My roommate, Sierra, loved to cam naked in our dorm room. Late at night, suggestive and provocative noises would constantly drift from her side of the room. “Daddy, where do you want to look?~” “Don’t be so impatient, babe… my roommate is asleep~” “You’re so bad~ tilt your camera down a little…” I gently advised her that camming with strangers wasn’t safe. If someone took screenshots, the consequences could be disastrous. Sierra took my advice and stopped doing it. But then, a girl in the dorm next door hooked a billionaire heir through a sugar baby app. He even rented a helicopter to drop rose petals over the campus to ask her out. It made waves across the entire university. Sierra went absolutely psychotic with jealousy. “It’s all your fault, you interfering bitch! If you hadn’t run your mouth, that billionaire would belong to me right now!” She heated her curling iron until it was searing hot and shoved it into my body, burning me to death from the inside out. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day she was camming. 01 I woke up from a phantom, agonizing pain, my body drenched in a cold sweat. “Daddy, where do you want to look?~” The familiar, sickeningly sweet, coquettish voice drifted from the bed opposite mine. I stiffly turned my head. Through the crack in her bed curtains, I saw Sierra posing seductively at her phone. She was wearing heavy makeup. The strap of her black lace camisole deliberately slipped down her shoulder. She had purposefully tousled her hair to create a messy, provocative look. My nails dug deeply into my palms. The pain told me this wasn’t a dream. I was reborn! I had returned to the day Sierra was streaming naked. Memories flooded back like a tidal wave. In my past life, I warned her out of the goodness of my heart. I told her that if the guy screen-recorded it and leaked it, it would ruin her life. Sierra’s face instantly dropped. She cared about her image more than anything else in the world. School had just started, and she didn’t want to become infamous for the wrong reasons. But giving up the camming meant giving up the digital gifts and cash transfers. She wasn’t going to let that go easily. She immediately put on a pitiful, victimized expression and faked a few tears. “Harper, I don’t want to do this either, but my parents completely cut off my allowance…” My bleeding heart took over. I immediately Venmoed her $500 to help her out. After that, she stopped the naked video chats. But instead, she started treating me like her personal maid, ordering me around constantly. If I wasn’t taking out her trash, I was making her bed. The worst part was my skincare products and my clothes. If she liked something of mine, she would just take it and use it without even asking. I endured it all in silence. I thought giving up some material possessions was worth it if it meant Sierra had changed her ways. After all, my family had plenty of money. But later, when a girl in the next class managed to snag a trust-fund billionaire through the exact same app… When the guy rented a helicopter to drop rose petals all over the quad to declare his love… Sierra went rabid with jealousy. And she took all her resentment out on me. “It’s all your fault, you interfering bitch! If you hadn’t run your mouth, that billionaire would belong to me right now!” She waited until I was asleep, tied me to the bed frame, and gagged me with duct tape. Then, she took a scorching hot curling iron and shoved it brutally inside me. The pain tore my soul apart, but the tape muffled my screams. Sierra’s smile was twisted and demonic. “Only a complete idiot like you would believe my parents cut me off! You got played like a fool, you self-righteous saint! You deserve to die!” It turned out she had been scamming me the entire time! The blistering metal burned through my flesh. My vision went black from the sheer agony. I took my last breath in the most excruciating pain imaginable. But now, I was back. I bit down hard on my lower lip, only letting go when I tasted the metallic tang of blood. In this life, I wouldn’t say a single word to stop her. I was going to let her swallow the bitter fruit of her own actions and fall straight into hell! 02 Inside her bed curtains, Sierra’s voice grew even more saccharine. “Don’t be impatient, babe… my roommate is asleep~” After a rustling sound, she lowered her voice. “You’re so bad~ tilt your camera down a little…” My stomach violently churned. I pretended to roll over, intentionally making a loud noise. Sierra jumped, poking her head out to look at me. “Harper, you’re awake?” I forced a sleepy, innocent smile. “Yeah, I just had a nightmare.” “Oh, I’m just FaceTiming my boyfriend right now.” She giggled, intentionally tilting her phone screen toward me. On the screen was a greasy, balding, middle-aged man, staring hungrily at Sierra’s exposed skin. In my past life, this was the exact moment I intervened and planted the seed for my own murder. This time, I changed my strategy entirely. “Wow, your boyfriend is so handsome!” I leaned in, faking absolute envy. “How did you guys meet?” Sierra was visibly stunned for a second, but then she proudly tilted her chin up. “A dating app, duh. He’s a senior executive at a publicly traded company. He said he’s going to buy me a Louis Vuitton bag!” She lowered her voice. “He loves looking at me… you know what I mean.” Suppressing my urge to vomit, I put on a worshipful expression. “Sierra, you’re amazing. I can’t believe you can pull such a high-quality guy.” Sierra floated on my praise. “Oh, this is nothing. I have guys lining up around the block for me.” She paused, shooting me a condescending glance. “But don’t get any ideas. A boring block of wood like you couldn’t handle a man like this even if you tried.” “I could never compare to you,” I said. I lowered my head, pretending to be insecure, while I sneered coldly on the inside. For the next few days, I played the perfect role of Sierra’s ultimate fan. When she cammed, I stood guard at the door. When she went on dates, I signed her in for attendance at lectures. When she bragged, I gassed her up at the exact right moments. Sierra began to trust me more and more. She even started shamelessly showing off her “prey” to me. 03 But as time went on, Sierra’s prey started showing their true colors. The bald guy who promised her a Louis Vuitton bag blocked her the second he got a full-body naked show. Another guy claiming to be a trust-fund kid sent her a pathetic $5 Venmo and then completely ghosted her. “What a bunch of broke losers!” Sierra slammed her phone onto her bed, shaking with rage. “They say they’re going to buy me gifts, and then they don’t even transfer enough to cover a decent dinner! Wasting my damn time!” I leaned in, faking concern. “Really? That sucks. I thought their Instagram profiles made them look super rich?” “Photoshop! It’s all fake!” Sierra’s chest heaved with anger. “They act like billionaires online, but they ain’t shit in real life!” I sneered internally. In my past life, she scammed me by saying her parents cut her off, and I stupidly subsidized her life. Then she turned around and used my money to buy luxury goods to flex on social media. Now, she couldn’t scam a single dime out of these guys. She deserved every bit of it! I let out a sigh and lowered my voice, acting mysterious. “Actually… I know a secret sugar dating app. It’s packed with legitimate millionaires. My cousin met her husband on there, and she married straight into extreme wealth.” Sierra’s eyes instantly lit up. “Really?! What app?” I acted hesitant. “But… I heard the verification process is super strict. They don’t just let anyone connect with the top-tier guys…” Sierra’s face darkened. “What do you mean? You think I’m not good enough?” “No, no!” I waved my hands frantically. “I’m just worried you might run into scammers.” Sierra scoffed coldly. “Only an idiot like you would get scammed. I know how to spot the real ones. Just tell me the name!” I pretended to hesitate for a moment longer before finally giving her the name of the app. Of course, I didn’t tell her the truth. It wasn’t a billionaire dating app at all. It was an underground, niche fetish and escort platform! It was a cesspool of deviants, scammers, and predators. I only knew about it because my older brother, a detective in the cybercrimes unit, had mentioned it to me. His unit had been monitoring the site for months and was waiting for the perfect moment to execute a massive raid. But until that happened, Sierra could go ahead and enjoy herself to the fullest! 04 Sierra downloaded the app and eagerly registered an account. She meticulously selected her most provocative photos, added some seductive captions, and quickly attracted a swarm of men in her DMs. Among them, a user named “Richie” was especially enthusiastic. He immediately CashApped her $500 as a “nice to meet you” gift. Sierra smugly waved her phone in my face. “See? Now this is a genuine, high-quality man!” I leaned over to look. Richie’s profile picture was him leaning against a Rolls Royce. His bio claimed he was the CEO of a boutique finance firm, and his feed was full of yachts and Rolexes. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. What kind of high-rolling CEO driving a Rolls Royce would be stingy enough to only send $500? And on top of that, he sent it in three separate installments? Only someone as sheltered and greedy as Sierra would actually fall for this bait. But I faked a gasp of amazement. “Wow, Sierra, you’re incredible!” She smirked proudly. “Just watch. I’m going to hook a massive whale this time!” That night, the noises coming from behind Sierra’s bed curtains were more explicit than ever. She was almost entirely naked, using her blanket to just barely cover herself. “Daddy~ Do you like me like this?” She intentionally dragged out her syllables. “Move the camera lower? You’re so bad! I’m not that kind of easy girl!” I fought back my nausea and kept listening. I could hear a heavy, ragged breathing coming from the phone speaker. “Get closer… yeah…” “You’re so bad~” Sierra let out a sickeningly sweet giggle. “When are you going to buy me the present you promised, Richie?~” “I’ll take you to the designer boutique tomorrow.” The greasy male voice took on a commanding tone. “But right now, moan for me!” Amidst the sound of fabric rustling, Sierra let out a high-pitched, exaggerated scream. “Ah! Richie, you’re so naughty… my roommate is right here!” My entire body broke out in goosebumps. My stomach flipped. In the past, Sierra used to lower her voice when she cammed. But ever since I started acting like her loyal sidekick, she stopped hiding it entirely. It gave me a brand-new perspective on just how degenerate she truly was. She had absolutely zero boundaries! 05 The next day. Sierra woke up at the crack of dawn to get ready for her date. She dug out a sheer, black lace dress and practically bathed in half a bottle of cheap perfume. She even meticulously curled her hair into bouncy, seductive waves. “Harper, how do I look?” She spun around. Her mini skirt was so short it barely covered her underwear. I forced back my disgust and put on a look of pure envy. “You look stunning. Richie is going to be obsessed with you!” Sierra gave a triumphant hum and swayed her hips as she walked out the door. At 11:00 PM that night, our dorm door was violently kicked open. Sierra stumbled into the room, reeking of cheap liquor and terrible cologne. Her black lace dress was wrinkled like a dirty rag. The neckline was ripped open, and her neck was covered in shocking, aggressive hickeys. There were even suspicious, dried white smudges near the corner of her mouth. “Look! The Cartier bracelet Richie bought me!” Sierra shoved her wrist right into my face. The rhinestone-encrusted bangle glinted with a cheap, plastic shine under the dorm lights. I took one look and almost burst out laughing. This fake was so bad it didn’t even qualify as a high-end replica. The logo was engraved crookedly, and the metal edges were sharp and jagged. But I dramatically covered my mouth. “Oh my god! Richie treats you so well!” “This is nothing!” Sierra scoffed proudly, adopting a secretive look as she pulled a small, pink remote-controlled vibrator out of her purse. “Richie said that if I wear this to my lectures tomorrow, and if I’m a good girl and do exactly what he says, he’s going to buy me a Birkin bag next time!” My eyes went wide in genuine shock. This was even more unhinged than I anticipated! But I forced myself to act shy. “Isn’t that a little… extreme?” “It’s called having a kink!” Sierra rolled her eyes at me disdainfully. “A basic country bumpkin like you will never understand how high society plays!” She waved the toy in the air. “I’m going to leave it turned on all day tomorrow, and Richie is going to be watching me on video call the whole time!” Looking at her twisted, arrogant expression, my stomach violently churned. This wasn’t a billionaire CEO. This was a complete, utter psychopath! 06 The next day, Sierra actually wore the toy to class. She sat in the very back row, her face flushed with an unnatural, feverish red. “Mnn…” A suppressed, ragged gasp slipped past her lips. A student sitting in front of her turned around in confusion. The professor adjusted his glasses. “Is the student in the back feeling unwell?” Sierra bit her lip and shook her head, but her legs clamped tighter and tighter together. Suddenly, her entire body spasmed, and she went completely rigid. The professor at the podium was right in the middle of a crucial explanation. “So, the solution to this equation is…” “AH!” A piercing, sharp scream interrupted the lecture. The entire auditorium whipped their heads around to look. Sierra jumped up, her face bright crimson, knocking her chair over with a loud CLANG. The professor frowned. “Is there a problem, miss?” “I-I…” Sierra’s eyes darted around in absolute panic, her legs trembling violently. I glanced down and saw a suspicious wet stain spreading across the fabric of her skirt. A few guys nearby were already snickering behind their hands. The professor’s face turned stormy. “Quiet! You, please step outside!” Mortified beyond belief, Sierra grabbed her bag and bolted for the aisle. I “accidentally” stuck my foot out and tripped her. “AH!” She crashed hard onto the floor. And that was when the little pink toy slipped right out from under her skirt. The entire lecture hall went dead silent for a split second, before erupting into deafening, explosive laughter. “Holy shit! She’s playing with that in class?! Legend!” “Oh my god! Who knew Sierra was such a freak behind closed doors!” “Record it! Record it! Put it on the campus Discord!” Sierra scrambled frantically on the floor to grab it, but her hand slipped, and she accidentally hit the max-power setting. BZZZZZZZ— A loud, aggressive buzzing noise echoed through the auditorium. She shrieked in horror. The toy slipped from her grasp, skittered across the floor, and landed right at the professor’s shoes. The elderly professor stared at the vibrating plastic object at his feet, his face going from red to a terrifying shade of purple. “This is an absolute disgrace! I am reporting you to the Dean for disciplinary action!” Sierra had a complete mental breakdown, grabbed her toy, and sprinted out of the classroom. I watched her fleeing figure, a cold, sharp smile playing on my lips. This is just the beginning, roomie.

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Oliver Sterling’s high school sweetheart, Chloe, was driving her car when she hit me while I was riding my bike. Oliver rushed to the scene. Chloe let out a sigh of relief. “My boyfriend is here. If you want any compensation, just talk to his assistant.” Oliver draped his suit jacket over her shoulders. Then, he frowned, staring at my bleeding knee for a long time. Chloe’s voice was hesitant. “Do you guys know each other?” Oliver lowered his eyes, took her hand, and turned to leave. “I don’t know her.” I sat quietly on the curb, putting on a band-aid, showing no reaction to his words. After all. When he handed me our prenuptial agreement three years ago, the very first clause demanded that our marriage remain an absolute secret. I couldn’t get an Uber during the morning rush hour. As I limped my way to work, I thought to myself: My three-year contract marriage with Oliver Sterling was about to expire. I could finally leave. 1 I always knew Oliver had a girl he couldn’t forget. I just didn’t know it was the woman who had just hit me. Not until Oliver arrived. For a split second, I froze. My subconscious mind actually thought he was coming to pick me up. The girl in front of me stood up and jogged over to him. Her white dress fluttered as she threw herself into his arms. “Oliver, what should I do? I hit someone.” The man took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. His voice was as deep, mellow, and gentle as always. “I’ll handle it.” I sluggishly pulled my gaze away, staring down at my wound. It suddenly dawned on me why Oliver hadn’t been coming home much lately. The girl in his arms. His unforgettable ex, Chloe, had returned from abroad. 2 Chloe let out a sigh of relief. She pulled back from his embrace and looked back at me. “My boyfriend is here.” “If you want any compensation, just talk to his assistant.” She offered an embarrassed, apologetic smile. “I am so, so sorry. I made you late for work, and I hurt you.” “Please, don’t worry. Ask for whatever compensation you need. My boyfriend is very wealthy; he’ll agree to anything!” I softly replied, “Thank you.” Oliver’s assistant looked incredibly awkward. He was one of the very few people who knew Oliver and I were secretly married. “Mrs… uh, no, Miss.” “Well, um…” His eyes swept over my wound and locked onto it. “Why is your cut still bleeding?” “It’s been half an hour since the accident.” “Do you have a blood clotting disorder?” I nodded. “It’s only mild.” Oliver looked over, his voice dropping slightly. “A clotting disorder?” Chloe looked confused. “Is something wrong?” He seemed not to hear her. His gaze was fixed on my bleeding knee, his brow furrowed deeply. Chloe finally sensed that something was off. She looked at me with confusion, then looked at Oliver. “Do you guys… know each other?” Oliver was never going to let his first love know he had a secret wife. He snapped out of it, lowered his eyes, and masked his emotions. “I don’t know her.” He immediately took Chloe’s hand, casually instructing his assistant before walking away. “Take her to the hospital.” 3 As their silhouettes faded into the distance. I declined the assistant’s offer to drive me. “I’ve already called a Lyft.” “Just send me the $237 for my lost wages today, please.” The assistant left, looking incredibly uncomfortable. I slapped a band-aid on my knee. Unfortunately, the driver called to say he was stuck in traffic and couldn’t make it. I had no choice but to push myself up off the pavement and limp slowly down the sidewalk. Today is September 28th. There are exactly two months left on my contract with Oliver. It’s time to start preparing for my departure. 4 From high school all the way through college, my tuition was funded by a scholarship program Oliver sponsored. For college, I specifically chose to go to a university in his city. During my junior year, I interned at his company for three months. At that time, Chloe was already in Europe getting her Master’s degree. So, I had no idea she even existed. Oliver kept me close, teaching me a lot about the corporate world. He was a man who rarely showed emotion, but once, when a sleazy client tried to grope me, Oliver kicked the guy square in the chest. Oliver placed a heavy liquor bottle in my hand. He stood behind me, his arms practically enveloping me, and whispered, “Do you know what I’m teaching you today?” I was completely enveloped by his cold, cedarwood cologne. I kept my breathing shallow, forcing myself to stay calm as I answered. “You… you’re teaching me to fight back when appropriate.” “To control the situation by knowing when to push and when to pull back, instead of…” His large, elegant hand wrapped around mine, gripping the neck of the bottle. “Good student. But this isn’t a multiple-choice test. Don’t be so textbook.” He guided my hand, raising it high into the air. “It’s just a brawl.” Smash— Without holding back, he guided my hand to smash the bottle over the client’s head. The impact sent a shockwave up my arm, making my hand go numb. Oliver pulled the pocket square from his suit jacket and looked down, gently wiping the sweat from my palm. “Don’t ever forget this. I’ve got your back.” “Don’t let anyone bully you.” I hurriedly pulled my hand away, muttered a hasty “I got it,” and ran off. Because if I stayed a second longer. The crush I had on him would have been impossible to hide. 5 Right before I graduated. Oliver came to me with a contract. He needed a marriage of convenience to fend off the relentless pressure from his parents to settle down. The term was three years. The main condition was that our marriage had to be kept an absolute secret from the outside world. I just had to accompany him to his family’s estate occasionally to put on a show for his parents. We were not required to fulfill any marital duties. We were not responsible for each other. I could even date other people, as long as I kept it low-profile and didn’t let his parents find out. Upon completion of the contract, I would receive a payout of $3 million. 6 Maybe it was because it was the first time I had ever loved someone. Or maybe Oliver’s occasional indulgence made me lose sight of my place. After marrying Oliver, I moved into the new mansion he had bought. The thing I looked forward to most every day was waiting for him to come home from work. We ate dinner together, chatted, and sometimes he’d even watch a movie or go for a walk with me. One night, he drank a lot at a corporate event. He was brought home by his female executive assistant. His arm was draped over her shoulder, his face buried in the crook of her neck. “Mrs. Sterling, please step aside.” “I need to help Mr. Sterling inside.” A heavy, invisible knot formed in my chest. I didn’t move aside. I reached my hands out to her. “I’ll take my husband. You can leave him to me.” As I supported a groggy Oliver and prepared to close the door. The secretary offered a condescending smile. “Being Mr. Sterling’s wife, you should learn to be a little more open-minded.” “With jealousy like that, you’re going to drive yourself crazy sooner or later.” “What, do you expect Mr. Sterling to fire every female employee in the company just for you?” I didn’t realize Oliver was still somewhat lucid. He heard her entire speech. And he naturally realized what my true feelings were. When I brought out the hangover soup I had made. The man was slouched on the sofa, staring at me with clear, sobering eyes. “You’re awake, perfect.” “Drink some of this,” I said, my voice tight as I pushed the bowl toward him. “It’ll make you feel better.” I was still angry about him being so intimate with his secretary, so I didn’t want to talk to him much. Oliver just glanced at the bowl. He didn’t touch it. Out of nowhere, he asked me: “Do you know why I never let you go into my study?” I was confused for a second, then shook my head. He stood up, grabbed my hand, and led me toward his study. His steps were unsteady, and I tried to support him. He shook his head, rejecting my help. He pushed the study door open. A massive canvas dominated my field of vision. A teenage girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, was standing in a field of flowers, her eyes closed, head tilted down as she smelled a blossom. From that angle, you could only see half of her face. Which is why, when I met her earlier today, I didn’t recognize her immediately. Oliver leaned against the doorframe and lit a cigarette. “I’ve loved her since I was seventeen.” “It’s been exactly ten years.” “If we hadn’t had a massive fight, and if she hadn’t left the country in a fit of rage, she would be the one I married.” He was speaking in a casual, conversational tone. But every word struck my eardrums like a hammer, bringing a sharp, stinging pain. Oliver didn’t seem to notice my reaction. He cut straight to the bone. “I can’t give you the response you want.” “So, Audrey, whatever inappropriate feelings you have… it’s best you get rid of them.” He used the same tone he used in boardroom negotiations: “I will be drafting a supplemental agreement to add this clause.” “If you cannot manage your emotions properly and overstep your boundaries by interfering in my personal life, it will be considered a breach of contract.” “In the event of a breach, not only will you forfeit your payout, but you will also be liable for a corresponding penalty fee.” The study lights were off. The light from the hallway behind us spilled across the hardwood floor. I saw my own shadow turn rigid, like a piece of wood. I didn’t move an inch. Inappropriately, I remembered a comment Oliver made during my internship about greedy people. “They hover around the boundary lines, itching to cross. It’s absolutely nauseating to watch.” Now, I had become the exact type of person that nauseated him. I don’t know when Oliver left. I just stood there in the same spot. I stood there until the sun came up. I stood there until the heavy, suffocating knot in my chest finally dissipated. From that day on, I managed myself perfectly. I never leaked a single trace of inappropriate emotion again. Calm, polite, and respectful. That was the only attitude I ever showed him. Over time. It felt like I truly didn’t love him anymore. 5 Snapping back to reality, I found a random urgent care clinic to get my leg patched up. I texted my manager to take a sick day. Once I confirmed there was nothing urgent at work, I went straight to the hospital to be with my mom. “Oh, come on, since we can’t get an appointment with the specialist, I might as well just discharge myself.” “Staying here like this is just a waste of money, sweetheart.” My mom had a tumor in her brain. The location was extremely precarious. There were no more than three surgeons in the entire country who could successfully perform the operation. I stuffed a piece of pear into her mouth, stopping her from talking any further. “Absolutely not.” “Did you forget? Last time you went to the third floor for a scan by yourself, you passed out.” “Besides, I heard that one of those top surgeons, Dr. Monroe, is going to be doing consultations here for the next two months.” My mom’s attending physician had also said that if the rumor was true, she would try to get us a spot the second his schedule opened. Thinking about how my mom’s illness might soon be cured… My steps felt much lighter as I went to the cafeteria to get lunch. The head nurse stopped me, looking hesitant. “Audrey…” “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Did a spot open up in the VIP wing?” This hospital was one of the best in the country. Even the VIP rooms were constantly fully booked. My mom was currently in an 8-person shared ward without a private bathroom. The environment wasn’t great. So I had asked the head nurse to keep an eye out for any available VIP rooms. She sighed. “A room did open up.” “And I immediately reserved it for you.” “But a new patient with some serious connections just came in, and her daughter took it right out from under us.” “Oh, right, her mom also has a brain tumor.” “I heard people saying her boyfriend’s last name is Sterling, that he’s the CEO of some massive conglomerate, and the hospital administration didn’t dare say no…” Almost simultaneously. I caught a glimpse of a silhouette passing by the staircase corner. The same white dress. The exact same dress I saw Chloe wearing this morning. I pulled my gaze back and offered the nurse a reassuring smile. “Thank you anyway.” “The VIP room isn’t that important. I just hope my mom can get her surgery as soon as possible.” 8 When I got home that afternoon. Oliver was standing at the espresso machine by the kitchen island. I paused. He was actually home right now, not with Chloe. But that had nothing to do with me. I offered a slight nod. “Mr. Sterling.” After greeting him, I turned to head to my room. “How’s the scrape on your knee?” The man suddenly asked. “I put some ointment on it. It’s fine.” Oliver set his coffee down. He stood up straight and checked his watch. “I need you to come to my parents’ house for dinner tonight.” “Are you available?” Oliver really didn’t need to ask so politely. After all, according to the contract. Even if I wasn’t available, I had to cancel everything else to accompany him and put on a show for his family. I nodded. “Yes, I am.” To go to the Sterling estate, I couldn’t dress as casually as I usually did. I picked out a designer outfit from my closet. I expertly applied my makeup, put on jewelry, and sprayed on perfume. I ensured I was immaculate from head to toe. Arriving at the Sterling estate gates. As usual, I linked my arm through Oliver’s, walked in with a docile smile, and greeted every elder perfectly. During dinner, Oliver’s mother suddenly dropped a bomb without warning. “Are you two trying for a baby?” I was mid-sip of my soup. Hearing that, I choked and started coughing violently. Oliver, sitting next to me, handed me a napkin and naturally patted my back. “Audrey is still young.” His mother disagreed: “She’s 25. That’s not too young.” “You both need to start taking this seriously, understand?” I swallowed hard and nodded. “I understand, Mom.” It started pouring rain that night. Oliver and I had no choice but to stay over at the estate. One bed, but we each had our own separate blanket. We were used to it, so it wasn’t awkward. I changed into a nightgown, came out of the bathroom, and sat on the sofa to apply ointment to my knee. Oliver looked over. “I’m sorry I couldn’t personally take you to the hospital today.” He furrowed his brow, seemingly trying to figure out how to explain his relationship with Chloe to me. I interrupted him first. “It’s fine.” “The contract doesn’t require you to fulfill any obligations to me. Don’t worry about it.” “And I won’t pry into whatever is going on between you and Ms. Chloe.” “Please rest assured, I won’t expose our arrangement to her. I will continue to cooperate with you until the two months are up.” He half-raised his eyes. “Two months?” It seemed he had forgotten. I reminded him: “Yes. In two months, the contract expires, and we can get a divorce and finalize the transaction.” Oliver lost interest and set his wine glass down. “You certainly remember the date clearly.” He threw out that bland, unreadable comment and walked into the bathroom.

