn’t even answer the phone. Clara’s face changed slightly. She glared at me so hard she practically burned a hole through my skull. When I came out in a fresh dress, Arthur had arrived. He sat next to my parents, discussing the details of the engagement ceremony with an entirely expressionless face. He had a sharp jawline and striking features, better looking than most Hollywood actors, and an aura as deep and calm as a still lake. No wonder Clara fell in love with him at first sight in our previous life. The moment Clara saw Arthur, she was completely captivated. Her eyes practically glued themselves to his body: “Arthur…” Arthur seamlessly shifted to a seat further away from her, avoiding her as if she were something filthy. The bright crystal chandelier illuminated his face but failed to light up those pitch-black, fathomless eyes. Clara shuddered. Just as she tried to salvage the situation, I interrupted: “Sister, what are you trying to say to my fiancé?” Hearing the word “fiancé,” both Clara and Arthur looked up at me. Clara’s expression was murderous; she looked ready to swallow me alive. But Arthur just watched me quietly, a flicker of an unreadable emotion crossing his dark eyes. I walked forward and naturally hooked my arm through his. “Mr. Sterling, I’m ready. Let’s go.” Arthur’s gaze drifted down to where my hand rested on his arm. He gave a faint, soft “Mm.” 03 I didn’t let go of his arm until we reached his car. I looked at him sincerely. “Mr. Sterling, thank you.” My parents only saw me as a corporate asset to be sold off. I had had enough of this suffocating household a long time ago. If Arthur hadn’t come to pick me up, I never would have escaped their grip today. “Why thank me? Aren’t we engaged to be married?” Arthur watched me quietly. His gaze made me a little flustered, but it also made my heart skip a beat. “…Right.” “What’s mine is yours. There’s no need to be polite. You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? Let me take you to a restaurant.” I patted my slightly empty stomach and nodded. I originally thought Arthur would take me to some strict vegan or ascetic retreat, but to my surprise, he drove me to a high-end Italian restaurant. It happened to be my absolute favorite place. “Mr. Sterling, are you sure we’re in the right place?” I couldn’t help but press my palms together apologetically. Wasn’t bringing him here a violation of his ascetic lifestyle? Arthur shook his head. “It’s fine. My faith requires me to discipline myself, not others. I have already eaten at home. Order whatever you’d like.” I didn’t hold back. Once seated, I ordered a salad and a massive plate of Bolognese pasta. Arthur asked, “Is that all you’re eating?” I nodded. “This is plenty.” I wasn’t a picky eater. In truth, after enduring the days in my past life where Liam tied me up like a dog, just having a warm meal was a blessing. Arthur held my gaze, lost in thought. Only when I was full and put down my fork did he speak calmly: “After we are married, I expect absolute loyalty in our marriage. If you fulfill your obligations as a wife, I will give you everything you could ever want.” “…Obligations?” My brain short-circuited. Without thinking, I blurted out, “Wait, aren’t you celibate? Like a monk?” Arthur corrected me: “I am a devout ascetic, not a monk.” I muttered to myself, “Then why does everyone call you the ‘Untouchable Saint’? I thought…” I don’t know if it was an illusion, but I saw him smile slightly. My heart suddenly started pounding wildly. Without knowing what came over me, I reached out and touched his brow. The moment my fingers brushed his warm skin, I realized what I had done and hastily pulled my hand back. But I was a step too late. Arthur froze, instinctively grabbing my hand. He held it tightly, refusing to let go. 04 “Ah, I’m so sorry!” I was mortified, wishing I could slap myself. Eleanor, Eleanor, how could you be seduced by a handsome face and do something so inappropriate? Fortunately, Arthur didn’t seem to mind my forwardness. His lips moved slightly. “It’s nothing.” When he dropped me off at home, we both silently agreed to pretend the hand-holding never happened. Before stepping out of the car, I joked, “Mr. Sterling, I hear your faith believes heavily in ‘destiny.’ In your eyes, are we destined for each other?” I didn’t expect him to answer. To my surprise, he nodded and said candidly, “Yes. Since a past life.” It was my turn to fall silent. How could I have had any connection to him in a past life? My miserable previous life was still vivid in my mind. A person can never forget what truly matters, just as they can never forget true hatred. I didn’t take his words seriously and didn’t argue. I just smiled faintly. “Then I’ll be sure to cherish this destiny.” I turned and walked toward the front door. When I casually glanced back, the headlights were still casting a pale glow into the night. Arthur hadn’t left yet. My heart fluttered. Just as I was about to turn back to him, Clara blocked me at the doorway. Clara’s face was twisted in rage, her lips smeared with a garish, blood-red lipstick. “Eleanor, you shameless bitch!” She lunged, trying to grab my hair. “Trying to seduce Arthur? I’ll kill you!” Seeing her act like a maniac, I almost died laughing. I sidestepped her sneak attack, letting her crash face-first onto the hardwood floor. I covered my mouth, stepping back a few paces: “Sister, it’s not even Thanksgiving, why are you bowing so low to me? The Sterling family might be powerful, but you don’t need to try that hard to suck up to me, do you?” Every word pierced her right in the ego. The reason Clara chose the Harrington family was that she was blinded by their superficial wealth. Deep down, she still viewed Arthur as her property, dreaming of having her cake and eating it too. Even if I were a complete stranger instead of Arthur’s fiancée in this life, I would never stand by and watch a toxic parasite like Clara ruin a good man. I laughed enough and added: “Are you feeling lonely waiting at home? You should check out the clubs and bars downtown. I bet the precious ‘prince’ you’re so obsessed with is partying in a VIP booth right now.” Clara didn’t know Liam’s true nature. She thought I was just trying to insult her fiancé. Her face filled with hatred: “Shut up! You’re not even worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as me! I hope you can still smile when you’re locked in a monastery eating plain oatmeal! By the time I’m the glamorous Mrs. Harrington draped in diamonds, even if you kneel on the ground and beg me, I won’t show you any mercy!” She angrily picked herself up from the floor, turned, and stomped back to her bedroom. I leaned lazily against the staircase, opening my phone to check the evening financial news. Tsk, tsk, tsk. The Harrington Group’s stock had dropped another ten percent. I hope they can hold out until the day Clara marries into the family. 05 The next day, when Liam sobered up and finally learned who his fiancée was, he rushed over to our house to apologize. He spewed absolute nonsense with a straight face: “Mr. and Mrs. Vance, I had a business dinner last night and accidentally drank too much. But don’t worry, our family’s business is getting back on track. Once Clara marries me, our current crisis will definitely be resolved.” I silently rolled my eyes. Of course the debt crisis would be resolved. Besides using her ten-million-dollar dowry to put out the immediate fires, Liam would force his future wife to sleep with clients to satisfy the twisted desires of the upper crust. For the monsters in high society, finding beautiful young girls to torment wasn’t hard. What was hard was finding playthings from prestigious, wealthy families. Perhaps only then could they experience the true thrill of conquest. In our past life, Liam seized every opportunity, treating me as a bargaining chip and subjecting me to horrific abuse, ultimately securing the investments he needed to flip his company’s fortune. The high-end galas Clara had envied so much were nothing but the gateways that repeatedly pushed me into hell. Clara was completely oblivious to the tragic fate awaiting her. She was incredibly smug, biting my ear to whisper: “Eleanor, just you wait! You’re destined to live like a widow anyway. Once you’re discarded, I’ll absolutely find a few men to play with you until you’re broken. Let’s see if Arthur still wants you when you’re a ruined mess!” I curled my lips into a mocking smile and raised my arm. Slap! The sharp sound cut off Clara’s endless cursing, as well as the conversation between Liam and my parents in the living room. The slap completely stunned Clara. She burst into tears: “Dad, Mom, and Liam! Look at her! Eleanor is bullying me!” My dad comforted Clara, then yelled at me: “Eleanor, what are you doing?! Apologize to your sister right now!” My parents had always heavily favored Clara. In my past life, when they saw I was driven to a dead end, not only did they refuse to bring me home, they even mocked me: “A married daughter is spilled water! You have to do whatever Liam tells you to do! If you want to stay clean, then go