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When Elias and I broke up, we made a pact. Total silence. We were never supposed to see each other again. But I couldn’t let him go. Years later, at a disastrous dinner party with old friends, I had one too many drinks. I ended up clinging to the bar owner—who bore a haunting resemblance to Elias—sobbing as I made him an offer. “I’ll give you five grand a month. Just… be mine. Will you do that?” No one could pry me loose. I just kept calling him by Elias’s name, over and over. The owner looked incredibly awkward at first. But then, a look of realization, almost excitement, flashed across his face. “Wait,” he whispered, looking closely at me. “Are you the girl who dumped my big brother back in college?” 1 We were playing Truth or Dare at dinner. Classic, right? The bottle stopped, pointing right at me. One of my friends asked if I was in love with anyone right now. I didn’t hesitate. I nodded. “Yes.” The table went nuts. They demanded to know who he was. I refused to say another word and took three penalty shots instead. But after that, every time the bottle landed on me, they asked the same thing. I was drunk, spinning, and I couldn’t drink anymore. So, I snapped and told the truth. “It’s my ex.” The room went dead silent. Then, a few heads leaned in close. “Maya, seriously? How good could this guy have been? It’s been five years and you still can’t move on?” “Why did he dump you, anyway?” “Come on, spill. Maybe we can help you get him back.” The alcohol was screaming in my head. I slammed my hand on the table, looked around the circle, and slurred my words. “He didn’t dump me. I grabbed him and threw him away.” “And there’s something else. We have a kid.” 2 My story with Elias started because I was shallow. He was just so incredibly good-looking. Physically, from his face to his build, he was exactly my type. So, even though I knew our backgrounds didn’t match at all, I decided to chase him. On the day he finally said yes to being with me, he asked a question. “If we know for a fact that we have to break up after graduation, do you still want to do this?” Let’s be real. Very few college couples make it to “happily ever after,” and we had a massive wealth gap between us on top of that. Honestly, I just wanted to date him. I wanted the romance. So, I nodded. “Yes. I do.” And just like that, Elias and I were a couple. Our relationship was as sweet as any other college romance. Except for one thing: we both tacitly agreed to keep things from getting too intimate. Once, celebrating a birthday in a hotel room, we were kissing intensely. My knees went weak, and I almost slipped to the floor. He caught me, lifted me onto the bed, and leaned over me. His scent completely overwhelmed me. But at the critical moment, he stopped. He fought for control and just tucked the blanket around me. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be right back.” I didn’t stop him. He wasn’t going to commit to a life with me, and I didn’t want to give him everything. That was our unspoken agreement. Honestly, the entire time we were dating, I kept reminding myself not to fall too deep. I knew the breakup would be devastating if I did. But in the end, I still failed to protect my heart. 3 It was Christmas Eve. Elias had made reservations for dinner. But my advisor assigned a last-minute project, forcing us to work late in the lab. I had to stand him up. When I finally came out, it was snowing hard. I hadn’t brought an umbrella. A senior guy in the lab offered to walk me back to my dorm. Just as we stepped out of the science building, we ran right into Elias. He was wearing a black pea coat, holding an umbrella, with a gift box in his other hand. It looked like he’d been waiting down there for a long time. We were keeping our relationship a total secret. I was terrified his family would find out, so in front of others, we acted like strangers. I planned to walk past him like usual and text him later to meet up. But Elias grabbed my hand. He aggressively pulled me under his umbrella. The senior guy was stunned. Before he could ask anything, Elias explained, “I’m walking my girlfriend home.” The guy was in total shock. “You… you’re dating someone?” Not just dating. It had been almost three years. Elias pulled me away, walking fast. I had to jog to keep up. “I’m sorry you waited so long. That guy is so slow at everything.” “But Elias, why did you tell him we’re dating? He talks a lot. It’s going to get out.” “I’ll explain it to him tomorrow. I’ll say you were joking.” Elias set his jaw and didn’t say a word. He didn’t take me back to my dorm. He took me to a hotel near campus. As soon as we were inside the entryway, he broke character. He pinned me against the door. I could tell something was wrong. “Did you misunderstand something?” I whispered. “He’s just a guy from my lab. There’s nothing else…” Before I could finish, he pinned both my hands over my head and kissed me hard. Elias was usually so gentle with this stuff, but this time, he was dominant. Aggressive. He started pulling at my dress and asked me straight out, “Can we?” I was stunned. I tried to stop him. “Wait…” He was pressed on top of me, sweating from fighting his impulses. His voice was raw and deep. “I want you, Elara.” “Let’s just go public. No more hiding. And we’re not breaking up after graduation.” “Give me three years. I will marry you.” His hand was on my waist, palm scorching hot. I noticed a scratch on the back of his hand, like he’d been pricked by a needle. My eyes landed on the gift box behind him. It had fallen to the floor, spilling the Christmas gift he’d prepared for me. It was a handmade chunky-knit blanket. They were really popular on campus just then. I pointed at the soft, pink blanket. “Did you knit that yourself?” He didn’t understand why I was asking about that right now, but he answered anyway, keeping his patience. “Yeah.” “You said you wanted one, so I looked up tutorials online and learned how to do it.” I pressed my lips together and said nothing. He saw my silence and slowly let go of my hands. The look in his eyes was pure devastation. “I’m sorry. I crossed a line tonight. I’ll go take a cold shower.” “But Elara, what I said wasn’t impulsive. I am seriously committing to you.” Before he could get up and leave, I found the courage to grab him. “Okay,” I said, my voice shaking. Elias froze. “What?” “I love the blanket you made me.” “And… I want you, too.” Elias took a sharp breath. He violently flipped us over, pressing me into the bed. But at the critical moment, he still hesitated. He fought his desire and told me: “Elara, you can still change your mind. It’s not too late.” “I won’t regret it.” All I remember from that night is crying out until my throat was raw. I didn’t close my eyes until dawn. Once you cross that line for the first time, there is a second, and a third. We were always meticulous about protection. Except for one time. The day of graduation. Elias lost control a bit. He kept begging for more, and it went on for a long time. When we finally woke up, I realized the condom had broken at some point. Even though I took the Morning After pill immediately, I still got pregnant. 4 The moment I found out I was pregnant, I went to the clinic. I had zero intention of keeping the baby. But the doctor told me I had a unique physical condition. If I terminated this pregnancy, I might never be able to conceive again. So, I hesitated. That night, I called Elias. I was going to tell him. But before I could speak, he started talking about his cousin. He said his cousin had picked up some “gold digger” who got pregnant and was now causing a massive scene at his family’s house, trying to force a marriage. His family looked down on that kind of manipulative behavior. They absolutely refused to acknowledge her and forced her to terminate the pregnancy. He was just telling it like it was gossip, but it sent a shockwave through my system. “Elara? You said you wanted to talk about something?” I didn’t mention the pregnancy. I made up a lame excuse to hang up. He was coming to see me this weekend. It was probably better to talk about it in person. But that weekend, Elias stood me up. Instead of him, I met his mother. Mrs. Sterling looked at me with a fake, polite smile. She was actually quite nice, offering a few standard compliments. And then, she smoothly shifted topics. She told me the family was arranging for Elias to marry an heiress from another prominent family. “Because of you, he is fighting the arrangement. Maya, if you two still want to be together, I won’t stop you. I just want to tell you one thing: I have three sons, not just Elias.” “If he insists on being with you, fine. He will be cut off completely. I have two other sons I can groom for the family business. But Elias has grown up in luxury. Do you honestly think he will last a day living a hard life with you? Maybe a day or two is fine, but as soon as time passes, are you sure he won’t resent you?” “You’re a smart girl. Think it over.” Mrs. Sterling was wearing a massive emerald necklace. Every gesture screamed old money. She looked completely out of place in my tiny, rented apartment. She didn’t say a single cruel or ugly word. Before leaving, she even smiled. “Maya, if you ever need any help, you can contact me.” That arrogant, high-class way of speaking made the reality undeniably clear. The Sterling family was not a world I could ever belong to. So, the next weekend, when I saw Elias, I was calm when I broke up with him. “Why?” He looked lost. “Did I do something wrong?” “Is it because I couldn’t come see you last week? A crisis came up at work, I’m so sorry. I promise to cancel everything next time, okay?” “Oh, and that cake you wanted to try? I bought it! Taste it and see if you like it.” I was so scared when he was like this. The better he was to me, the harder it was to let him go. But I didn’t want to destroy his future. I took a deep breath, trying my best to stay calm as I used the excuse I had prepared. “Elias, long-distance is too hard. I don’t want to do this anymore.” “My family is pressuring me to settle down. I’m going back home to let them set me up on dates.” Elias froze for a long moment. Then, with sudden determination, he said, “Then I’ll move to your city. I’ll marry you. Okay?” He wouldn’t stop compromising. He even lowered his pride, crouching on the floor in front of me, begging me not to leave. “Don’t break up with me, okay? Where you go, I go. We can be together forever.” But how could his family ever allow that? I didn’t want this golden boy to sink into the mud, ending up in a marriage where we both resented each other. I hardened my heart and lied to him. “Actually, I don’t like you as much as you think I do.” “We’ve been together four years. I’m bored. I want someone new.” That day, we faced off for a long, long time. Finally, his eyes went red, and he gritted his teeth as he looked at me. “How is it that you get to decide when we start, and you get to decide when we break up? Do you even see me as a person?” “Elara Vance, after this, we are never contacting each other again.” His words were harsh, but before he left, he still left me a bank card. There were three million dollars in it. I didn’t take it. Being with him was never about the money. At the time, I was naive. I thought by not taking the money, I could still hold my head up high in front of him, that I still had my dignity. After that, we never spoke again. I moved to a new city and gave birth to Leo Vance. I worked jobs and made money while raising Leo as a single mom. My own mother stopped pressuring me to get married. She said it didn’t matter if there was a man, as long as I had a child, I was set. But over all these years, despite how flippant I acted, in my heart, I never let go of Elias Sterling. Even though I was drunk, I still had a thread of sanity left. The story of Elias Sterling stayed swallowed down in my stomach; I never said it out loud. I just ordered two more drinks and poured them down my throat. Just as I was drinking, the door to the private room opened, and a man walked in. My hand froze. This man—his eyes and brows looked exactly like Elias. Especially the eyes, with the exact same slope. But I knew instantly: it wasn’t him. I don’t know if it was the alcohol hitting my brain, but before I realized what I was doing, I was grabbing his jacket, my speech slurred as I asked him: “Are you the new model?” “How much to book you for the night?” 5 My friends were scared to death. They rushed over to pull me away, explaining that this was the bar owner. I refused to let go. I squinted my eyes, studying him. “I like your face. It looks a lot like someone I used to know.” “If you’re the owner, does that mean you cost more?” I did the mental math for my monthly salary, morgage, Leo’s living expenses, and my savings. I held up one hand, five fingers spread. “Five grand. Is five grand enough to book you for a month?” The owner was stuck in a massive, awkward spot. He muttered under his breath, “Wow, is that all I’m worth?” I gritted my teeth and offered a raise. “Okay, fine. I’ll add another grand. Six thousand, okay?” My friend grabbed my sleeve, trying to talk sense into me. “Maya, it doesn’t matter if you add another zero.” “This guy is a trust-fund kid. He doesn’t need money. I know he’s hot, but drop it. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than booking him.” I brushed my friend’s hand off. Staring at the owner’s eyes, a massive wave of bitterness flooded my chest. I grabbed his arm and started crying. “I have never seen anyone who looks so much like Elias Sterling.” “I finally find one, and of course he’s another damn trust-fund billionaire.” “Why is the world so full of trust-fund billionaires? Why couldn’t just one be available for me?” The owner had been tense, trying to find a way to escape. Hearing this, he suddenly got interested. He asked me, “Who did you say I look like?” “My ex.” He pressed his lips together. A strange hint of excitement crept into his voice. “Is your name… Elara Vance?” My mind was a total fog. I didn’t have the energy to figure out how he knew my name. I just tightened my grip on his arm, still trying to haggle. “Yeah, I’m Elara Vance. Since you know my name, we’re basically friends. Come on, can I get a friends and family discount for the booking?” “If you won’t do it by the month, how about by the day?” The owner just looked at me with a half-smile. He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Babe, I am definitely not the booking type. If my big brother found out, he would literally murder me.” I didn’t understand what he was talking about. I only knew he was turning me down. I was devastated. It wasn’t because he rejected me. It was because the memory of Elias Sterling had come flooding back, and it hurt so much. Alcohol amplifies your emotions. I clung to the owner’s arm and sobbed hysterically. He was frantically handing me tissues while simultaneously unlocking his phone. He started a video call. I didn’t know who he was calling. The call was picked up almost instantly. A deep, slightly familiar voice spoke: “What?” “Liam, listen to this. I’m at the bar, and I just met this girl who wants to book me for five grand a month.” “I said no, and now she’s clinging to my sleeve, sobbing her heart out.” “Come on, analyze this for me. Should I take the offer?” The man on the other end sounded irritated. “I have zero interest in your trashy soap opera life, Ryan.” “Wait, Liam, don’t hang up yet. First, take a look at who this girl is.” With that, he pointed the camera directly at me. I didn’t understand. What did my desire to book him have to do with his brother? But from what he was saying, it sounded like if his brother agreed, he would accept my offer. Fine. I’d convince his brother. I took a deep breath and looked up at the camera. 6 I planned to say a polite hello. But I’d had too much to drink. My stomach violently revolted. Before I could say a word, I clapped my hand over my mouth and dry-heaved. The nausea surged up my throat. I couldn’t stop it. The next second, I threw up. I threw up right over the owner’s arm and jacket. He was so startled he dropped his phone. It hit the floor with a loud thwack. On the other end of the line, the man’s patience was totally gone. “Stop wasting my time.” He bluntly hung up the call. I was crouching on the floor, throwing up, thinking in my hazy mind: That voice is so beautiful. It sounds exactly like Elias Sterling’s voice. Only his was colder, deeper. These brothers were truly walking treasures. One had Elias’s face, the other had Elias’s voice. I scrambled to grab napkins and tried to clean the owner’s jacket. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to throw up.” “Please… please don’t refuse to let me book you just because I threw up on you.” “Can I just have you as a stand-in for a few days? I promise I’ll only touch your face and hold your hand. Nothing else.” I have zero alcohol tolerance. I completely blacked out after that and collapsed. When I woke up, I was at my best friend Sarah’s apartment. She looked at me helplessly. “It’s the afternoon. You finally decided to join the living?” My hangover was giving me a massive headache. She handed me a glass of honey water. “Do you remember what happened last night?” I remembered the broad strokes. Remembered reminiscing about Elias, then running into that owner who looked exactly like him at the bar. “You have zero memory of the best parts,” Sarah said, putting her hands on her hips. “You were completely wasted. You clung to the bar owner and begged him to let you book him.” “He said no, so you threw up all over him, and then you forced him to take his jacket off, saying you were going to wash it and bring it back.” “Oh, and you stole his phone and forced him to add you as a friend on Snapchat.” I was convinced Sarah was screwing with me. Until I saw a man’s jacket hanging on her balcony. I stood there, totally speechless for a long time. On my phone, I had indeed added a new friend. I forced myself to send him a message: [Hi, this is Maya Vance from last night.] His name was Ryan Sterling. He immediately sent back a voice message, his tone full of barely suppressed laughter: [Well, hello, Ms. Vance. Back already? Does this mean you still want to book me?] I quickly typed an explanation: [I had way too much to drink last night. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I am so, so sorry.] [The reason I’m messaging is that I realized the stain on your jacket won’t wash out. Can I buy you a replacement?] After a pause, Ryan replied: [That jacket is actually sold out.] [Then tell me how much it costs. I’ll pay double for the damages.] Ryan was surprisingly easy to deal with: [It’s fine. Just pay the original price.] Before I could even type a “thank you,” two numbers popped up on the screen. [$8,000.] I rubbed my eyes, thinking I must be seeing things. It was just a jacket. This felt like extortion. Just as I was about to snap at him, he sent a link. It turned out the jacket was from a foreign luxury brand, and it actually retailed for $8,000. I was speechless. [Actually, Ms. Vance, you don’t necessarily have to pay. I have a favor to ask.] [If you agree, we can forget about the jacket entirely.] He said the bar had been a bit quiet lately and hoped I would bring some friends by more often. [Just to help liven the place up.] [Especially for the anniversary party coming up in two days. It’s really important to me, and I’d really appreciate it if you could make it.] I thought about it. Eight thousand dollars. That was a family vacation with Leo. That was a new bag and jewelry. That was a lot of things. Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to that eight grand. So, I agreed. “Okay.”

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Oliver Sterling rested his elbow on the window seal of his car, smiling at the paparazzi. “If you’re looking to sell those scandalous shots, make sure you find my wife. She’s the one who actually enjoys handling this crap.” Mention Oliver Sterling’s wife, and everyone in our high-society circle would roll their eyes in unison. “The ultimate gold-digger. She’d never dream of divorcing him.” Nobody seemed to remember that three years ago, when Oliver actually deigned to marry me, he had explicitly warned them all to go easy on me. “This is my wife. She’s young, so try to cut her some slack in the future.” Everyone expected me to do what I always did: write a massive check to the tabloids, bury this latest affair, and continue playing the role of Oliver’s adoring, wealthy wife. But this time, I was done. I pushed open his father’s study door. “It’s been three years. It’s time you let me go.” 1 In Los Angeles, the tabloids have an unwritten rule. If an entertainment reporter is short on their quota for the month, they go go stake out Oliver Sterling, the CEO of Sterling Group. He has a new girlfriend every month, and he’s flagrant about it. It requires zero effort to catch him. He’s a powerful, handsome man; scandal is just par for the course. But what about his wife? She keeps things polite, maintains an immaculate reputation, and when you catch her husband messing around, you can take the footage straight to her. She pays top dollar to kill the story, no questions asked. It was just another business transaction, until the script flipped. A rookie paparazzi had managed to get footage of Oliver and cornered him. Oliver had directed him to me, and the clip arrived just as I was getting home from the office. I stood in the foyer of our sprawling mansion in the Hollywood Hills. I looked out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, taking in the panoramic view of the Los Angeles skyline. The voice on the phone continued, trying to sound tough but clearly amateur. “Mrs. Sterling, it’s just fifty grand. That’s, like, what you spend on a handbag. Only fifty grand to bury your husband’s scandal. It’s a total steal. Think about it, and call me back at this number…” This paparazzi wasn’t very bright. His first mistake was following Oliver, and his second was brazenly knocking on Oliver’s car window. Oliver’s cars aren’t exactly inconspicuous. He has hundreds in his collection, yet he insists on driving the same flashy Lamborghini for days at a time. In the video, Oliver rolls down the window. In the passenger seat is a woman wearing almost nothing. Last month, when I received photos of the previous girl, that seat was occupied by a rising starlet from New York. Oliver removes his sunglasses, revealing a face that is, quite frankly, nearly perfect. He hooks his finger, motioning for the paparazzi to come closer. When the guy approaches, Oliver speaks in a lazy, encouraging drawl. “New guy? You’re not very smart, are you? You’re supposed to take the pictures, then find my wife. I don’t pay for this crap. She does.” “You don’t have her number?” He pulls a piece of paper, scribbles a few numbers down, and slaps it into the paparazzi’s hand. Then, he glances at the woman beside him and tsc’ks. “Get out.” The woman leans in, whining, “Oliver, honey, you said we had three days. It’s only been a few hours…” Oliver tosses a platinum credit card at her and hits the unlock button. “Only a few hours and we’re already caught. Are you getting out, or do I have to drag you? Scram.” I clicked off the video, my expression perfectly calm. I sat at the long dining table as the housekeeper began placing one elaborate dish after another in front of me. The grandfather clock in the hallway struck eight. 2 I looked up at the antique clock. Oliver had brought it back for me from a trip to Paris seven years ago. I was seventeen when I applied to college in California, and eighteen when I met Oliver Sterling. Back then, aside from that face, he was entirely low-key. Despite being incredibly intelligent, he’d pretend to be completely lost in class, claiming he’d forgotten everything, just so he could hang around me and ask for my help. Within two weeks, people who knew him were pulling me aside, whispering, “You really think he’s just another pretty face? That’s Oliver Sterling. His father is on the board of trustees, and Oliver is the heir to the Sterling Group.” Later, Oliver left school, refusing to listen to anyone’s advice, and spent his days driving between campus and downtown LA, waiting for me. Those years were a blur of minor arguments and passionate reconciliations. I guarded my heart, opening it up only to shut it tight again, over and over. At twenty-five, after survives a hundred trials of our own making, I finally married him. The wedding was a spectacle, a ‘wedding of the century’ that still made the tabloids occasionally. It was one specific, trashy rag that went too far, using a headline so disrespectful it managed to grab attention from the major outlets. Oliver saw the paper the next morning. After reading it, he simply pressed his coffee cup down onto it. Later, I found out that that elaborate newspaper was the very last one that tabloid ever published. Small things, one by one. If I thought about it from the beginning to the end, I could convince myself that Oliver and I had once truly loved each other that deeply. But in the end, how did we end up like this antique clock—old, useless, with barely enough energy to keep ticking? The elevator numbers flashed, indicating it had reached the third floor, and the doors opened. Oliver walked in, his suit jacket draped over his arm. The harsh overhead lights of the elevator did nothing to diminish the striking lines of his face. I spared him one glance, then returned my focus to my dinner. A minute later, I heard the sound of his jacket hitting the sofa. Then, the scent of woodsmoke and expensive cologne—his signature scent—instantly enveloped me as he approached. Oliver stood behind me, leaning down with his hands gripping the table edge on either side of me, effectively caging me in his embrace. His voice was casually dismissive. “Good evening, Mrs. Sterling. Let’s see… what’s this latest news worth to you?” He reached out and tapped my phone, clicking onto the text message folder. “Fifty grand? Wow, reporters are cheap these days. That’s less than you spend on dinner. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my reputation was depreciating.” I set my fork down, my back perfectly straight, keeping a deliberate inch of space between me and his chest. I didn’t acknowledge his jab. Instead, I changed the subject. “I am not approving Maya Jenkins for the position of Marketing Director. I will be rejecting her application.” Sure enough, at the mention of that name, Oliver immediately stood up, and that overwhelming, enveloping presence vanished. He sat in the chair directly opposite me, his hands gripping the back of the chair, his gaze fixed on the view outside. “You don’t need to worry about her.” “Or maybe—” Oliver shifted his gaze back to me, resting his chin on his hand as he studied my face. “You just can’t stand her?” I looked directly into his eyes, searching for something, anything. I found nothing. The outside world only knew that Oliver Sterling had a revolving door of girlfriends. Nobody knew that they were all just a smokescreen for Maya Jenkins. Two years ago, Oliver sent her to London for grad school, just to pad her resume so he could install her as a director at the company upon her return. It wasn’t that I couldn’t stand her. I was simply doing my job. Sterling Group’s hiring standards are notoriously strict. We only recruit from the top twenty universities. Maya Jenkins, a high school graduate, had spent eighteen years working at a department school. The school she went to in London was a total diploma mill. If this was his idea of “unconventional talent search,” I failed to see the talent. My voice was flat. “We are talking business. I don’t let my personal feelings interfere with work.” Oliver didn’t respond. After a long moment, I heard a voice message play from his phone. The voice was dripping with seductive affectation. “Oh, Mr. Sterling, I think I left my… little panties… in your car. When would be a good time for me to come get them?” The volume on his phone was high, seemingly intentionally, and the voice echoed unpleasantly through the silent room. Oliver watched me, resting his phone against his lips, his voice lazy. “Wrong number, Miss.” I stared at his cool, indifferent expression, trying to recall the man who had once loved me. 3 In the beginning, Oliver actually used to apologize. He had given Maya a gift that was extremely valuable, completely ignoring the fact that that specific item was one I had had a prior claim on. The wealthy social circle is too small; the tiniest clue could expose everything. Oliver drove home in a panic, handing over his phone, his wallet, and every single bank account password. “She did me a small favor. Mark picked the gift; I’ll give him hell for it later.” He had only given me a slight explanation, and I had believed him. There was no reason not to. But that day, word somehow got out that Oliver and I were fighting. On a rainy day, Maya Jenkins knelt outside the gates of our mansion. “Mrs. Sterling, I swear, there is truly nothing going on between Mr. Sterling and me. You have to believe us.” Her excessive denial only confirmed my fears. My anger burned through my rationality, so I didn’t see the fleeting hint of pain in Oliver’s eyes as he watched her from the window. A man pitying a woman can be the start of romance, if there are only two people involved. If there are three, it’s just dangerous. None of that mattered. The hardest days were already behind me. If I remembered correctly, today was November 27th. There were only a few days left in my three-year contract with his father. I looked at Oliver, about to speak. He suddenly received a call, and I could faintly hear the voice on the other end. I recognized that voice anywhere; it was Maya Jenkins. “The power went out… it’s completely dark in here, and I’m really scared.” “I’m on my way,” Oliver said, standing up. He spared me one glance. I swallowed the words I was about to say. He didn’t speak again and walked out without looking back. After Oliver left, I drove to the Sterling family estate. The main house was a massive, century-old colonial mansion, filled with furniture that was an awkward mix of antique European and modern American styles. Oliver’s mother was sitting on the sofa, a housekeeper massaging her shoulders. She glanced at me, then closed her eyes. I didn’t bother trying to win her over. I went straight up to the second-floor study. “Father—” I carefully considered my words. “Our three-year contract is up. I want to leave the Sterling family.” Years ago, I knew that Oliver had sent Maya Jenkins away, ostensibly to get rid of her, but in reality, he was funding her education abroad. When I was hospitalized after my miscarriage, I checked his flight records. He had been flying back and forth between California and London. That’s when my heart truly died. I had approached his father then, at a time when the Sterling family was facing its own internal crises. He had asked me to stay for three more years. He promised that if Oliver hadn’t changed his ways by the end of that time, he would personally ensure I could divorce him and leave the family. His father’s太师椅 (rocking chair/armchair) rocked gently. He opened his eyes and looked at me. “I thought after giving you three years, you would have gotten used to it. Why are you still set on leaving?” When I didn’t respond, he sighed. “When you married into this family, you should have expected this. Look at your mother-in-law. When she was young, she was even more headstrong than you. But in the end, didn’t she still secure her position as Mrs. Sterling? None of his bastards could ever replace her son, Oliver, as the family’s sole heir.” My mother-in-law, that woman who now spent her days in meditation, had been a formidable force in her youth. “Do you know why she succeeded?” “Why?” “Because I decided it. As long as I say so, your position as Mrs. Sterling is secure. With me backing you, those other women are no threat.” “Furthermore, I’m not talking to you about feelings; I’m talking about a business transaction. You’ve done an exceptional job these past few years, both with the company and the family. Cultivating another person like you would take too much time and effort. As a businesswoman, you should be able to calculate that leaving is not a sound investment.” If we didn’t talk about feelings, and only talked about business, this was undoubtedly the soundest investment I could make. I poured his tea, speaking softly. “You know that if we were just talking about business, I wouldn’t even be sitting here.” I had once thought about it—that holding onto the title of the ‘official wife’ would keep those other women from ever truly entering the Sterling family. But I hadn’t married Oliver Sterling for the title. I had become Mrs. Sterling because I had married Oliver Sterling. Years ago, I had pushed him away, telling him his marriage wasn’t even freedom, so how did he have the nerve to be with me? Oliver had frowned. “How am I not free? I want to marry you. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. Did you really think I’d just watch you marry someone else, like I’m some total loser?” I hadn’t believed him. What ‘tricks’ could possibly get past all the obstacles his family would place in our way? He hadn’t mentioned it again, but he had systematically taken over Sterling Group, slowly working his way into the core of the family’s power structure. And after I graduated, I successfully entered the company, starting as an intern. Back then, during the day, I would work under his guidance. At night, he’d give me private lessons. My growth was explosive. By the time he proposed again, he was sitting in the family council, and nobody dared to object. Except he did have respect for his father, and the next day, he came up with a wild plan to force his father to accept reality. “You brat, you really thought I was senile and wouldn’t figure it out?” “I don’t know which agency you went to, but you found some pretty-boy actor, held his hand, and dragged him to the courthouse to get registered for a marriage certificate. Did you really think that would work? I was shocked, but I turned a blind eye to it, hoping you’d get over this nonsense.” “It’s only been a few years, and now you’re divorcing.” “I’m going to make one thing clear: once you leave the Sterling family, I will not let you back in. Think carefully before you decide.” I lowered my head, the past seven years of our marriage flashing before my eyes like a movie. “Leaving the Sterling family is a decision I’ve been waiting to make for three years.” He waved his hand. “Wrap up whatever affairs you have left. Someone will contact you when the time comes.” As I came downstairs, my mother-in-law was still sitting on the sofa. I walked to the door, then turned back. “In the future, I will not be here to celebrate your birthday. I hope you remain in good health.” With that, I turned and walked out. The living room of the Sterling estate was filled with shadows. The woman was enveloped by the darkness, staring straight ahead. All the light in the house seemed to be carried away by that figure walking quickly out the door. As she watched, it was almost as if she saw her younger self, walking out. A housekeeper bent down and whispered, “Madam, it’s late. Time for bed.” The living room was plunged back into a deeper darkness. Oliver’s mother pulled back her gaze. “Let’s go.” 4 As I got into my car, I remembered his father’s condition. I immediately contacted the paparazzi and arranged to wire him the two million dollars the next morning, buying up all the scandalous photos and footage of Oliver from today. The next communication I received from Oliver was days later, via text. Since Maya Jenkins’s return, he had toned things down significantly. Thinking of my arrangement with his father, I instructed my driver to make a detour and pick up Oliver. The front door was open when I arrived. Inside, a group of people were playing cards, Maya Jenkins among them. She had just managed to win a hand, and the man sitting across from her was flattery. “Wow, you’re on a roll tonight! Taking everyone to the cleaners. Little bro here might have to put up his underwear as collateral. Please, have some mercy.” Maya smirked, just about to speak. Oliver Sterling lifted his eyes and saw me standing in the doorway. He took a drag of his cigarette and snapped, “The woman standing at the door is your true sister-in-law. Are you blind, confusing people like that? No wonder you’re losing every hand tonight.” The man saw me and jumped up in panic, stuttering, “S-sister-in-law…” When Maya Jenkins saw me, her face turned pale. Seeing this scene, I knew Oliver was doing this on purpose. He always did things like this intentionally, making sure I saw it. He was doing everything in his power to push me into divorcing him, yet he refused to be the one to actually do it. His reasoning was always simple: “She’s just a kid with no world experience. Fine for keeping around for amusement, but nobody sane would bring her home. Mrs. Sterling is you. That’s enough.” I scanned the room, then addressed the driver behind me, instructing him to take Oliver Sterling home later. Then, I offered a polite nod, turned, and left. As I reached the door, Maya Jenkins stopped me. The girl who had been eighteen two years ago was now barely twenty, looking vibrant and full of life. She was slightly out of breath, her voice soft and fragile. “Mrs. Sterling, I’m so sorry. I truly didn’t mean to break up your family. I tried to leave, tried to forget, but I just couldn’t.” “I can’t forget Oliver. I love him so much. But please believe me, I truly, truly have no intention of breaking up your family.” “Between Oliver and me… we simply met too late. If he had met me back then, I would have been Mrs. Sterling…” “I’m sorry, I don’t mean it that way. In short, I am sincerely apologizing to you. If there’s a next life, I will dedicate it to making amends to you.” “But in this life, I can’t return Oliver to you. I’m so sorry.” I studied her from head to toe. The girl who had only been able to afford fifty-dollar outfits two years ago was now covered in quiet luxury. The shoes she was wearing probably cost more than what she used to make in a year at the department school. There are many sparrows in the world. Once it was me, and now it was Maya Jenkins. I didn’t open my mouth. I didn’t care enough to open my mouth to talk to her. I was not going to attempt to use words of morality and conscience to awaken a mistress. If she had even the slightest concept of what morality was, she wouldn’t be so happily acting as his mistress. “You should divorce Oliver!” Her voice came from behind me. “Let him go!” Meanwhile, inside, the people were exchanging glances. Finally, someone humanized themselves enough to look at Oliver Sterling, whose face was like ice. “Oliver, not going to chase after your wife? Once a woman gets this angry, she might actually divorce you.” Oliver Sterling was staring at the photo of the two-million-dollar check, lost in thought. After a long moment, he finally chuckled. “Divorce? Even better. Free and clear.” 5 Oliver Sterling was the very last person in the Sterling family to find out that his wife was serious about the divorce. When he heard the news, he lifted his eyes, looking at the person who had told him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” The person, his cousin Sarah, exaggerated, “Kidding? Grandpa already agreed to it. Besides, you’ve been turning this family upside down for the last two years. Weren’t you doing it just to get a divorce?” “If you ask me, divorce is fine. Men always end up getting tired of the ‘old ball and chain’ anyway.” She rested her chin on her hand, leaning in close and whispering, “And Chloe is still waiting for you, you know. All these years, she’s never gotten married. If you get a divorce, give her a chance, will ya?” Since she was a child, Sarah had always considered Chloe to be her ideal ‘sister-in-law,’ so when this Audrey came out of nowhere, she had been furious. On Oliver’s wedding day, she was gritting her teeth with envy, yet still forced to offer a congratulations and hand over a generous wedding gift. Poor Chloe. All these years, she had channeled her sorrow into her career, rejecting every man, turning herself into a powerhouse businesswoman. Oliver rubbed his temples and told her to get out. Sarah grabbed her bag and stomped out. As she opened the door, she ran smack into Maya Jenkins. Maya’s mouth was still twisted in a smirk she hadn’t managed to hide. Sarah crossed her arms, smiling sweetly. “Wow, look at that mouth. You look like a venus flytrap. Are you going to eat a baby? You’re so pathetic. This Audrey could get divorced eighteen times, and you still wouldn’t be anywhere close to taking her place as my sister-in-law.” Maya Jenkins’s expression remained unchanged, her voice soft. “Then who would? Your precious Chloe? She seems even more pathetic from where I’m standing.” Sarah clapped her hands. “Wow, as expected from a mistress. Your skin is thicker than a city wall. You aren’t even worthy to shine Chloe’s shoes.” Maya Jenkins watched her leave, her gaze distant and profound. Oliver Sterling sent her abroad, bought her a house, and let her live a life in upper society. And for her, he was getting a divorce. If that Audrey could sit in the seat of Mrs. Sterling, why couldn’t she? Two years ago, she had knelt outside the gates of that Hollywood Hills mansion. Back then, she had thought that one day, the doors to that mansion would be open for her. 6 After his father agreed to the divorce, I never had the chance to discuss it with Oliver Sterling. I knew he had gotten the news. I had assumed he would contact me immediately to negotiate. But many days passed, and he was still staying in Las Vegas. However, even the worst-case scenario had a legal backstop. Under California law, a married couple who has been living separately for two years can unilaterally file for divorce, and it does not require the other spouse’s consent. But I guessed that neither Oliver Sterling nor the Sterling family would allow that. If he would just nod his head, the divorce could be finalized in an instant. So I waited. Finally, he pushed open the mansion door again. Pleasantries were unnecessary. He got straight to the point. “If you divorce me, you get nothing. Are you doing this just to be dramatic?” Before we married, his father had only one condition: that we sign a prenuptial agreement. If the marriage ever failed, I couldn’t take a single dime of Sterling wealth. Oliver hadn’t wanted to sign it, but his father had been adamant. He didn’t trust Oliver. He would absolutely not allow the massive wealth of the Sterling Group to be tied to Oliver’s personal feelings. In the end, Oliver had compromised, but he had used his own personal funds to establish a trust fund for me. That trust fund was my separate property. Over the years, through investments and appreciation, it was now worth nearly $80 million. While $80 million was a drop in the ocean compared to the immense wealth of the Sterling Group, it was still a significant amount. Back then, it was the entire amount of liquid cash Oliver Sterling could deign to mobilize. I hadn’t wanted it at the time, but he had smiled and said, “A woman’s true confidence comes from having her own money, not from a man.” He used a cynical example: “Maybe I’ll betray you, but money won’t.” They say the closest yet most distant relationship is between a husband and wife. No matter how much we had loved each other, it didn’t stop us from now staring at each other with cold indifference, like enemies. I stared at him for a long time, recalling the Audrey who had acted like a crazy person years ago. In the beginning, my extreme mental fastidiousness had taken hold of me, and I had screamed the most vile insults at him. I had told him to go die, told him I hoped he got run over by a car tomorrow and crushed into a thousand pieces. Why did he have to destroy my entire belief in love, yet still walk around so casually? When the pain was at its worst, I had actually tried to drive my car into his, determined to go to hell with him, so we wouldn’t have to suffer day after day. When I was lucid, I had only one thought. Thank God we didn’t have children. Thank God that child had never come into the world. I looked at him, realizing we had already yelled everything there was to yell. Only calm remained. “You should be thanking me. In the future, you won’t have to hide when you’re cheating.” He clicked his lighter, lighting a cigarette, and looked at me through the smoke. “You’re right. I should thank Chloe, too. Thanks to you for clearing the path.” I ignored his sarcasm. “Our appointment is in three days. I hope…” He picked up his jacket, heading for the door. “Whatever.” After pushing the door open, he paused and looked back at me. “Audrey, don’t regret this.” “But if you do regret it, and you beg me, I might still hearten to you.” “After all, we are husband and wife. Nobody can take your place.” 7 Oliver Sterling didn’t show up in court on the day of our appointment. An hour later, I received the divorce decree. I drove back to the mansion. However, the group had a major event coming up, so the divorce announcement would be temporarily delayed. When I got home, there was an unexpected guest in the living room. I frowned, calling for security. The guard explained, “She had Mr. Sterling’s authorized access card…” Maya Jenkins looked at me, her head held high. “I came to get the enamel jewelry that Mr. Sterling bid on for me.” She ran her hand over the leather sofa. “He said he was giving it to me, but you’ve been hoarding it.” This mansion was in my name. The day I decided to divorce him, I had thrown all of Oliver’s things out. I hadn’t thrown out the expensive stuff, but it was probably moved to his penthouse in Santa Monica. I didn’t waste words with her. “Get out.” “Audrey.” She wasn’t calling me Mrs. Sterling anymore. “As fellow women, I know what you’re thinking. Stalling for all these years, then intentionally bringing up divorce… you just want your husband to have a change of heart. That ‘playing hard to get’ trick won’t work.” I glanced over and called, “Elara.” Within a moment, a woman came up from downstairs. I sparing her one glance. Her eyes lit up. She dropped her dust rag, stepped forward, grabbed Maya Jenkins, and started dragging her out. “Ah—you psycho!” Elara and her sister, Sarah, were old-timers with the Sterling family. They had come with Oliver’s mother from her family home years ago. Sarah was calm and intelligent; Elara was brute force. They were my mother-in-law’s right-hand women. Back when Oliver’s mother was handling his father’s mistresses, Elara had probably slapped a hundred of them. When I joined the family, my mother-in-law had sent her to my side. Unfortunately, I was never one to make a massive scene, so she had been completely useless for years. Today, I was letting her recreate some of her former glory. From outside, I could hear Elara’s voice, booming with power. “You trash! Young and desperate for a man. Los Angeles had its fair share of mistresses, but none had the nerve to show up at the main house. Raised by trash, for trash. Even the landfill wouldn’t take you…” It was rare for her to get to use all her pent-up energy, and her insults were extremely creative. Maya Jenkins actually had a decent online presence; she had built an ‘influencer’ persona for herself. In her posts, she was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who had a chance meeting with a wealthy, powerful man. That man loved her to pieces, treated her like nobility, loved her as his equal, and helped her move up in the world. Naive followers would comment: “Girl, you must be incredibly talented to be loved that way.” She accepted every compliment. “He takes me to see the world, teaches me how to navigate society. He made sure that even if we don’t last, I’ll still live a good life.” Creating a fairytale of Prince Charming and the poor girl… as if she really were the heroine of a romance novel.