die! Wouldn’t death clean you up perfectly?” Yet, when Clara was caught cheating, my parents frantically ran to the Sterling family to beg for mercy. Although it didn’t work, the glaring contrast in their treatment was chilling. Living this second life, I saw many things clearly. For example, right now—the ones who deserved to die weren’t me, but these heartless, hypocritical parasites. I squeezed out a few tears: “Dad, do you know what sister just said to me? She actually told me she was going to have men sleep with me… Listen to her, is that something a human being says?!” Simultaneously, I watched Liam’s expression carefully. Sure enough, a dark cloud settled over Liam’s brow, and the look he shot Clara was far from friendly. He never expected his flawless, secret plan to be exposed so easily. Clara vehemently denied it, doing everything she could to throw dirty water back on me: “She’s lying! I never said that!” I anticipated her denial. I opened the voice recorder app on my phone and hit play. Just as the recording played the line “find a few men to play with you until you’re broken,” the butler rushed into the room in a panic: “Sir! Madam! It’s terrible! Mr. Sterling suddenly arrived, and I couldn’t stop him. He’s already forced his way in!” 06 Arthur’s figure was bathed in the morning light, as if enveloped in a sacred, inviolable halo. But his eyes were utterly freezing. Especially after hearing the final sentence of the recording, his cold gaze sliced through everyone in the room. My parents, sweating profusely, hurried forward to greet him. “Arthur! You should have let us know you were coming so we could have Eleanor wait for you outside.” Arthur sidestepped their overly eager touches and cut straight to the chase: “Skip the pleasantries. All I want to know is what Clara just said. Have her repeat it.” If Liam was embarrassed and angry a moment ago, he was now caught in a mix of terror and panic. He put on a harmless facade and said awkwardly: “Mr. Sterling, this is all a misunderstanding. We can talk this out…” Arthur’s response was a single, merciless word: “Scram.” The room instantly fell silent. Everyone knew Arthur was stoic, devoid of worldly desires, and calm as still water. No one had ever heard him tell someone to “scram.” But his power was absolute. He wasn’t someone you could afford to cross, let alone hide from. Except for me, every single face in the room was pale. Truth be told, I hadn’t fully grasped the situation either. I had only met Arthur twice. How did things escalate to him becoming violently furious for my sake? Before I could think further, Arthur walked right up to me and pulled me into his arms. “Eleanor, don’t be afraid. It’s okay now.” The faint, elegant scent of his incense filled my nose, pulling my thoughts back to a time long, long ago. An image flashed in my mind, then vanished like flowing water. I tried to break free from his embrace, but Arthur unexpectedly pressed me back down. I had no choice but to speak, muffled against his chest: “I’m fine. I’m really fine.” No matter what Liam or Clara said or did, I would never be easily manipulated by them again. How could someone who crawled back from hell be shaken by the words of scum? I smiled at Clara: “Sister, I pulled out the evidence. Don’t you think you owe me an apology?” Clara refused to lower her arrogant head, blindly hiding behind Liam. My dad, having lost face, didn’t want to scold his precious eldest daughter, nor did he dare offend his two wealthy sons-in-law. So, he took all his anger out on me: “Eleanor, is this over or not?! Stop causing a scene and go upstairs to your room right now!” See? Same as always. I had given up hope on him long ago. I just found it amusing. I replied calmly: “It’s not over, but I’m not playing with you anymore either. Don’t you all love Clara? Go ahead and put on your little show of a loving family.” Ignoring my parents’ shocked shouts, I took large strides out of the mansion. 07 Except for Arthur, who chased after me, no one else came out. I bet Clara was absolutely thrilled right now. No one would fight her for Liam, and she believed the billions of dollars of Vance family assets would be entirely hers. On the surface, a perfect, happy life seemed to be waving at her. But I knew the Vance family was far from the glamorous facade it presented. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been in such a rush to marry off their daughters for business alliances. Before long, the Vance family would declare bankruptcy due to insurmountable debt. In my previous life, my parents ruthlessly dumped the debt on me, taking the assets they had already secretly transferred overseas to live the high life. Clara didn’t know the truth about the bankruptcy. She thought I inherited the family business and resented me for it. Since she envied it so much, I’d gladly give her a push and hand the rotting mess of the Vance family over to her. Arthur followed me at a leisurely pace, as if worried I might do something drastic. I simply sat on a bench by the road and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine.” Arthur sat next to me, turning his head to look at me. He didn’t say a word, but just sitting there quietly was more than enough. I closed my eyes, memories of my past life flashing through my mind. Even if I did nothing, Clara would end up with a tragically miserable fate. But my enemies weren’t just her. Whether it was Liam or my parents, they were all executioners who pushed me into the abyss. Blood must be paid with blood. I proposed a deal: “Mr. Sterling, could you do me a favor? Once it’s done, the Sterling family’s assets will increase by at least two hundred million.” Surprisingly, Arthur didn’t agree immediately. Instead, he asked about my living arrangements. “What about you?” I pointed to myself. “Me? I have nowhere to go. Could you take me in for a while?” It was just a joke, but he seemed to take it seriously. His knuckles tightened as he gripped my hand. His voice was hoarse: “Alright. But you can never leave me.” Me: “?” 08 Fortunately, despite Arthur’s intimidating words, he didn’t do anything inappropriate. While living at the Sterling estate, I gathered plenty of evidence of the Vance family embezzling corporate funds and lining their own pockets. These would become critical links on my path to revenge. Three months later, on October 2nd, Liam and Clara held a lavish wedding. Clara wore a pristine white wedding gown, a massive diamond ring on her ring finger, and an utterly triumphant smile as she soaked up the guests’ flattery and congratulations. “Thank you for the blessing, Miss Lee. My Liam just loves spoiling me. I told him not to buy such an extravagant ring, but he actually had someone bring back a pink diamond from South Africa just for me. I heard it’s worth two hundred million.” “Mrs. Zhao, you’re here too? You noticed? Yes, I am pregnant. Thank you for your kind words—it’s definitely the eldest grandson and heir to the Harrington family.” “Oh, don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities. After all, I’m my parents’ and Liam’s only precious treasure now.” Clara smiled brilliantly. Until she saw me attend. Her smile froze instantly: “Eleanor, why are you here? Who let you in?” She waved her hand, planning to have security throw me out. The corners of my lips curled up slightly: “Clara, I’m not attending today as your sister, but as Mrs. Sterling. If you kick me out, are you turning down the Sterling family’s investment?” Even at its peak, the Harrington family was no match for the Sterlings, let alone in their current declining state. I smiled sweetly: “Sister, I hear you’re pregnant. You shouldn’t wear that artificially dyed pink diamond. Chemical dyes are harmful to your health. Be careful not to cause a miscarriage.” “Eleanor! Do you think I’d believe your nonsense?! Let me tell you, you will never enjoy wealth and glory like I do in this lifetime!” Clara stomped her foot in pure hatred and turned to greet other guests. I raised an eyebrow. She broke that easily. I hope she doesn’t die of anger later. An hour later, the ceremony officially began. My parents acted like loving, benevolent figures, as if they were genuinely comforted to see their daughter find her ultimate happiness. After the bride and groom exchanged rings, my parents announced they were gifting all their shares in the Vance family to Clara. The agreement was signed on the spot, effective immediately. The guests applauded my parents’ generosity, and Liam looked absolutely ecstatic. Clara shot me a triumphant glare and said in a sickly sweet voice: “Daddy, Mommy, you spoil me too much! There’s still my sis… Oh, I forgot. My sister was kicked out of the family for being unfilial. How pitiful.” Whispers broke out among the audience. The news of me cutting ties with the Vance family wasn’t a secret in our circle, but it hadn’t been confirmed. Many assumed there was still room for reconciliation. No one expected Clara to state it so blatantly at her wedding. For a moment, many looks directed at me were filled with pity or mockery.

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