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After I made another group of kids at the residential treatment center break down in tears, the director dragged me into his office. He planted me right in front of a wealthy-looking young couple. “If you’re looking for a companion for your autistic son, this girl is your best bet,” the director said, sighing. “She’s the biggest chatterbox in the entire system. Actually no… let’s call it ‘vibrant.’ She is very vibrant.” He leaned in, his voice drops to a serious whisper. “But here’s my one condition. If you adopt her, you absolutely cannot send her back. Consider this my only request.” The young couple didn’t seem to hear the director’s warning. They looked at me, their eyes sparkling with excitement. “We want her!” they said simultaneously. I didn’t really understand what autism was. But my new mom told me later, “Autism just means you can talk to him as much as you want, and he’ll never tell you to shut up.” My eyes lit up. A match made in heaven. I was a born talker, and he was the ultimate designated listener. 1 My new mom and dad led me to a bedroom door that was tightly shut. They looked at me with expectation written all over their faces. “Go on in, sweetheart. Your brother doesn’t talk much, but he’s actually very sweet once you get to know him.” Mom added, “If you can just get him to say a single word back to you, Dad and I will give you anything you want.” My eyes gleamed. I reached out and pushed the door open. Before I could even introduce myself— SLAM! The door flew shut, narrowly missing my nose. I stared at the wood, thoroughly confused. Mom and Dad sighed behind me. “It’s alright, Nan Yu. That’s just how he is,” Dad said gently. “Why don’t you try again tomorrow? Let’s show you to your room so you can get some rest.” Their posture was slumped with disappointment and helplessness. It made my chest ache. Maybe I just used the wrong greeting. I was determined to crack this nut. A few minutes later, I knocked and cracked the door open. “Hey, Big Bro—” SLAM! “Dear, beloved brother—” SLAM! “Oh mighty and powerful brother of mine—” SLAM! I just stood there, staring at the closed door. It felt like it had been welded shut this time. 2 The next morning, I took a screwdriver and took the door off its hinges. Mom and Dad stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching me. I could see the total validation in their eyes. Mom whispered to Dad, “With a sister like this, I’m not worried about him never talking again. She’s an absolute angel.” I really had to lean into the screwdriver. I popped the doorknob off first. Then, with one final, mighty twist, the whole door came down. I looked inside and my eyes went wide. I didn’t expect him to be so good-looking. He was like a K-pop idol, only paler. “Hi, brother! I’m Nan Yu, and I’m going to be your sister forever—” He didn’t say a word. Instead, he took the thick hardcover book he was holding and hurled it at the cabinet, a clear expression of fury at the intruder. I just smiled at him, totally unfazed, and did a swan dive right onto his bed, tunneling under his comforter. Mom and Dad exchanged a silent look in the hallway and quietly disappeared. I reached out and tried to grab his hand. He yanked it away. I tried again. He yanked it away again. We played this game of hand-tag for about five minutes. I gave up. Time for the nuclear option: talking. I snatched the stuffed alligator he was clutching and hugged it to my chest. “You know, brother, back at the treatment center, I used to tell stories to all the stuffed animals every night. Now that I’m here, I’ll tell stories to you instead.” The boy, let’s call him Ethan, didn’t say anything. He just stared blankly at his bedspread. Honestly, I was already satisfied. At least he wasn’t calling me names like the kids at the center did. He hadn’t even tried to grab his alligator back. I flashed him a bright smile. “Brother, I’m going to tell you the story of my life. Living in the group homes was actually pretty wild. Something crazy happened every day.” “I was three when the director found me. My arm was broken. The director said it was lucky he found me, otherwise I would have ended up a disabled chatterbox. Haha.” “After I moved in, I realized the other kids loved acting. They were always playing ‘Mean Girls,’ pretending they were royalty.” “They made the little kids, like me, bow down to them. We had to tie their shoes, wash their clothes, and clean the whole place. I told them I couldn’t clean because my arm was broken. Guess what?” “They said since they were royalty, even the disabled kids had to work. I wasn’t going to listen to that. I intentionally spilled dirty water all over the leader and called her a fake bitch.” Ethan’s fingers twitched slightly. He shot me a quick look out of the corner of his eye. I didn’t notice. I just kept babbling. “But then the director walked in and heard me swearing. He got so mad. He made me clean all the bathrooms for a week. So I just fell asleep in one of the stalls for the night and didn’t do any work at all. Aren’t I smart? Hahaha.” “And those other kids, because I was small, they always called me ‘Short Stack.’ Every time I heard that, I’d jump up and crack them over the head with a plastic shovel. Nobody called me that twice.” “Of course, the big kids I couldn’t beat up, so I just got wrecked by them every time I fought back. Good thing I’m tough as nails. Hahaha.” “Eventually, I just learned to use my mouth. I could make those bullies cry just by verbally decimating them. I’m pretty good, right? Haha.” I adopted a very serious tone, like I was teaching him a life lesson. “Listen to me, brother. If anyone ever gives you crap, you just call them a psycho. Say it with total conviction. It makes them think you’re crazy, and they’ll back off.” “Psycho… just remember that, psycho.” I laughed and reached out to grab his hand again, hoping for some reaction. But as soon as I raised my hand, Ethan flinched and pulled his away violently. What the…? So we started the game again. I reached, he flinched. We did this for about thirty minutes. Eventually, I pressed him so hard he scrambled out of bed and fled to the living room. I was hot on his heels, hand outstretched. “Don’t run, brother! I haven’t finished the story yet!” Mom and Dad were in the living room and watched us burst in. Mom turned to Dad, tears in her eyes. “Honey, his mental state already looks so much better. He’s… vibrant. We definitely picked the right girl.” Dad nodded, smiling. “We did, honey.” Ethan looked completely fed up. 3 Mom and Dad decided that me just getting Ethan out of his bedroom made me some kind of genius miracle worker. They immediately rewarded me with a mountain of gifts. I dragged every single one of them into Ethan’s room (the one that still didn’t have a door). “You don’t have to be jealous,” I told him seriously. “Whatever I have, you have half. Don’t worry, I’m loyal like that!” My eyes began to gleam as I tore into the boxes. “Oh wow, a Louis Vuitton backpack! This one is mine, sorry, I need it for status.” “Ooh! Fancy Victoria’s Secret silk pajamas! Definitely mine.” “Whoa! Cute hair clips! Mine.” “Kawaii pink fuzzy bunny slippers! Mine.” “Pink dress? Mine.” “Shiny black patent leather shoes? Mine.” “Actually… everything is mine.” I stared at the sea of pink, girly gifts on the floor and then looked up at him thoughtfully. “Maybe… do you like pink?” I stood up and reached for his hand. I caught him off guard and successfully grabbed it, then immediately shoved a small pink purse into his palm. “Haha! A gift for you!” Ethan acted like he had been struck by lightning. He violently whipped his hand away, hurling the purse across the room, and then began frantically scrubbing his palm against his sleeve. I looked at my hand, then at his. “Brother, your skin is so soft.” Ethan started scrubbing even harder. 4 Mom and Dad saw that I had brought all my gifts into Ethan’s room and assumed I didn’t like them. They decided to take me to the mall so I could pick things out myself. I looked over at the doorless bedroom. “Is brother coming? We should take him shopping with us.” Mom and Dad looked uneasy. “Ethan doesn’t really… like shopping,” Mom said. I tilted my head, confused. “Who doesn’t like shopping? It’s therapy! You probably just haven’t introduced him to it the right way.” “It’s not that,” Dad explained. “He can’t handle crowds. He gets extreme sensory overload and feels very unsafe. He… he might lose control.” They took my hands and started leading me to the front door. I looked back over my shoulder. Through the sliding glass doors to the patio, I saw Ethan standing there, his face completely blank, staring at nothing. I stopped walking. I broke free from their grip and walked back toward him. He looked so lonely. I bet he wanted to be like a normal person, to just go out and live life. I turned back to Mom and Dad. “I’m not going. I’m going to stay here and hang out with my brother. Whatever you buy for me, I’m sure I’ll love!” I bolted up the stairs toward the second floor. I knew he was just standing there, waiting. Below, I heard Mom burst into tears. “Oh my god! She is an actual angel sent from above.” I burst through the doorless entryway and grabbed Ethan’s hand before he could flinch. “I’m not going. I’m going to tell you stories instead.” To my surprise, Ethan didn’t yank his hand away this time. He actually let me lead him to the sofa, and he sat down right next to me. My eyes gleamed. I was a chatterbox unleashed. “Okay, brother! I’m going to tell you the story of ‘The Little Match Girl’!” Ethan: “…” “Okay, so there was this little girl, right? She was super poor, but she lived in a house filled with nuclear bombs. She went out to sell them, but nobody wanted to buy any. She was freezing and starving, and she really missed her grandma, so she lit one of the nukes to get warm. That night, the whole village got to meet her grandma.” Ethan: “…” I was really getting into it. “And then there’s the story of Little Red Riding Hood—hey, don’t cover your ears, brother!” 5 Mom and Dad bought me even more gifts. The bedroom was almost overflowing. I started to feel a little guilty receiving all this, especially since I still hadn’t gotten their son to talk. He hadn’t even had a significant emotional reaction yet. But I still opened the closet doors to shove the new clothes in while yelling down the stairs for them to stop buying things. Mom and Dad just shared a smile. “We’ve decided to enroll you in school. Since we’ve adopted you, we’re responsible for you. Education is mandatory.” I looked at the doorless entryway. “Can I go to the same school as my brother?” Mom looked uncomfortable. “Honey, Ethan is a grade ahead of you. Even if he went, you wouldn’t be in the same classes. And we honestly think home tutoring is better for him.” I frowned. “But he needs to try to be around kids his own age. I did some research online, and it said socialization can really help.” “Don’t you want him to talk and communicate? If he goes to school, maybe he’ll make a friend. Maybe that’ll give him a reason to speak.” They saw how adamant I was. They hesitated, but finally nodded. “Alright. We’ll try it.” I cheered and bolted toward Ethan’s room. “Yes! That means we can have matching backpacks! Spiderman and Ghost-Spider!” Ethan: “…” 6 I was right about school. As soon as Ethan arrived on campus, he had a massive emotional reaction. His face went pale, his hands were shaking, and I could see the sweat on his forehead. The veins in his neck were bulging. He looked terrified. I immediately grabbed his hand and started guiding him through the crowded hallway, one step at a time. “Brother?” Ethan didn’t flinch this time. Instead, he gripped my hand with terrifying strength. It felt like he was trying to break my fingers. I gritted my teeth and endured it. But then I started hearing the comments from all around us. “Look at the freak. Why did they let the r-word back in school? If your brain is broken, stay home. You’re bad luck.” “Look at him, he can’t even walk straight. He’s twitching like a glitching video game.” “The freak brought his own personal nursemaid. Hilarious.” “Look at his hands. That’s so weird. That’s that psycho-stimming thing they do, right? Haha. Normal people don’t do that. We do this!” One kid started wildly waving his hands in a mocking gesture. In that moment, I understood. I understood why Ethan fought so hard against going to school. I turned on them, baring my teeth, my fists clenched. “Say one more word, and I will personally deliver you to the ER!” “Imagine being a literal child making fun of someone over a disability. Look in a mirror before you judge someone else, you absolute losers.” “Stimming? Yeah, he’s stimming. What are you doing? Some kind of seizure dance? Maybe you need a nursemaid, you absolute joke!” I pointed at each one of them as I went down the line, decimating them. The crowd of bullies quickly dispersed. “The mute’s got a crazy dog on his leash. Let’s go, let’s go.” I immediately turned back to Ethan, who had his head down, his fists clenched tight. I grabbed his hand gently. “Don’t be scared. I’m here now. Nobody is going to mess with you.” “They’re just psychos. Don’t pay any attention to them.” I reached into my bag and pulled out a matching Fitbit Dad had bought us. I snapped the bands around his thin wrist. Then, I dramatically snapped the matching one around my own. “If anyone gives you trouble, you call me on this immediately. I promise I will be there in five seconds!” Ethan didn’t say anything, but he stared at the Fitbit on his wrist like it was an alien artifact. 7 My morning performance at the school gates apparently scared off most of the casual bullies. Nobody messed with me in my classes. I focused on my schoolwork, but in the middle of my last period, my Fitbit started buzzing aggressively. I answered. All I heard were noises and cruel laughter. “Hey, dummy! Where’s your crazy sister now? Weirdos shouldn’t be allowed in a normal school. Go back to the institution!” I threw my books in my bag and bolted out of the classroom, ignoring the teacher. I ran toward the playground and saw Ethan. He was surrounded by a group of older boys. They were kicking and punching him, but he wasn’t reacting. He was curled in a ball, his right hand tightly protecting the Fitbit on his left wrist. I went absolutely feral. I charged into the circle, shoulder-checking two boys to the ground. “You absolute animals! Picking on him?! Fight me, you cowards!” The group of boys quickly recovered and surrounded me. “Oh look, the nursemaid. You really think you can take all of us?” I was preparing my verbal assault when I felt a hand on my arm. Ethan had stood up and was gently shaking his head at me. I finally noticed the cut on his lip. I took a deep breath, trying to control my rage. “Don’t be scared, brother. I forgot to tell you, I was the unofficial heavyweight champion of the treatment center. I can take three of them, easy.” I dropped my backpack and, under their shocked stares, I pulled a thick wooden dowel out of the side pocket. I had scavenged it from a shop class. “Holy shit. This bitch is actually insane.” 8 By the time Mom and Dad arrived at the Principal’s office, only Ethan and I were there, staring at each other. I gave a little smile and reached out to pluck a piece of grass from his hair. “My brother is so good-looking, he even looks good with a lawn on his head.” Ethan turned his head away. “What happened?!” Mom’s voice was full of panic. I immediately felt a lump in my stomach. This is it. I’m going to get in trouble. They’re going to send me back. I nervously gripped Ethan’s hand. He didn’t pull away. Instead, he gripped my hand back, hard. I was shocked. In a fit of absolute joy, I slid my fingers between his, interlacing our hands properly. “This girl… she used a wooden weapon and put three students in the hospital,” the Principal said, looking terrified. “The parents are demanding police involvement…” Mom and Dad looked at me. I shrank back, already imagining my backpack being packed. But before I could apologize, Mom and Dad surprised me. They hugged me. “Nan Yu, don’t be scared. Tell us the truth. We will handle this.” I was stunned. So you can mess up and not get screamed at or kicked out? I pulled my Fitbit out of my pocket and played the recording. “They were picking on my brother first. I didn’t beat up people. I beat up animals!” The Vice Principal rolled his eyes. “No class whatsoever…” But when the recording finished playing, the administration went silent. Mom and Dad’s faces were stony. When they heard the words “freak” and “retarded,” I could see Mom’s hands shaking with rage. “This is what you call a ‘safe educational environment’?” Dad asked, his voice low and deadly. “I think the Sterling Group needs to reconsider donating that new library wing.”

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I crashed the wrong wedding, snagged three envelopes of cash during the games, and ended up brawling with the groomsmen. One of the groomsmen was incredibly handsome, and I definitely hit him the hardest. But after the reception, that same groomsman blocked my exit. “Are you on the bride’s side or the groom’s side?” he asked. I thought about it for a second. “The bride’s side. I’m the step-niece of her brother-in-law’s great-uncle.” The groomsman laughed. “Then you should be on the groom’s side. But unfortunately for you, I’m the bride’s brother-in-law, and I definitely don’t have a great-uncle.” 1 This weekend, my mom forced me to attend the wedding of some distant relative. She was too busy with her weekly bridge game to go herself. I told her to just Venmo the wedding gift money, but she looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. “They’re too old-school for Venmo, sweetie. They don’t even have the app.” I tried to refuse again, but she used her ultimate mom-logic: “We already committed the money! If you don’t go and at least eat the food, we’re losing out!” Thinking about it, she wasn’t wrong. Plus, I didn’t have lunch plans anyway, so I headed over early. Because I got there so early, I actually ended up tagging along with the bridal party for the “door games”—a tradition where the bridesmaids block the door and the groomsmen have to bribe or fight their way in to get the bride. At the hotel where the wedding party was getting ready, I was waiting around bored when a group of enthusiastic older aunts grabbed me, dragged me downstairs, and shoved me into a car to join the chaotic bridal procession. Among the groomsmen, there was this one guy who stood out. He had strong, dark eyebrows and striking eyes. He was easily six-foot-two and incredibly noticeable. I followed that handsome face all the way up the stairs and into the bridal suite. The bridesmaids were blocking the bedroom door, demanding red envelopes full of cash. The groomsmen were simultaneously shoving money under the door and throwing their shoulders against the wood. The groom’s side had two guys who were built like linebackers. They hit the door with a combined charge, completely misjudging their own strength. The door literally flew off its hinges. The bridesmaids screamed and scattered. Luckily, no one was hurt. But the girls were definitely not happy. The planned, organized games were thrown out the window, and they immediately grabbed their inflatable squeaky hammers and started swinging. I was just standing on the sidelines watching the chaos when, suddenly— The handsome groomsman reached out a long arm, grabbed my shoulder, and yanked me directly in front of him. Before I could even process what was happening, an inflatable hammer smacked me square on the head. It didn’t hurt, but being used as a human shield was highly insulting. In that instant, I switched sides and fully joined the bridal defense squad. I grabbed a dropped inflatable hammer off the floor and started wailing on the groomsmen. Naturally, my primary target was the handsome jerk who used me as a meat shield. 2 Maybe my performance was just too stellar, but I successfully integrated into the bride’s squad. For the rest of the morning’s events, I enthusiastically participated alongside the bridesmaids, tormenting the group of guys. And of course. My main focus remained tormenting the best-looking guy in the room. When he was forced to push his face through a sheet of plastic wrap held up in a frame, I perfectly timed my phone camera to capture the exact moment his face was hilariously squished and distorted. Finally, during the scramble, I managed to snag three red envelopes full of cash. Maybe it’s just easy for young people to bond, but by the time the door games were over, I was basically best friends with the bridesmaids, running around helping them with last-minute details. Then, we headed to the actual wedding venue. Because there were so many people in the wedding party, only the Maid of Honor and Best Man rode in the lead car. The rest of us were dispersed among the following vehicles in the motorcade. I deliberately lingered in the back, picking the car with the fewest people to hop into. However… I ended up in the passenger seat, and the driver was none other than the groomsman from earlier. The 6’2”, dark-eyebrowed, strikingly handsome guy. …Is this guy a professional freelancer or something? A groomsman and a chauffeur? Obviously, the handsome guy remembered me too. Our eyes met. He smirked. “Did you have fun hitting me earlier?” 3 I offered an awkward, sheepish smile. “Just playing the part, you know? Sticking to the script.” Thankfully, the motorcade started moving right then. He pulled his gaze back and put the car in drive. We were the very last car in the line, and we didn’t pick up any other passengers before the lead car pulled out. The ride was silent. The handsome guy was giving off a very aloof vibe. Aside from asking me if the AC temperature was okay, he didn’t make a peep. But halfway through the drive, his phone, resting on the center console, started ringing. I subconsciously glanced over. The screen flashed with three bold words: “The Ex”. He glanced at it, and saw that I saw it. “Can you answer that for me?” He kept one hand casually on the steering wheel, his voice flat. “Do me a favor. Tell her you’re my girlfriend.” “What’s in it for me?” “I’ll give you two more red envelopes later.” I immediately answered the phone and softened my voice to a sweet purr. “Hello? Who is this?” The line was silent for two seconds before a screeching roar blasted through the speaker: “Who the hell are you?! Tell Liam to get his ass on the phone right now!” Good lord. Her scream made my ear ring for a solid five seconds. “I’m so sorry, Liam is asleep right now.” I smiled, intentionally making my voice sound husky and breathless. “He was just so incredible earlier, he’s a little exhausted right now. Whatever it is, you can tell him tomorrow.” With that, I hung up the phone. But right before I hit the red button, I added one last sentence: “Actually, don’t bother calling tomorrow either. I won’t let him answer.” The handsome guy—Liam—turned his head to look at me. He was smirking, his tone deeply suggestive: “How exactly was I ‘incredible’ earlier?” 4 …This guy. Asking questions he already knows the answer to. I just helped him block his crazy ex, and he turns around and flirts with me? No good deed goes unpunished. I ignored him. While he was stopped at a red light, I flipped the phone in my hand and tossed it back onto the console— A perfect, flawless toss. It landed directly on his lap. Right in the danger zone. Liam let out a muffled groan, his thighs instantly snapping shut, his face turning pale. “Are you going to pay for it if you broke it…” I leaned against the window, smiling brightly, and pointed ahead. “Light’s green. Drive.” Liam grumbled under his breath and hit the gas. We pulled up to the reception venue and got out of the car together. Liam didn’t forget he was still a groomsman. He adjusted his suit jacket, preparing to head inside. “Hey.” I couldn’t help myself, calling out to stop him. Liam paused and turned to look at me. “That bridesmaid with the long, straight black hair. Is she your girlfriend?” I clasped my hands behind my back, twisting my fingers together. Earlier, I had noticed that when we were all aggressively hammering Liam, that specific bridesmaid had quietly stepped in to shield him. Even though it was chaotic, I still caught the tender look in her eyes. Plus, she was easily the most beautiful bridesmaid in the group. Liam froze for a second, then his lips curved up. “No. Just a friend.” He finished speaking and raised an eyebrow. “Come on. Let’s go get some food.” 5 Inside the hotel ballroom. I found a quiet corner and sat at a relatively empty table, waiting for the reception to officially start. Before sitting down, I had stopped by the welcome table to drop off the wedding gift money. Since the familial connection was so incredibly distant, my mom had instructed me to just leave $200. The rest of the events unfolded like any standard American wedding. The bride walked down the aisle on her father’s arm. The father handed her over to another man and gave a speech. The emotional tone and heartfelt words had people in the audience wiping away tears. The only part of the ceremony that caught my attention was when the groomsmen and bridesmaids walked down the aisle in pairs. That beautiful bridesmaid with the long black hair clearly wanted to walk with Liam. But when it was their turn, Liam subtly shifted his weight, pushing the buddy standing behind him forward. Under the gaze of all the guests, the bridesmaid had no choice but to press her lips together and walk down the aisle with the guy who had been shoved forward. A moment later, on the dais, Liam’s gaze swept over the crowd and landed lightly on me. Then, the corner of his mouth ticked upward into a smirk. In that moment, sitting at the very back table in the corner, looking at that smiling face on the stage… My heart did a quiet, unexpected flutter. 6 The ceremony ended, and the reception dinner began. Since I didn’t know a single person at my table, I just kept my head down and focused on the food. I have to admit, the catering at this hotel was fantastic. As I gnawed on a short rib, I silently thought to myself: When I get married, I’m booking this place. That way, after the ceremony, I can eat an amazing meal. Fully stuffed and satisfied, I let out a small burp, grabbed a napkin to elegantly wipe my mouth, and decided that since I paid my $200 and didn’t know anyone, it was time to bounce. However— The moment I stood up, someone blocked my path. It was him. Liam. He had one hand resting on the back of my chair, a smirk on his lips. His relaxed, confident posture made it seem like he had been waiting for me for a while. “Full?” I subconsciously wiped the corner of my mouth again. “Yeah.” Thinking about it, I tried to salvage my image. “I actually have a very small appetite usually.” Liam’s smile widened. “Yeah. I can tell.” He didn’t say anything else, just stood there smiling, looking at me. His gaze was making my heart race. I tried to sidestep him to leave, but he blocked me again. Liam leaned down slightly. “I still haven’t figured it out yet. Are you here for the bride, or for the groom?” I thought about it for a second. “The bride’s side. I’m the step-niece of her brother-in-law’s great-uncle.” Liam laughed. “Then you should be on the groom’s side. But unfortunately for you, I’m the bride’s brother-in-law, and I definitely don’t have a great-uncle.” I froze. No… great-uncle? I didn’t make that relationship up. My mom drilled it into me this morning. In case anyone asked at the wedding, I had basically memorized it like a script. Our eyes met. Liam’s gaze was sincere; he didn’t look like he was lying at all. Panic set in. I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed my mom. To confirm the relationship, I asked, and my mom replied in a serious tone: “Chloe, the groom’s last name is Davis. You didn’t go to the wrong venue, did you? … Gin Rummy! I win!” Ignoring the triumphant roar at the end of her sentence, I slowly turned my head to look at Liam. “What’s the groom’s last name?” Liam raised an eyebrow. “The groom is my older brother. So his last name is also Sterling.” …I’m dead. Before my mom could start yelling at me over the phone, I hung up, snapped back to reality, and sprinted toward the doors. Behind me, Liam called out in confusion, “Where are you going?!” Where am I going? I’m going to get my two hundred dollars back, obviously! 7 However… I failed. The welcome table refused to give the money back, and I was too embarrassed to make a scene since it was my own stupid mistake. But I was incredibly depressed. Two weddings, same hotel. The only difference was that one was in Ballroom A, and the other was in Ballroom B. I stood by the lobby doors and texted my mom: “You didn’t give a gift to that distant relative, did you?” My mom replied almost instantly: “Do you want me to cut off your allowance for next month?” …I bowed my head to the reality of needing to survive. I ran over to Ballroom B, dropped another $200 in their card box, and walked out feeling completely defeated. I was supposed to use my mom’s “company dime” to score a free meal, and instead, I was out two hundred bucks. As I walked out of the banquet hall, Liam’s figure appeared in my line of sight again. He was highly amused. “What, did you crash the wrong wedding?” I refused to admit defeat. “The party over there was too boring. I came over here on purpose to see the action.” Liam chuckled, pulled something out of his jacket pocket, and tossed it toward me. I scrambled to catch it. It was two red envelopes. He raised an eyebrow. “The red envelopes I promised you. Keep them.” These kinds of envelopes usually only had a few bucks in them anyway, so I didn’t refuse and stuffed them into my purse. I let out a heavy sigh, preparing to leave this place of heartbreak. But my path was blocked by Liam again. He pulled out his phone and held it in front of me. “Let’s exchange numbers. You started helping me, you might as well finish it. I might need your help dealing with my ex again.” “What’s in it for me?” Liam smiled. “More envelopes?” “Deal!” I quickly added his number. Honestly, the money wasn’t the main draw. Mostly, I just wanted an excuse to keep talking to a hot guy. After saving my number, Liam put his phone away. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.” However, I followed Liam toward the hotel exit, and just as we were about to walk through the doors, he slammed on the brakes. I almost crashed into his back. I looked up to see Liam lowering his voice. “Girl, I got a situation.” ?? I was completely confused. Then, I saw Liam nod slightly toward the front, and I followed his gaze. Standing a few yards ahead was a girl, arms crossed over her chest, looking very slender. Liam gently grabbed my hand. His palm was warm. “That’s my ex. The real one. She’s fierce.” 8 The hand Liam was holding trembled slightly. What the hell is this? I just collected two measly envelopes, and the client is already demanding service? And… This guy is holding my hand, pretending we’re some passionately in love couple, and he didn’t even bother to tell me how “fierce” this ex of his is? I swallowed hard, silently studying the girl in front of us. Tsk. She has twig arms and legs. She can’t possibly cause that much trouble, right? I was wrong. Liam was right. His ex… was terrifyingly fierce. The slender girl marched straight up to us, her sharp gaze sweeping over our joined hands. Her opening line was a nuke: “Liam Sterling, I haven’t agreed to a breakup yet. This is cheating! You better believe I’m going to ruin you!” “You’re a three-minute-man, and you have the nerve to cheat?!” Hold up. That is a lot of information. I instantly looked at Liam, my eyes full of questions. He looked back at me, his face and neck completely red with anger. He didn’t say a single word, but his eyes clearly screamed: “I AM NOT!” As Liam frowned and stated they had been broken up for six months, and that he now had a new girlfriend, the girl didn’t say another word. She just raised her hand and swung a massive slap directly at my face! Me: ?? I didn’t even say anything! If you’re going to slap someone, slap Liam! With ninja-like reflexes, I grabbed Liam’s arm and yanked him forcefully in front of me. SMACK! The crisp sound of a slap echoed loudly. 9 That aim. That power… I swallowed hard, finally believing what Liam had said earlier. This was a life-or-death situation. How could I possibly fight someone who just throws hands like that? So, I did the only thing I could. I secretly pinched my own thigh hard, and my eyes instantly welled up with tears. Since she was playing the violent psycho, I had to play the innocent victim. With tears in my eyes, I turned and grabbed the arms of a few older ladies who had stopped to watch the drama. “Ma’am, look at them. They broke up six months ago, but she constantly stalks my boyfriend. And today she just runs up and hits him…” My leg was throbbing from the pinch, and tears streamed down my face. “Ma’am, who bullies people like this? Look what she did to my boyfriend…” I pointed at the bright red handprint swelling on Liam’s cheek. Sure enough, the nosy, good-hearted older women were instantly outraged and began scolding Liam’s ex. You do not mess with American grandmas. When it comes to public shaming and street-level debate, they absolutely obliterated Liam’s feral ex-girlfriend. The women were loud, and their scolding quickly drew a crowd of onlookers. And then— I used the chaos to grab Liam and run. Are you kidding me? Did you think I was going to stand there and wait to get slapped again?

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My daughter, who lives abroad, specifically mailed me a box of imported, supposedly very expensive strawberries. I happily followed her instructions, washing them three times in a saltwater soak. Just as I was about to eat one, my one-year-old grandson started crying. After I finished feeding him and came back out to the living room, all that was left of the strawberries on the coffee table were a few green leaves. My husband of thirty-five years criticized me for being careless, saying I shouldn’t have used a colander to hold them. “I don’t know what you do all day. Look at this, there’s water all over the coffee table.” My son swallowed the very last strawberry, too busy playing a video game on his phone to even look up. “Mom, these strawberries are actually pretty good. Ask my sister where she bought them. I want to buy some for Chloe. She’s been working so hard lately, I need to treat her.” Looking at the puddle of water on the coffee table, I suddenly felt that this life was entirely meaningless. So, I turned around and called my daughter. “That visa you mentioned last time… can we still apply for it?” Later, my daughter posted a video of me picking giant strawberries at a farm abroad. I was smiling, looking ten years younger. The father and son back home saw it and their eyes went red. “It was just a strawberry. Why wouldn’t she come back?” 01 “You’re this old and you’re still so clumsy. I really don’t know how you manage to be a grandmother.” My husband, Arthur, leaned back in his recliner, his legs crossed. He took a deep drag of his cigarette and continued nagging me through the cloud of smoke. “And you’re still thinking about going to be a nanny for someone else? You’d be lucky if they didn’t fire you on the first day.” Looking at the face I had stared at for thirty-five years, I suddenly felt nauseous. It was like looking at a pile of old, rotting manure in a vegetable patch. I walked over and snatched the cigarette from his mouth, crushing it out in the ashtray. The movement was so sudden that Arthur froze for a good moment. “Have you lost your mind?!” I picked up the rag nearby and wiped the water off the coffee table. “My daughter-in-law said no smoking in the house. The baby is too young to be inhaling secondhand smoke.” Arthur’s eyes went wide. “I wasn’t smoking right next to my grandson! What’s the big deal? The smoke clears in a minute!” Seeing him reach for his lighter again, I slammed the rag down on the coffee table. “Then you still can’t smoke!” My suddenly raised voice finally caught the attention of my son, Mark. He looked up blankly from his phone screen, looked at me, then at his dad. He didn’t say a word, just stood up and walked into his bedroom, still yelling at his game. “Push the lane! Push the lane! I’ll tank the turret!” Honestly, I was famous for having a soft temper. In all our years of marriage, I rarely ever raised my voice at Arthur. Because every time I showed even the slightest hint of dissatisfaction, he would say: “Helen! Have your wings grown too stiff? Did you forget how I worked myself to the bone from dawn to dusk to support you all these years? You should be grateful!” Just like now. After I yelled at him, Arthur immediately stiffened his neck and started throwing out harsh threats. “I think you’re getting senile. Throwing a fit out of nowhere! If you don’t like the smoke, then get out of this house. If you’ve got the guts, leave my house!” “This is my house too! It’s marital property, what right do you have to kick me out?!” My daughter, Emma, taught me to say that. Ever since she became independent, she always loved telling me I was a pushover, letting her dad control me for decades. She wanted me to grow a spine. “Women hold up half the sky! Mom, are you planning on indulging them for the rest of your life? You’re only in your fifties. Instead of being an unpaid maid for them, you should come with me and see the world.” I used to mumble and not know how to argue back with her. For decades, I had lived the first half of my life exactly like this. No one ever told me it was wrong. My mother, who died young, and Emma’s grandmother, both said men were the sky, and women should yield and endure to keep the peace in the family. But Emma said that was wrong. She said a family is built by both partners, that a woman raising children is just as formidable as a man making money, and that there’s no rule saying women have to serve men. Emma said it so often that a tiny bit of it finally stuck with me. And it came in handy right now. He yelled, so I yelled back. Arthur had never seen me stand my ground like this. For a moment, he was actually choked up. He panted heavily like an old ox, but in the end, he didn’t light the cigarette. I looked down at the empty basket that used to hold the strawberries and said softly: “Those were the strawberries Emma bought for me. I didn’t even get to eat a single one.” “What?” Arthur acted like he didn’t understand. I repeated it again. He looked at me in disbelief. “Just because of a strawberry, you’re throwing a temper tantrum at me? How old are you, and you’re still this gluttonous?” Right. Just because of a strawberry. But I served my in-laws, managed all the household chores, and raised two children. In all these years, I had never eaten a strawberry. When I was young, we didn’t have the money for them. Now that I’m old, I just wanted to eat one strawberry, and my husband calls me a glutton. “Forget it. If you want to eat them so badly, go buy a pound and eat them. I’ve never seen such a gluttonous old woman.” Arthur’s face was dark, acting like he was doing me a favor by forgiving me. He was definitely waiting for me to soften up and apologize to him like I always did. But I didn’t want to deal with him, and I didn’t even want to take care of my grandson right now. I slowly went into the bedroom, dug out my ID and passport, and walked out the door. 02 Emma had gotten me a passport half a year ago, wanting me to visit her in Australia. But my daughter-in-law had just given birth, so I couldn’t find the time. Hearing that I had finally decided to visit her, she was overjoyed. She had one of her colleagues teach me how to apply for a visa. The young girl was very nice. She helped me with everything and didn’t mind my technological incompetence at all. “Auntie, it’ll take a week at most. I’ll let you know the second your application is approved.” One week. Not long. On the way home, I felt like the air today was exceptionally sweet. Even the little dog in the elevator looked adorable. I had been terrified of dogs since I was a kid. But for some reason today, I suddenly gathered the courage to pet that little golden retriever. It wasn’t as scary as I thought, and it even wagged its tail at me. This good mood lasted until I reached my front door. Before I even walked in, I heard my daughter-in-law, Chloe, throwing a fit. “Is he not your son? You don’t even bother to look at him? He’s so small, he gets hungry constantly! Is this whole family dead?!” I paused as I opened the door, then walked in pretending I hadn’t heard anything. Seeing me, Mark, who had been keeping his head down like a scolded dog, looked like he had found the culprit. “Mom! Where did you run off to all afternoon!? The baby was crying his lungs out from hunger!” Arthur suddenly seemed to come alive too. He walked out of the bedroom with his hands behind his back, his face grim as he started nagging. “If you’re going out, go out, but at least take the baby with you.” “We don’t know how to soothe him. My grandson cried all afternoon.” “If you have to leave, can’t you at least tell someone? Coming back this late, not making dinner… is the family supposed to starve…” Thinking about how I’d be leaving to see my daughter in a few days, I originally didn’t want to fight with him. But I tried to hold it in, and I just couldn’t. “If you don’t know how to soothe him, learn.” Emma said it best. No one is born knowing how to cook, do laundry, or soothe a baby. Arthur hadn’t washed a single piece of clothing or a single bowl in his entire life. Starting today, I wasn’t washing them either. If he doesn’t know how to cook, he can learn. If he doesn’t want to learn, he can starve. After all, we had just bickered that afternoon. Seeing that I was still angry, Arthur shut his mouth. But Mark had just been scolded by his wife, and he was genuinely angry. “Mom, what is wrong with you!? Are you trying to ruin this family?” “Chloe worked all day, and I finally get a day off. You’re the only one sitting around doing nothing. If you don’t cook, who will?” I didn’t bother arguing with them. I walked straight into my room, leaving the three of them staring at each other in the living room. Through the door, I could hear them whispering. “Dad? What’s going on?” “I don’t know! She has no real responsibilities, but a massive temper. It’s like she’s got a black hole in her mouth. She didn’t get to eat a single strawberry, and she completely lost her mind.” “Ugh, all this over something so small? If I had known, I would have saved two for her. Besides, we can just buy some more tomorrow, right?” Chloe didn’t say a word. She grabbed the baby and went back to her mother’s house. I didn’t cook that night. I didn’t make breakfast the next morning, either. 03 I broke my own rule and slept in. Outside my room, it was pure chaos. Mark woke up late and was rushing to get to work. “Mom, where did you put my white dress shirt? I need it for a meeting today. Did you iron it?” “I didn’t wash it.” “Then what am I supposed to do?” Mark was dumbfounded. Arthur followed me around as I got out of bed, rushing me. “Fine, you didn’t do the laundry. But my son is about to leave for work. Hurry up and make some noodles so he can eat before he goes. I’m supposed to meet Old Man Lee to go fishing.” I simply pulled the covers over my head. “I don’t feel well. Make it yourselves.” There was silence outside the covers for a few seconds, followed by a cold scoff from Arthur. “If you won’t cook, we’ll eat out! I refuse to believe the earth stops turning without you. If you’ve got the guts, don’t ever cook again! The whole family will just pay to eat at restaurants. Let’s see how many days you can keep this up.” I thought to myself, I’ll keep it up for six days. By then, whether you want to cook or not, you’ll have to. After they both left, I got out of bed and went to find my old friend, Mary. She was lucky. Her husband died early, and her neighborhood got bought out by developers twice. She was living a fantastic life now, going out to line dance in the park every single day. Hearing that I was going abroad, she dragged me to a high-end department store. “You’re going abroad, you have to buy some nice clothes! Look at what you’re wearing, it’s washed until it’s practically transparent. I’ve seen you wear these clothes for ten years.” The full-length mirror next to us reflected the awkwardness at my temples and the frayed white edges of my cuffs. It gave me a moment of daze. Thirty-five years ago, I was a young girl who loved dressing up, too. When we got married, Arthur said he would let me be a young girl for the rest of my life. But the ravages of time meant that in the blink of an eye, I had become an old woman. Mary picked out quite a few things for me, saying she wanted to gift them to me. I politely declined again and again. I was used to being frugal, so I only picked one item. Even that one piece was fifty dollars, and it made me feel a little panicky. But then I thought about how the fishing rods Arthur left collecting dust at home cost way more than this piece of clothing. Thinking like that, I added one more item, bringing the total to a lucky hundred dollars, and bought them. When I got home, Mark hadn’t finished work yet, but Arthur was home early. He leaned awkwardly on the sofa, giving me side-eye. My gaze quickly passed over him and landed on a plastic produce bag on the coffee table. Seeing me notice it, Arthur arrogantly lifted his chin. “Four dollars a pound, you really know how to cause trouble for me! Hurry up and eat them, then go make dinner!” The bag was open, revealing a dozen shriveled, sad-looking strawberries. They looked like the bad fruit that hadn’t sold for days. They weren’t washed. Arthur obviously didn’t plan on eating bad fruit like this. He bought them for me. It had always been like this. The money-making husband ate the best, the kids ate the best, and whatever was left over or spoiling was for me. Back then, times were tough for everyone. Being a little deprived didn’t feel like a big deal. But now, Arthur gets a pension every month, and the kids are grown. I didn’t want to eat them anymore. Right in front of Arthur, I threw the bag of strawberries into the trash can. Before he could explode, I beat him to the punch. “They’re rotten. Unedible.” Then, taking advantage of his shock, I turned and walked into the kitchen. Before I came home, my daughter-in-law called and said her father was coming over tonight. He was a guest, after all. I couldn’t let people go hungry. 04 Chloe was from a single-parent home. Her father had suffered a stroke before the New Year and was paralyzed on one side. He looked even worse now, arriving in a wheelchair. As soon as we sat down at the dinner table, Chloe brought up the idea of moving her father in. “Mom, my dad can’t be left alone. I did the math. Hiring a live-in caretaker or nurse would cost at least three thousand a month. My salary combined with Mark’s isn’t even ten thousand. We just can’t afford it. Instead of paying a caretaker, we should bring him here to live with us. The family can take care of him together. “We have that extra storage room anyway. We can clear it out for my dad. We can rent out his old apartment, and the rent can help cover living expenses.” Before I could even speak, Arthur and Mark nodded in agreement. “Of course, of course. A son-in-law is basically half a son. It’s our duty to be filial to our father-in-law.” “Don’t worry, Chloe. With all of us here, we’ll definitely take great care of him.” … The braised ribs I had specifically prepared for our guest tasted like cardboard in my mouth. I looked up at Arthur and Mark amidst their chorus of agreement. “Are you two going to take care of him?” My son and daughter-in-law work every day, and Arthur is a man who wouldn’t lift a finger to do a household chore. This massive burden would undoubtedly fall on my shoulders. The memory of serving my father-in-law and mother-in-law day and night for years involuntarily sprang to mind. Sick elderly people can’t be hit or scolded, and they often cause a ruckus that gives you no peace. It was truly exhausting. I had finally seen my sick in-laws pass away, and now they wanted me to take care of a half-paralyzed patient. Just thinking about it was suffocating. My voice was very soft, but it instantly froze the atmosphere at the table to absolute zero. Arthur furrowed his brows. “What’s your problem these past few days? You’re giving attitude left and right. What exactly do you want? It’s just taking care of a half-paralyzed patient. You’re used to doing it. Why won’t you do it now?” He put down his bowl. “Helen, you spent a hundred dollars this afternoon. What kind of clothes did you buy? Were they made of gold? I let that slide. I consider it paying for peace. But you’re pushing your luck. If you keep this up, I won’t give you another dime. “You’re an old woman. You don’t care about your son, you don’t care about your grandson. Are you trying to leave this family, find some shady guy outside, and demand a divorce at your age?” The word “divorce” made me freeze. Right. Divorce. Why hadn’t I thought of divorce before? Seeing me stay silent, Arthur paused and softened his tone. “I know you’re upset. That’s why I went out of my way to buy you strawberries this afternoon, didn’t I? You should be grateful.” Mark nodded vigorously in agreement. “Exactly! Mom! Am I not your biological son? Is it really that hard to help us out?” Mark looked exactly like his dad did when he was young. His face was full of dissatisfaction with me, as if I owed him something. “Do whatever you want. I’m not taking care of him anyway.” As soon as the words left my mouth, the bowl in Arthur’s hand came flying at me. It crashed to the floor, shattering loudly. “Fine! We don’t need you! It’s just taking care of a person. You seriously think this family will fall apart without you? If you don’t want to do it, then leave! Mark, from now on, pretend you don’t have a mother!!” I clutched my bleeding forehead. It took me a long time to recover from the shock. By the time I reacted, the entire table of people had already left the dining room. Mark was still muttering. “Mom, don’t blame Dad. You’re being completely unreasonable! Making a huge fuss over and over again about such a small thing.” That night, I asked my daughter about getting a divorce. 05 The father and son were men of their word. As soon as the caretaker left, my father-in-law’s luggage was moved in. At the same time, my daughter told me my expedited visa had been approved, the plane ticket was bought, and my flight was the morning after next. “Mom, you don’t have to worry about a thing. As soon as you get off the plane, you’ll see me.” Maybe it was an unspoken understanding between mother and daughter, but I didn’t mention this to the father and son, and Emma didn’t either. On the first day her father-in-law moved in, Arthur really did step up to take care of him, just as he said he would. Except he gagged for half an hour while changing adult diapers, and threw up for another half hour while giving him a sponge bath. He had only been taking care of him for one day. That night, as soon as Mark got home, he started complaining. “My back is completely broken. Someone acts like she’s blind, sitting on the sofa watching TV all day. Her conscience was eaten by a dog.” I pretended not to hear him, silently tending to the potted plants on the balcony. The two Rieger begonias I planted were very temperamental. Too much or too little water and they’d die. It wouldn’t be convenient to take them abroad, so I could only give them to Mary to look after. Arthur was passive-aggressive, and Mark was sarcastic towards his dad. Both of them looked at me eagerly, waiting for me to bow my head again, waiting for me to say what they wanted to hear. But I just turned around and went into my bedroom. I understood these two men too well. They were counting on me being soft-hearted, to take over the responsibility first, and then they’d wash their hands of it and leave the whole mess to me. But this time, they were going to have to suffer the consequences of their own actions. In our thirty-plus years together, Arthur had never seen me refuse to yield. He always assumed I wouldn’t be that cruel. That night, Old Man Lee called to invite him fishing the next day. He agreed without a second thought. He intentionally put the call on speakerphone in front of me. Naturally, I heard the whole conversation. But since he didn’t speak to me, I acted like I hadn’t heard a thing. I left the house early the next morning, ahead of him. I just didn’t expect that when I came back, my key wouldn’t open the front door. It was a brand new lock. The old key didn’t work. I called Mark. He hemmed and hawed for a long time on the other end of the line, finally squeezing out one sentence. “Mom, just apologize to Dad. I still have to work. I really shouldn’t get involved in you guys’ business.” At this point, how could I not understand? Arthur did it on purpose. When I made it so he couldn’t leave the house, he made it so I couldn’t enter it. Through the security door, I heard Arthur’s angry voice from inside. “Now you know how to come back? You like running outside so much, right?! Then you can stay out there forever!” I stood outside the door for a good while. I don’t know why, but all the events of the past flashed through my mind like a slideshow, stopping at a specific moment. When we were young, Arthur and I had a similar scene. At that time, I had just given birth to Mark. I hadn’t even finished my postpartum confinement when I discovered my husband flirting with the widow next door. That was the biggest fight I ever had with him. I packed up Mark, crying as I ran back to my parents’ house. At that time, I really thought about getting a divorce. But I hadn’t even stayed at my parents’ house for a week when I heard my sister-in-law complaining to my brother. “We’re already tight on money, and now we have two extra mouths to feed. What married woman runs back to her parents’ house to freeload?” My mother also advised me: “Men are all like that. They have wandering eyes. As long as he knows to come home, he’s a good man. For the sake of the two kids, just endure it and it’ll pass. You’re married. A married daughter is like spilled water. We can’t interfere too much.” I realized belatedly that I had suddenly become a person without a home. So, I could only quietly return. That time, Arthur also intentionally locked me out, only opening the door when Mark was crying so hard he could barely breathe. He had a “I knew it” expression on his face. Just like now, mocking me. “Now you know you need to come back?” Last night, my daughter asked me why I suddenly wanted a divorce. I didn’t know how to answer her then. But now I had the answer. The things I didn’t have the courage to do when I was young, I couldn’t just not do them for the rest of my life. 06 Fortunately, I had sent my luggage to Mary’s house early on. Crashing for one night wasn’t a big deal. Early the next morning, Mary drove me to the airport. Before boarding, Mark sent me a message. [Mom, can you please stop being so stubborn? Is it really that hard to just call or text Dad and admit you were wrong? You’re making it so awkward for me and my wife at home.] Arthur sent me a message too. [Helen! You’ve really grown a spine! I won’t stand in your way. If you want a divorce, fine!] I replied with a single word, “Okay,” then turned off my phone and swapped it for the new SIM card Emma’s friend had helped me get. Mary smiled from the side. “You’re really going through with the divorce?” I smiled too. “I still have a lot of days left to live. It’s time for a change of lifestyle.” 07 In his thirty-plus years of marriage, Arthur had never felt that life was so thoroughly unpleasant. He had just sent a message giving his wife an out, and then called his son. “I bet your mother will stay out for a few days, but then won’t she have to come crawling back home?” “Dad, I’m with you on this. I tried talking to Mom too. It’ll be fine. Just wait a few days, and then have Mom take over.” But before he even finished the call… In the living room, his half-paralyzed father-in-law was yelling that he needed to pee and needed his adult diaper changed. In the bedroom, his grandson, who couldn’t even speak clearly, was crying from hunger and needed a bottle. He was frantically trying to juggle the old and the young. In his rush, he accidentally dropped a glass baby bottle, spilling freshly mixed formula all over the floor. Seeing his grandson crying until he was breathless, he rushed to grab a mop to clean the floor, but slipped and banged his head against the foot of the bed. His vision went completely black for a moment. By the time he recovered, his grandson’s face was red from crying. He had no choice but to rub his bruised arm, limp back to the kitchen, and mix another bottle of formula. After his grandson finished the bottle and fell sound asleep… Arthur sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly out the window. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly thought of thirty years ago. Right after his wife, Helen, gave birth to Mark. Their older daughter, Emma, was only two. In the dead of winter, she accidentally fell into a cesspit. The stench was unbearable. He was so disgusted that he yelled at his wife to clean her up immediately. Back then, there were no water heaters. You had to boil water for a bath. By the time his wife had finally boiled the water and prepared to bathe their daughter, Emma’s lips were blue from the cold. But right at that moment, two-month-old Mark got hungry and started crying loudly, just like the baby earlier. His wife was frantically trying to manage both. “Arthur, feed the baby some formula. There’s rice cereal in the cupboard. I really can’t free up my hands.” What did he say back then? “You need my help for something this small? Did you forget how to eat? “Ugh, it stinks. Stay away from me!” And then? Then he didn’t go feed the baby. He used working overtime as an excuse and went out to play poker. When he finally came back, his son was full and sleeping soundly, and his daughter was clean. Before this, Arthur had never considered how Helen managed to take care of both kids at the same time. He just thought that since she could do it, and insisted he help, she must just be looking for trouble. But in this moment, for some reason, he suddenly remembered this insignificant little incident from decades ago. Since that day, Helen had never asked him to take care of the kids again, sparing him the trouble for his entire life. Arthur used to think he was just incredibly lucky in this life. He never imagined that one day, his partner of over thirty years would go on strike! She wouldn’t cook, wouldn’t wash dishes, wouldn’t help their son, and wouldn’t even look after their grandson. It was like she was possessed, yelling about gender equality. What kind of nonsense was that? When have men and women ever been equal? Thinking of this, he remembered the message he had sent to Helen earlier. Forget it. They were an old married couple. Bickering all the time was pointless. Maybe he would just take a step back and apologize. They couldn’t just stay in this deadlock forever. But when he picked up his phone, put on his reading glasses, and tried to type a softer-sounding message, he only saw a single, lonely word in response. “Okay.” Okay to what? To a divorce?

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I agreed to a marriage of convenience with my childhood frenemy, who happened to be deaf. We did the deed every single day. No feelings involved, just pure technique. When our five-year contract was up, I planned to terminate it immediately. But then, a memory flashed in my mind: him, unable to hear the blaring horn, almost getting hit by a car while trying to buy me a caramel apple. My heart instantly softened. Just as I was heading upstairs to talk to him, to see if he wanted to just keep living together like this, I heard his buddy joking with him in the hallway: “Bro, are you addicted to playing deaf?” Liam toyed with his hearing aid, leaning against the wall with a low, smirk-laced chuckle: “Only when I’m deaf can she feel completely free to be herself.” Standing on the other side of the wall, my mind went totally blank. Wait. All those filthy, dirty things I whispered in bed… he heard all of them?! 1 Most people have a secret crush on their childhood friend. Not me. I had pure, unadulterated hatred for mine. I hated him for throwing a lit firecracker into a pile of dog crap when we were kids, blowing it all over me. I hated him for sticking gum in my hair in middle school. I hated him for ditching study hall in high school and making me take the fall. Other people’s childhood friends are sweet and considerate. Mine felt like I ordered a luxury item, it went out of stock, and they sent me a random, annoying “free gift” that I couldn’t get rid of. In all the years we hung out. There wasn’t a single good memory. The bad memories could fill a dumpster. Thankfully, right after we graduated high school, he went to college abroad, allowing me to enjoy four peaceful years of university life. Who knew that right after I graduated college, I would run into the one person I least wanted to see from my youth? And then came the even more terrifying bad news: my family’s business went bankrupt, and my totally unreliable father decided to marry me off to secure funding. “My ears might never fully recover. Technically, I’ll always be partially disabled. If you’re not willing…” Sitting across the table, Liam kept his head down. Even his impeccable, expensive bespoke suit couldn’t hide his insecurity. There was absolutely no trace of the arrogant, cocky boy from our youth. When I didn’t say anything, Liam’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the table. His eyes were filled with a heartbreaking vulnerability. “I understand. I’ll tell Mr. Davis to call off the…” Wait! I suddenly snapped back to reality. I finally processed what he had just said. His ears were damaged? A jolt of electricity shot through me. I took a large step forward, right in front of him, and finally noticed the hearing aid hidden beneath his messy hair. “Chloe, is humiliating me fun for you?” Liam’s eyes darkened, a hint of his familiar, teeth-gritting annoyance creeping back into his tone. “How did it happen?” I asked. Liam was momentarily stunned. “When I was studying abroad, I didn’t know how to use an induction cooktop. It exploded and damaged my hearing.” “…” “You…” “I’ll marry you! I’ll marry you!” I covered his mouth just as he was about to speak again. Staring into his wide, dumbfounded puppy-dog eyes, I tried desperately to suppress the wild joy erupting in my chest. Growing up, I could never win an argument against Liam. For every sentence I threw at him, his rapid-fire mouth would shoot back ten. Hell yeah! If I just took out his hearing aid, I could curse him out until the end of time! 2 “Liam, are you part dog or something?!” Clutching my red, swollen, and stinging lips, I viciously shoved against Liam’s muscular chest. He didn’t budge. Instead, he pressed in even closer. The pain made me cry out involuntarily. “Liam! Stop moving! “Get the hell off me!” Liam paused his movements, squinting as he read my lips. “Wifey, what are you babbling about? I can’t understand you.” Then he just kept going. “…I’ve had it with you! Put your damn hearing aid in!” I reached out toward the nightstand to grab his hearing aid. A large, burning hot hand forcefully covered mine, aggressively lacing his fingers through mine, and pinned my hand above my head. Liam’s scorching breath washed over my neck. It sent a shiver down my spine. I looked up. The man lazily half-closed his eyes. His gaze was deep and dark, his voice husky: “Wifey, when we’re doing this, you don’t need to hear anything.” 3 After reaching an agreement at the restaurant that day. Liam and I went straight to the courthouse and got our marriage license. But I wasn’t stupid. After all, it was a marriage of convenience. At the end of the day, it was a relationship built on mutual exploitation. Helping my family’s business survive the crisis was enough. Did they really expect me to tie myself to this guy for the rest of my life?! I didn’t even like him. The term was five years. Liam was under massive pressure from his parents to get married, and he needed a proper, understanding wife for public appearances. And out of all the candidates presented to him, I was the most suitable option. We both got what we needed. When the benefits dried up, we’d part ways. Liam readily agreed and signed the contract. On our wedding night. Lying on the massive, rose-petal-covered bed, a wave of delayed panic finally hit me. I hadn’t thought this through completely. He needed a wife, and I needed the alliance. We were actually married. We weren’t playing house. Were we… going to do that? While my mind raced, the sound of the shower in the bathroom gradually stopped. Liam walked out wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Steam billowed out behind him. He hadn’t blow-dried his hair. It was wet, hanging over his forehead, water droplets still falling. They traced a path down his chest, disappearing into the V-line of his abs. Squinting for a closer look, Liam had a perfect swimmer’s build. Broad shoulders, narrow waist. Before I could inspect any further, Liam started walking toward me. My heart tightened. Is he going to… I swallowed hard. Isn’t this a little too fast? “Liam, I don’t think I’m quite ready for—” As he walked past my side of the bed, I squeezed my eyes shut and death-gripped the edge of the blanket. A breeze brushed past. The touch I expected never landed on me. The closet door next to me opened. Liam pulled out a spare comforter and smiled at me. “I’m going to sleep in the guest room.” ? He’s disgusted by me? I looked down at myself. Sure, I wasn’t Dolly Parton, but this was a massive insult! “Liam, do you think I’m too small?” A surge of pride-trampled anger erupted from the bottom of my heart. Liam didn’t turn around. “What is that supposed to mean?! We both agreed to this marriage! It wasn’t just my idea! “Are you looking down on me?! “I’m at least a C-cup, okay?! I’m not that small! “Hmph, you think you’re so huge?!” I unleashed a furious barrage of words. And the guy didn’t even turn his head. One more step, and he really would have disappeared into the next room. My eyes burned red with anger. I bounced right off the bed and tackled him from behind, landing squarely on his back. “Fulfill your marital obligations to me right now!” Liam looked completely bewildered as the towel around his waist was kicked off by my flailing legs. The moment my racing thoughts crashed into the mattress. I finally realized he wasn’t intentionally ignoring me. The idiot simply wasn’t wearing his hearing aid. 4 My marriage of convenience with Liam was much happier than I had imagined. We were old acquaintances, after all. Plus, by the time we got married, he had already taken over his family’s company as the CEO, and he was so busy I barely saw him during the day. What he left me with was peace, quiet, and a limitless black AMEX. Liam finished the last bite of his oatmeal, stood up, adjusted his cufflinks, grabbed a file folder, and prepared to leave for the office. I looked up from my bowl of oatmeal. “You’ve been so busy lately.” The clock on the wall showed it was only 8:00 AM. Usually, after we ate breakfast, he would sit and read the financial news for a bit, or chat with me before leaving. Liam loosened his tie slightly and walked to the door to put on his shoes. “Your dad has a project that he’s pushing really hard on. I need to go keep an eye on it.” Your dad… Whenever he said that, he meant my father. Doing the math, this was the fourth year we had spent together. And he was still working his ass off for my dad. I suddenly thought of the contract. Speaking without thinking, I blurted out: “Our arrangement is almost at the end of its term. You don’t have to work so hard for him anymore.” Liam’s hand, resting on the door handle, froze. The air in the room grew heavy and silent. Even though our marriage started as a contract, five years is a long time to spend living with someone day in and day out. Saying that now made it sound like I was just going to kick him to the curb the second I finished using him. I was just about to explain that that wasn’t what I meant, but Liam rushed to speak first: “I’ve just been too busy lately. We’ll talk about it later. “Oh, right, I have to fly out of state for a business trip tonight. Text me if you need anything.” Right before he left, I saw him awkwardly fiddle with his hearing aid. In that moment, it felt like a silver needle had been driven straight into my heart, causing a sharp, uncomfortable ache. He was feeling insecure again. Insecure about his hearing. Did he think I was disgusted by him because he was partially deaf? 5 In the beginning, I fully intended to cancel the contract the second the five years were up. But over the past four years, we had meshed perfectly in almost every way. As long as Liam wasn’t out of town, we basically did the deed every single day. On normal, quiet days, Liam would accompany me shopping, take me to theme parks, and go on vacations with me. At first, I didn’t really see him as a “husband.” He was just the guy I grew up with. Hanging out together didn’t feel awkward or unnatural. In fact, after being together for so long, I even started to struggle on the nights he wasn’t there to hold me while I slept. Like right now. Lying alone in a massive, empty bed. Staring at the empty chat log on my phone. I felt an inexplicable, restless anxiety. He had explicitly said to text him if I needed anything before he left this morning. It had been three hours since I sent a message, and there was dead silence on his end. Dammit. Did he get hit by a car or something?! A chill ran through my entire body, and I literally shot up in bed, terrified. During Christmas last year, Liam and I didn’t go back to either of our parents’ houses. Instead, we just had a simple, quiet dinner at home, the two of us. After eating, we wrapped ourselves in one long, oversized scarf and went for a walk down the street. I saw a street vendor selling caramel apples and threw a fit, demanding one. Liam pulled his head out from under the scarf, re-wrapped me tightly so I wouldn’t get cold, told me to stay put, and walked over to buy it. It was just across one street. Who could have known that a car’s brakes would fail? Liam wasn’t wearing his hearing aid. As he walked back toward me, he was even smiling and waving the caramel apple at me. If Liam hadn’t jogged the last few steps… I wouldn’t even dare imagine the consequences. He hadn’t realized how close danger had come to him at all, just smiling like an absolute idiot. He shoved the caramel apple into my hand, saying he had bought one of every flavor they had, so I could eat until I was full. Even my own father was too lazy to buy me a caramel apple when I asked. But Liam? He only regretted that he couldn’t pluck the stars from the sky and hand them to me. I don’t know if I was just traumatized by the sudden accident that day, or if Liam’s smile under the streetlights was just too beautiful. But my heart had secretly skipped a beat. The Liam of today is a good man. Even if the teenage version of him was an absolute terror. Buzz, buzz— The phone vibrating pulled me back from my thoughts. Liam: [Just finished a meeting. What’s up?] The heart that had been lodged in my throat fell back into its rightful place in my chest. I suddenly felt like there were some things… I needed to tell him face-to-face. 6 By the time I landed in Seattle. It was already the morning of the next day. There hadn’t been any red-eye flights available. I had to take the earliest morning flight I could get. After getting off the plane, I got the exact address from Liam’s assistant and rushed over without stopping for a breath. When I see him in a little while, what should I say? Just keeping living together like this… actually seems pretty great. Liam is a solid choice for a life partner. We know everything about each other. So what if his ears don’t work perfectly? Whether we “like” each other or not, in families like ours, that usually isn’t a high priority anyway. I think I’d be pretty willing… to spend the rest of my life with him. His abs are great to touch. His face is fun to squish. His lips are highly kissable. And, if I take out his hearing aid, I can curse him out without any consequences. What other man would just take me swearing at him like a mute? I think only a guy like Liam could meet all my requirements. I suddenly regretted being so overly cautious back then. I wasn’t even sure if Liam would be willing to tear up the contract and stay with me. I finally gathered the courage to walk into the office building. I pulled my phone out of my trench coat pocket, preparing to call Liam. A familiar voice drifted from the stairwell behind me: “Bro, are you addicted to playing deaf?” What playing deaf? I froze in my tracks, turning my head slightly. A familiar face came into view. It was Liam’s best friend. I had met him before when Liam brought me to a charity gala. Liam had his back to me. He was toying with the hearing aid he had just removed from his ear. Half of his face was hidden in the shadows, but his tone carried a distinct smile: “Only when I’m deaf can she feel completely free to be herself.” “But your hearing fully recovered months ago. You can’t keep this from her for the rest of your life, can you?” “We’ll see how it goes.” “Alright, man. But you should probably tell her sooner rather than later. You’re husband and wife, after all. Keeping secrets is never a good thing.” … A massive ringing exploded in my brain. I didn’t hear whatever was said next. It sounded like they had a meeting to get to; the two men walked away side-by-side. I hid inside the fire exit stairwell, trying to process those few sentences. Liam’s hearing was fine. The reason he hid it from me was so I could “feel free to be myself.” He didn’t like wearing his hearing aid at home. I always assumed he just found it too noisy and took it off to focus on his work. Who could have known his hearing had actually been recovering this whole time! I always assumed he couldn’t hear, so I constantly acted like an absolute lunatic around the house. Did that mean he heard me when I was ripping massive farts in the living room?! And even more terrifyingly— All those filthy, dirty things I whispered in bed… did he hear all of them?! 7 As I was sprinting through the airport, ready to flee back home. Liam’s call suddenly came through. “My assistant said you came looking for me?” Hiss. I almost forgot. I had contacted his assistant to ask for his location. I stopped dead in my tracks in the terminal, spouting absolute nonsense: “I was bored at home, so I flew up here for a little vacation.” “…What a coincidence?” I gripped my phone tightly, staring intently at the tips of my shoes. Liam’s face involuntarily floated into my mind again. This was exactly what I had come here to do in the first place. But those things I said in bed… He heard them. He heard them! Whatever. We’re still legally husband and wife right now, anyway. Is it a crime for a wife to talk a little dirty to her husband? Is it illegal? Are the morality police going to come arrest me? I pumped myself up, took a deep breath, and spoke: “I’m at the airport. Come pick me up.” I vastly overestimated my psychological resilience and the thickness of my skin. When Liam appeared in front of me, I couldn’t stop myself from turning bright red. “Are you hot?” I looked up. The man was wearing the dark grey suit I had seen him in near the stairwell. His entire aura was expensive and relaxed. It seemed he had rushed over right after his meeting ended. He took the small suitcase from my hand, his other hand naturally taking mine, shielding me on the inside of the walkway. “I’m flying back tomorrow. I’ll stay here for the night. Want to fly back together tomorrow?” He smiled as he looked at the crosswalk light, seemingly in a fantastic mood. I nodded. 8 Late at night. After taking a shower, I burrowed under Liam’s covers. As expected, sleeping next to Liam was always the warmest. I hugged his waist and buried my face deeply into his chest muscles. It was that familiar citrus scent. Liam’s natural scent. It smelled so good. Every time I buried my face in his chest, I slept so much sounder. I couldn’t help but hug him tighter and take another deep breath. I was completely oblivious to the rising body temperature of the man next to me. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already pinned underneath him. The atmosphere was hazy. Our noses touched. Slightly ragged breathing tangled together. I mentioned this before, but Liam is an incredible kisser. From my forehead, to my eyes, the bridge of my nose, my lips, my collarbone… It was like a current of electricity, sending shiver after shiver through me. Restrained yet desperate. I opened my eyes, already dazed and clouded, wanting to pull him even closer. “Liam, I want you to…” Suddenly, I snapped back to reality. The leg I had hooked around his waist froze instantly. I suddenly remembered what he told his friend in the stairwell. Liam could hear. He could hear! I stared at the man who had his head buried in his work, acting as if he knew absolutely nothing. I bit my lip hard, forcing down the rest of the sentence I was about to say. What a manipulative jerk. He must have loved listening to me say all that stuff! If he’s going to act, then two can play at that game. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing my tense body to relax, keeping my mouth clamped shut and refusing to make a sound. Liam worked away for a long time. He seemed to sense something was off, but couldn’t blow his cover and reveal he could hear. He could only keep going. In a daze. He hooked my hand and pressed it against his stomach. The corners of his eyes were wet, looking like a pure yet feral male fox. I thought back to the things I used to say. “Hubby, you’re amazing. “Hubby, right there. “Hubby, you’re making me cry so hard I…” ENOUGH! I gritted my teeth, desperately holding onto my last shred of defense. Liam seemed to be engaged in a silent battle of wills with me. His wet, puppy-dog eyes stared at me intently, but his movements grew fiercer and fiercer. I honestly couldn’t hold it in anymore. I opened my mouth. But the words took a sharp, aggressive turn: “Liam, has your technique gotten worse?” I clearly felt the man on top of me go rigid. But he had to keep moving, tilting his head with a look of pure innocence, staring at my mouth and asking me what I was saying. I held back a laugh. “I said, you’re really bad at this.” “…” The man was furious but couldn’t dare speak. “Oh, right, you don’t have your hearing aid in, so you can’t hear me. “I really want to try a different guy. “I’ve been with you for too long, there’s no novelty left. “Right now, I’m kind of into the ‘golden retriever’ type. Sweet, young, and full of energy.” Liam’s face grew darker and darker. He still had to pretend he didn’t understand, asking me what I was babbling about. But before I could open my mouth to say anything else… He buried his face deep into the crook of my neck. He didn’t want to hear it anymore. The puppy didn’t like hearing those words. Tonight, a certain man who was playing deaf had his heart quietly shattered into a million pieces.

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I was officially dating the sweetest “puppy dog” boyfriend online. Every day, without fail, he’d send me photos of his abs. He was perfect. But the day before we were supposed to meet in person for the first time, he suddenly bailed. [Baby, I got jumped. It’s bad. Sobbing.] [My face is a mess. I can’t let you see me like this right now.] My heart completely broke for him. [Baby, who did this to you? What kind of animal puts their hands on you? Tell me who, and I swear I will end them!] His reply came instantly: [Julian Vance. St. Jude’s Hospital, Room 312.] I stared at the screen, and the metaphorical forty-foot blade I was ready to wield dropped from my hands. …Because I am Julian Vance. And just this afternoon, I had absolutely pulverized my insufferable stepbrother. 01 My phone buzzed. It was a message from my online boyfriend. [Baby, show me some skin.] I glanced at the screen, my ears heating up instantly. Is this guy crazy? It’s the middle of the day. I typed back: [Honey, I’m in my dorm room.] Y: [I don’t care. I’m having the worst day. I have to deal with two people I absolutely loathe in a few minutes.] [Baby.] [Pity party GIF.] Fine. I guess I have to spoil him. Luckily, my three roommates had just walked out. I locked the door, scrambled onto my bed, and started a video call. I didn’t show my face. Just… skin. … By the time we ended the call, I was drenched in sweat. I took a quick shower and headed straight for the Waterside Estate. Talk about ironies—I also had to deal with someone I absolutely loathed today. My stepbrother, who had never once looked me in the eye since day one. A year ago, after my mom remarried, we moved into my stepfather’s mansion in Waterside. I came back once a week for mandatory family dinner. And to inevitably run into Elias, my stepbrother. Today was no exception. As soon as I walked through the door, I saw him leaning back on the sofa, scrolling through his phone. He looked up and spared me a glance. His expression was anything but friendly. He had a shock of dyed blonde hair. If you didn’t know better, you’d think we owned a golden retriever that knew how to use a smartphone. My mom and stepdad, Arthur, were in the kitchen doing the cooking themselves. I let out a quiet scoff and sat down as far away from Elias as humanly possible. I pulled out my phone to reply to my boyfriend. Y: [Baby, I miss you so much~] [Being in the same room as someone I despise is actual torture.] I typed: [Tell me about it. I’m living that reality right now.] [Just looking at him makes me lose my appetite for dinner.] Y: [Ab shot photo.] [Don’t look at him, baby. Look at me.] Ugh, this look-but-don’t-touch thing is killing me. We’d been together for months but still hadn’t met up. Originally, we agreed to meet as soon as the semester started. Then he claimed he was too tan after basic training. Then he complained that some murderous barber completely ruined his hair. He definitely had a massive ego. Regardless, tomorrow was finally the day. We were actually going to meet. My mood immediately lifted. Even the insufferable blonde across from me didn’t seem quite as annoying. Mom brought the food out, and Elias and I shoved our phones away at the same time. I happened to glance at him, and the faint smirk that had been on his face instantly vanished. Me: “…” What a psycho. 02 At the dinner table, Mom and Arthur did most of the talking. Elias and I remained completely silent. We only spoke when absolutely forced to. The meal tasted like cardboard. After dinner, Arthur had an emergency at work and had to head back to the office. I was planning on leaving immediately, but Mom made me stay. Later that night, she brought a glass of warm milk to Elias. Elias didn’t take it. “How do I know you haven’t poisoned it? Trying to kill me off so your son can inherit my dad’s money?” My temper instantly flared. “Elias, take the milk or don’t, but watch your tone. Show some respect.” Elias turned to me, his expression dead. “What? Did I say something wrong?” “You think being a homewrecker and breaking up a family gives you moral ground?” I lunged and slammed a fist directly into Elias’s face. He tried to swing back. But I’d been training in boxing since I was a kid. I sidestepped, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it behind his back. “Apologize!” I spat, getting right in his face. He winced in pain, gritting his teeth, refusing to say a word. Mom started pleading, “Julian! Let him go!” I reluctantly released my grip. Elias had a toxic mouth and a rebellious streak. He always assumed I was after his father’s fortune. He always thought my mother had destroyed his parents’ marriage. Every time I wanted to teach him a lesson with my fists, I held back because of my mom. She genuinely loved Arthur. I didn’t want to make things hard for her. But today, I couldn’t take it anymore. Unexpectedly, the second I let go, Elias took advantage of the opening and landed a solid punch right on my nose. I didn’t have time to dodge. Son of a bitch. Just as I was about to retaliate and pulverize him, Arthur walked back in. Fuming, I grabbed my keys and went back to my dorm, refusing to stay another minute at the mansion. Mom sent me a novel’s worth of weary, pleading texts. I understood her position. I really did. But I was still furious. That animal Elias hit pretty hard. My nose was killing me. Back in the dorm, my roommate, Logan, looked at me in shock. “Holy shit. Your brother do that?” I gritted my teeth. “He did. But I don’t have a brother.” Logan teased, “Don’t you usually make your online sweetheart call you ‘Big Daddy’?” I glared at him, pulled out my phone, and said, “Don’t compare Elias to my baby. I need to get some sympathy from the one person who actually cares about me.” I opened messages, and he had already sent several texts and a photo. The photo only showed his profile. His lip was cut and swollen. [Baby, I got jumped. It’s bad. Sobbing.] [My face is a mess. I can’t let you see me like this right now.] Why is today such a clusterfuck? Both me and my baby got beaten up. My heart completely broke for him: [Baby, who did this to you? What kind of animal puts their hands on you? Tell me who, and I swear I will end them!] Y: [Julian Vance. St. Jude’s Hospital, Room 312.] 03 I froze. My entire body turned to ice. I turned my phone off, then unlocked it again. I rubbed my eyes hard. I pinched my thigh as hard as I could. It hurt like hell. I wasn’t dreaming. I hadn’t misread it. My baby was saying I was the one who beat him up. A million things flashed through my mind at once. My baby is a freshman at St. Jude’s. Elias is a freshman at St. Jude’s. My baby’s username is Y. Elias’s last name is Yale. At this point, I had to face a brutal reality. My online boyfriend was Elias Yale. In the dorm room, I let out a gut-wrenching, agonizing roar: “FUCK!” Logan ripped his bed curtains open in terror. “What is wrong with you?!” I waved a hand at him, looking like I’d just welcomed death. Then, I let out a squeal like a terrified gopher. Just thinking about the fact that I’d been calling Elias “baby” every day. Thinking about Elias calling me “darling” and “hubby.” Thinking about the video calls we had… where we both showed… things. To each other. I wanted to die. I actively wanted the ground to swallow me whole. No wonder I thought his voice sounded familiar the first time I met him. But at the time, I’d dismissed the possibility that he was my online boyfriend within a fraction of a second. That guy always had a frozen, resting-bitch-face, like the whole world owed him money. How could he possibly be my sweet, obedient, “puppy dog” baby? In this moment, I regretted everything. I should have been more suspicious. Every time I went back to Waterside, I complained to “Y” about my awful stepbrother. We both knew the other person had someone they absolutely despised in real life. Who would have guessed the despised person was… us? I was in absolute agony, and I couldn’t tell a soul. I didn’t sleep a wink. I scrolled through my entire chat history with Elias. It was a mess of emotions. How could my perfect baby be Elias? After a night of torture, I came to a decision. Since we hadn’t met up yet, I needed to make a clean break. Now. Run! I texted Elias, telling him I’d suddenly met someone in person at school that I really liked. Then I broke up with him. I blocked him and deleted his contact immediately. My heart felt completely hollow. Online dating is a curse! I am never doing this again as long as I live. Over winter break, I was on my Xbox, trying to rank up in Call of Duty. I was in a 1v1 matchup against another player in the same tier. The other guy kept calling in teammates for help. He was beating me, and I was getting pissed. After the match ended, I invited him to a private 1v1 duel. I absolutely annihilated him. Finally, I felt a sense of release. He sent a friend request. We started playing Doubles together frequently. After talking for a while, it became clear we both… leaned the same way. He was three years younger than me and started calling me “Daddy.” I was completely whipped. One thing led to another, we set up “partner” tags in-game, bought matching skins. We started dating. Knowing he was coming to St. Jude’s as a freshman, becoming my schoolmate… I was so excited I couldn’t sleep that entire night. Thank god he had such a massive ego back then, so we never met up. Otherwise, I can’t even imagine that scene. It would have been pure hell. 04 I spent the entire next day asleep in my dorm room. I woke up in the late afternoon to a call from my mom. “Your stepdad called Elias into his study early this morning. They talked for hours.” “Then, Elias came out and gave me a very awkward, stiff apology.” “When you have some time, you should talk to him, too.” I let out a sigh. “I have nothing to talk to him about.” “As long as he doesn’t say awful things to you, I’m fine with leaving him alone.” Mom sighed on the other end. “I suppose that’s for the best.” “I saw him sitting out in the garden alone this afternoon, crying. I’m afraid something terrible must have happened.” “His eyes were swollen shut from crying.” “I didn’t dare ask him. When I tried to get him to eat, he said he wasn’t hungry.” I froze. Could this be because I broke up with him? After hanging up, I opened Snapchat and saw a dozen new friend requests from fake accounts. The accompanying messages were heartbreaking. [Darling, everything was fine yesterday. Why did you suddenly break up with me today?] [Did I do something wrong? Tell me, I’ll change. I’ll do anything.] [Please just accept my friend request so we can talk, okay?] [Baby, I’m in so much pain.] My heart twisted. I turned the phone off. How is this kid a completely different person online versus in real life? Monday, on my way to class, I ran right into Elias in the hallway. I scanned him. The cut on his lip still hadn’t healed. His eyes were indeed swollen. He stared at me with an icy, dead expression. I quickly looked away. Frozen, my ass. If you knew who I was, I wonder if you’d still be acting like this. If I was a bad person, I could play you like a fiddle. For the next few days, I had zero appetite. Logan knew the whole story by now and kept sighing about “cruel fate.” To distract myself, I dragged Logan to play basketball all afternoon. As dusk fell, we walked past the quad and saw a student band setting up for an open-mic night. We grabbed a random spot on the grass and sat down. Until I heard a voice I knew too well. “I’d like to dedicate this next song to someone at this school.” The backing music started—it was “The Long and Winding Road” by The Beatles. Elias actually had a beautiful singing voice. It was deep and resonant. Very alluring. His pronunciation was perfect. Back when we were dating over the phone, I always made him sing for me. This was my favorite song. When he finished, the quad erupted in thunderous applause. Elias had already made a name for himself during freshman orientation with his looks. After this song, he’d probably double his admirers. Logan said, “I did some asking around. Elias has put out the word that he already has someone he likes.” I buried my face in my knees and replied, “I don’t want to know!” Elias was tireless, sending me friend requests from new accounts every day. [I sang a song for you at the quad open-mic tonight. Did you hear it?] [Baby, I think about you every single second of every day.] God, he’s annoying. The more I see it, the more annoyed I get. The more annoyed I get, the less I can sleep. 05 Luckily, Arthur and Mom were going away on another vacation. I didn’t have to go back to Waterside and see Elias. I was hiding out in my dorm, playing video games, when I got a call from Arthur. His tone was strained. “Julian, can I ask you for a massive favor? Could you go check on Elias?” “He’s sick. He won’t go to the hospital, and he’s just locked himself up in that apartment I got him near campus.” After hanging up, I threw some clothes on and sprinted for Elias’s off-campus apartment building. I wasn’t worried about him. I was simply doing Arthur a favor. I knocked on the door for a while, but got no answer. So I entered the code Arthur had given me. There were several empty beer cans on the coffee table in the living room. I pushed open the bedroom door. There was a large lump under the covers. I pulled the comforter back. Elias’s face was flushed dark red, and his forehead was drenched in sweat. His temperature was dangerously high. This kid is going to kill himself. I started running around, getting a thermometer, making him take some ibuprofen. Then I used a cool towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He was frowning deeply, like he was having a nightmare. He started talking in his sleep. “I was wrong.” “Don’t leave me.” “Baby.” He was clutching my hand with terrifying strength. My heart suddenly felt like it was being pricked by a needle. I used my other hand to gently pat the back of his hand and said softly, “I’m not leaving.” Elias calmed down almost instantly. I stared at him closely. He actually looked pretty peaceful when he was asleep. He wouldn’t let go of my hand, and I couldn’t pry it loose without waking him. Before I knew it, I slumped against the edge of the bed and fell asleep, too. I woke up because my arm was completely numb. When I opened my eyes and tried to stretch, Elias was leaning against the headboard, watching me warily. Holy shit, you scared me. He asked, “What are you doing here?” Seeing his cold, distant demeanor again made me instantly furious. I snapped, “I’m here to take care of you, obviously.” “Arthur was afraid you were going to burn your brains out.” He looked slightly taken aback, and his tone softened a fraction. “Thank you.” I let out a cold scoff and checked the time. 3:00 AM. I was sweaty and gross. I wanted to take a shower. Ten minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around my waist. Elias was leaning against the door frame like some kind of sentry. I almost jumped out of my skin. My hand slipped, and the towel dropped to the floor. Furious and mortified, I snapped, “What is wrong with you? Are you standing there just to give me a heart attack?” He stared at me, and his gaze suddenly darkened. I realized he was staring at my waist. Crap. I used to send him photos of my abs all the time. I had a mole on my collarbone and another one right on my lower back, in the small of my waist. I frantically grabbed the towel and wrapped myself up. Close call. Too close. 06 I slept in the guest room. The next morning, I took Elias’s temperature, and it was normal. I let out a sigh of relief, then turned to him. “I’m leaving.” Elias called after me, looking like he was forcing himself to say something incredibly difficult: “Thank you again for taking care of me last night.” “And… about what happened the other day. I’m sorry.” “I shouldn’t have said those things to your mother. I was wrong. I misunderstood her.” I waved my hand and told him, “You’re apologizing to the wrong person. Tell my mom.” “I’ve already sent her an apology text.” I replied, “Then we’re good. After all, I pulverized you.” Elias: “…” He continued, “I used to think my dad abandoned my mom, but I just recently found out the truth. My mom abandoned my dad. And she abandoned me, too.” “She moved abroad with another guy.” “It feels like… I’m always being abandoned.” Elias’s voice got quieter and quieter, looking utterly lost and dejected. My breathing hitched. I turned around and said, “Don’t overthink it. Arthur loves you more than anything.” “You just started your freshman year. Stop skipping classes, and stop drowning your sorrows in beer.” Elias fell silent for a moment. I figured I’d successfully shut him up with my “dad lecture.” Then, I heard him say, “Julian, I swear your voice sounds more and more familiar every time I hear it.” My stomach dropped. I gave a forced, awkward laugh. “I have a generic voice.” I fled the apartment as if it were on fire. I had just gotten to the bottom of the apartment building when my phone rang. Mom. “Julian, sweetie? You and Elias seem to be getting along a bit better?” “Arthur said Elias just asked him for your Snapchat username.” I stopped dead in my tracks. My phone slipped from my hands and hit the pavement. I stood there, a total disaster. I only have one Snapchat account. I don’t have a burner. I told myself: You are dead. You are so dead. 07 I was wandering down the street like a zombie, trying to call an Uber. Then, I heard fast, urgent footsteps behind me. What will be, will be. Elias ran up to me, panting, staring at me in absolute disbelief. “Julian. It’s you.” I turned around, forcing myself to look calm. “Yeah. It’s me. Disappointed? Trust me, the feeling is mutual.” “So you can stop sending me friend requests now. I’m tired of blocking them.” Just as I finished speaking, my car arrived. I scrambled into the backseat. For the next few days, my friend request page on Snapchat was finally quiet. I sat on my bed, staring at my phone. This was exactly what I wanted. I should have been happy. But my heart was thoroughly twisted in knots. See? Elias Yale hates Julian Vance. The only person he loved was that imaginary guy online. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Wait, what am I even angry about? Oh, I knew what I was angry about. The truth was, I still really loved my puppy dog baby. Even knowing he was Elias. Or to put it another way—I loved Elias. I couldn’t stop looking at him. I was completely drawn to him. I walked down from the second floor of the mansion. The maid was in the kitchen cooking. Arthur and Mom were on the sofa, talking. I was planning to head back to school immediately. Arthur asked, “Julian, you aren’t staying for dinner? Elias will be here in a few minutes.” I used “urgent schoolwork” as an excuse and bolted out the door. Talk about bad timing. The second I walked out of the gate, I ran right into Elias. And the girl he’d been seen with at school this afternoon. He’s bringing her home to meet his dad? Things are moving that fast? I walked right past them, ignoring them completely. Elias called out, “Julian, where are you going?” I snapped, “None of your business!” I walked away as fast as I could. None of my roommates were back yet. I was alone in the dorm. I lay on my bed, my chest feeling tight. Am I officially heartbroken? I was deep in thought when I heard a knock on the door. I opened it. Elias. “Julian, your mom said you were in a terrible mood. What’s wrong?” I spat back, “Why aren’t you with your girlfriend? Why are you here bothering me?” He looked confused. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” “The girl I was with this afternoon? That’s my cousin. She’s my uncle’s daughter.”

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I only found out later. The reason they didn’t come to pick me up themselves was because Maya had attempted suicide. No wonder everyone in that house treated me with such icy indifference. It turns out, they were terrified of triggering her. They explained to me later that Maya had a history of severe clinical depression. She had finally started to open up and become happy again. But my sudden reappearance caused a massive relapse. They asked me to be understanding. I didn’t care. If they didn’t love me, that was fine. I wasn’t starved for affection. I already had a family who truly loved me. 1 To say I wasn’t expectant would be a lie. What kid wouldn’t be expectant when they finally find their biological parents? When I found out from our nosy but well-meaning neighbors that my mom and dad weren’t my biological parents… I went home and cried my eyes out. But my parents managed to coax me out of it with a mountain of snacks, new toys, and endless promises. The main reason it worked was because they treated me so incredibly well. There was absolutely no difference between how they treated me and how other parents treated their biological kids. When I messed up, they would scold me and teach me the right way to do things. When I brought home good grades, they were bursting with pride. When I threw irrational tantrums, my dad would get so mad he’d give me a couple of swats on the rear, but never in front of other people. When I caught a severe flu and had a dangerously high fever, my mom cried her eyes out in the ER, and my dad stayed awake all night taking care of me. Every scrape or bruise I got made their hearts ache. Even after my little brother was born, they never showed an ounce of favoritism. Kids have short memories. Wrapped in the warmth of that home, I quickly forgot about the adoption revelation. I grew up happy and carefree all the way into middle school. Both of my parents were public school teachers, so my academic discipline was always pretty strong. Since elementary school, I had never dropped out of the top three in my grade. During the high school entrance exams, I overperformed and scored the second-highest in the entire city. The top two magnet high schools in the district both offered me full rides. While my parents and I were still debating which school would be a better fit… That was when my biological parents found me. It turned out that a while back, when I went to Chicago for the national finals of a physics competition, a chaperone parent—who happened to be a distant relative of my biological parents—thought I looked incredibly familiar. Apparently, my eyes and brow line were a carbon copy of my biological mother’s. Combined with the fact that I was the exact right age, she snapped a photo of me right then and there and sent it to my biological mother. My biological parents immediately launched an investigation and discovered I had been adopted by my current family. After that, it was a blur of police involvement, DNA testing, and legal paperwork. When the DNA results came back positive, the elegant, highly refined woman who looked so much like me completely lost her composure, holding me and sobbing uncontrollably. I could feel the overwhelming, uncontrollable emotion pouring out of her. The tall, broad-shouldered man standing next to her—my biological father—was also secretly wiping his eyes. My biological mother’s body trembled as she held me. She cried and laughed at the same time, saying thank God I was adopted by a kind family and didn’t have to suffer. Since the biological connection was confirmed, and I was a minor, the law technically favored me returning to my biological parents. But there was still a lot of paperwork to sort out on both sides, so they couldn’t just take me away immediately. I also needed time to properly say goodbye to the parents who raised me. When my biological parents left, they stopped the car several times before finally driving away. My biological mother got out of the car multiple times, hugging me tightly, looking back at me with every step she took toward the vehicle. They promised they would come pick me up in a few days. 2 Finding my biological parents and learning I wasn’t intentionally abandoned by them brought me a deep sense of joy. They told me the story of what happened when I was born. Shortly after I was born, a nanny they had hired stole some expensive jewelry from my biological mother. When she found out, she fired the nanny immediately. The nanny harbored a deep grudge. A few days later, she snuck back into the Vance family estate and abducted me. I vanished just like that, and they could never find me again. They didn’t know exactly what happened after that, but it was highly likely the nanny eventually just abandoned me. My current adoptive parents had adopted me from a local orphanage. They had been married for several years and couldn’t conceive, so they decided to adopt. I was incredibly lucky to cross paths with such a kind-hearted couple. They truly treated me as their own flesh and blood, pouring everything they had into raising me. When I was four, they miraculously conceived a child of their own—my little brother. They always said having a daughter and a son made their family perfectly complete. Knowing I was going to be separated from them and move to my biological parents’ home in Chicago, I hugged them and cried hysterically. I asked them if I could just stay. I wanted to keep living with them. As for my biological parents, I could just visit them during summer and winter breaks. Of course, my parents didn’t want to let me go, but they swallowed their own pain and gently reasoned with me. “We raised you for all these years, of course we don’t want to let you go. But they are your biological parents, and they’ve been searching for you for over a decade!” “As parents, the agony of losing a child is like having your heart ripped out. They’ve been living in torment every single day.” “The sheer miracle of finding you again… how could we possibly be cruel enough to stand in the way of that?” “Besides, we can tell they truly love you, which is the only reason we’re willing to make this sacrifice.” “And there’s another thing. Your biological parents live in Chicago, in one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. They are a true, old-money family.” “The resources and opportunities they can provide for you are things we couldn’t match even if we worked for several lifetimes.” “They can give you a much better life.” “But, Chloe, you will always, always be our daughter.” “Even if we don’t live under the same roof, remember that this house in Maple Creek will always be your home.” Despite the agonizing reluctance, I knew I had to leave. The one silver lining was that both my adoptive father and my biological father shared the last name Vance. Which meant I didn’t have to face the awkwardness of changing my last name. That night in bed, the faces of my biological parents floated through my mind. I realized that my features really did carry echoes of theirs. Especially my biological mother. I looked so much like her; it was no wonder that relative instantly thought of her the second she saw me. Maybe that innate biological connection was real? Thinking about the sheer joy and concern in their eyes, and their extreme reluctance to leave me, a wave of warmth flooded my heart. What would it feel like to live with my biological parents? Would they be as good to me as my mom and dad are now? A seed of anticipation began to take root in my heart. But, when the day came for me to be picked up, the only person who arrived was an older man who introduced himself as the Vance family butler. My biological parents did not personally come to take me home, as they had promised. 3 Under the butler’s guidance, I flew on a plane for the very first time in my life, and in first class, no less. When we landed in Chicago, only a driver was there to pick us up. The car navigated through the sprawling metropolis for over an hour before arriving at a stunning, gated residential community. Just as my parents had said, the Vance family was incredibly wealthy. The house in front of me was a massive, sprawling estate, exactly like the ones you see in movies about the ultra-rich. I had never seen a house this huge, or a yard this vast. There were people in the gardens using riding mowers to trim the immaculate lawns. I looked over curiously, and the butler told me they were just the estate staff and I didn’t need to greet them. Inside the luxurious, cavernous living room, there was only one woman standing there waiting. The butler said to her: “This is Miss Chloe. Please take her to her room and make sure she is settled in.” With that, he handed me off to this woman, “Martha,” and left. Martha took my suitcase, her tone perfectly respectful: “Miss Chloe, the Madam has already had your room decorated. Please follow me.” I followed her up the grand staircase. The room was on the second floor. It was massive, with its own en-suite bathroom and a walk-in closet. It was decorated in a very girly style; the furniture and wallpaper were all shades of soft pink. “Miss Chloe, you must be exhausted from the trip. You can rest for a while.” “Um—” I paused. I still couldn’t quite bring myself to say ‘Mom and Dad.’ “Are they… are they all busy?” Martha’s expression faltered for a second. “Ah? Oh, yes. The Mister and Madam are both busy.” I nodded and walked into the room. I opened my suitcase and hung all my clothes in the closet. It was a late summer afternoon. Aside from the faint hum of traffic in the distance, the entire mansion was eerily silent. My body was exhausted from the long trip, but lying in the massive bed, I couldn’t fall asleep. An inexplicable wave of grievance washed over me. When they left, they had been so reluctant to say goodbye. When they held me, they cried with such profound sorrow. The way they looked at me was so tender. She was the one who explicitly promised she would personally come to Maple Creek to pick me up. They were adults. They broke their promise. And now, they just dumped me in this massive house all by myself. Two liars. Maybe… maybe they really were dealing with a massive emergency and couldn’t get away? The CEO of the Vance Corporation, the matriarch of the Vance family… they sounded like incredibly busy people. Just like the executives on TV, constantly rushing from one crisis to the next. 4 In a hazy, half-awake state, I spent my first afternoon there. When I finally got up and looked out the window, the sky had already turned dark. Martha knocked on the door, calling me down for dinner. Right as I started eating, a tall, lean, and incredibly handsome teenage boy rushed into the dining room. “Young Master, why are you back so soon?” Martha looked shocked and hurriedly rushed over to greet him. I stared at the handsome boy under the chandelier, momentarily stunned. Even though it was our first time meeting, there was an undeniable familiarity to his face. I instantly guessed who he was. My older brother. I had heard Mrs. Vance mention before that I had an older biological brother, two years older than me. His name was Julian Vance. Mrs. Vance had looked apologetic, explaining that my brother was in Switzerland for an elite summer camp and couldn’t make it back in time to see me. She had emphasized: “Your brother was so incredibly excited when he heard we found you. He even picked out a gift for you. But the camp wouldn’t let him leave early, so he’ll have to meet you a little later.” I had nodded, expressing my understanding. Brother? That title felt very alien to me. But also very exciting. I’d heard that older brothers were usually very protective of their little sisters. Would he be like that? I felt another surge of anticipation. And now, my brother was standing right in front of me. I put down my fork, my hands balling into nervous fists. I hesitated, not knowing what my very first sentence to him should be. Should I just call him ‘brother’ right away? Would that seem too casual? But if I didn’t, would it seem impolite? While I was agonizing over it, Martha spoke up: “Young Master, you haven’t had dinner yet, have you? Perfect timing, you can eat with Miss Chloe.” “Chloe?” The boy seemed to finally notice I was there, his gaze sweeping over me. I gathered my courage, trying my best to smile naturally. “Hi, brother, I—” “Is Maya still at the hospital?” Julian interrupted me completely, looking directly at Martha. “Ah? Oh, yes.” Martha nodded. “But the Madam just called. She said Miss Maya is mostly fine now, and they should be home in an hour at the latest.” “Young Master, you should eat first. By the time you’re done, they’ll be arriving.” Julian immediately turned on his heel, taking large strides toward the front door. “I can’t wait. I need to see for myself that Maya is okay.” He was like a whirlwind. He arrived in a rush, and he left in a rush. After he left, I looked at Martha, staring blankly as I asked: “Who is Maya?” 5 “Miss Maya is the daughter the Mister and Madam adopted. She’s also the Madam’s biological niece.” Martha had originally only intended to give a brief summary. But perhaps the urge to gossip took over, and the more she talked, the more invested she got. I had absolutely no idea the Vance family had another daughter. They had never mentioned her to me. This girl named Maya was exactly my age, only two months older than me. She was the daughter of Mrs. Vance’s younger brother. When Maya was seven, her parents were killed in a tragic accident. During the car crash, her parents desperately shielded her with their bodies. At such a young age, witnessing the brutal death of her parents, the trauma was so severe that she stopped speaking completely. Psychiatrists diagnosed her with severe clinical depression. At that time, Mrs. Vance, who had lost her own daughter, felt a deep, empathetic connection with her traumatized niece. She brought the girl home, spent every day with her, and took her to countless specialists. While trying to heal Maya, she was also trying to save herself. Over time, the girl’s dependence on Mrs. Vance grew deeper and deeper. The two of them formed a profound emotional bond, mutually healing each other. As the days turned into years, Mrs. Vance and Maya slowly emerged from the shadows of their respective traumas. Their mental states gradually returned to normal. Maya even started speaking again. Reaching this point in the story, Martha couldn’t help but sigh: “These past few years have been incredibly difficult for the Madam and Miss Maya.” “To coax a smile out of them, the Mister and the Young Master have basically exhausted every trick in the book.” “When they finally started smiling again, that was when this house finally felt alive.” Saying this, she offered me a comforting look: “But now that you’re back, Miss Chloe, this family is truly complete. There are no more regrets.” “I am genuinely so happy for the Madam.” “Thinking back to those early years when she cried herself to sleep every single night… sigh, it’s better not to dwell on the past.” “Anyway, it’s nothing but good days from here on out.” Good days? I sat blankly at the dining table, staring straight ahead, feeling utterly lost in a fog of confusion. After finishing dinner, I sat on the sofa in the living room. Martha tried several times to persuade me to go upstairs, take a shower, and rest, but I refused. I stubbornly insisted on waiting for them to come home. Right around 10:00 PM, I finally heard noise outside. I looked over and saw several figures walking through the massive front doors. Mr. and Mrs. Vance, my biological parents, I recognized immediately. My brother, Julian, I had just met. But there was another girl with them, looking about my age. She looked incredibly frail and thin, her face paper-white. Mrs. Vance had her arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. It was my first time in this strange new environment. I had spent the entire afternoon alone, and it was natural to feel timid and scared. Seeing familiar faces, I couldn’t stop myself from running toward them. I stood in front of Mrs. Vance, my eyes shining with joy, waiting for her to hug me. After all, just a few weeks ago, she had hugged me every single day, refusing to let go, looking terrified that someone might snatch me away again. But she didn’t hug me. Instead, she held the girl next to her even tighter and took a step back. She frowned, her tone laced with displeasure: “Watch where you’re going. Don’t bump into Maya. She has a weak constitution.” 6 Her expression made me feel like I was looking at a complete stranger. I glanced at Mr. Vance and Julian; both of them were looking at me with distinct disapproval. As if they were reprimanding me for being reckless. I felt completely paralyzed with awkwardness. I stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do. The three of them walked right past me, heading further into the house. I could see that Mrs. Vance’s eyes were entirely focused on the girl named Maya. She didn’t even spare me a glance out of the corner of her eye. Mrs. Vance helped Maya sit down on the sofa and instructed Martha: “Warm up a glass of milk for the Miss.” Mr. Vance and Julian crowded around her as well, their eyes full of concern. “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?” “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?” “Do you want to go back to your room and rest?” The girl named Maya slowly shook her head. “I’m okay now, Mom, Dad.” Oh. So she called them Mom and Dad directly. Oh. So during the years I was gone, they had already gotten another daughter. Then, Maya turned her head, looked at me, and blinked. “So this is Chloe, your biological daughter?” Her voice was incredibly airy and light, making her sound like she lacked the energy to even speak. Mrs. Vance’s gaze never left Maya. She answered casually: “Yes. She’s two months younger than you, so she’s technically your younger sister.” It sounded like she was introducing a completely irrelevant person. I stood there awkwardly, digging my fingernails into my palms. “Oh right, Maya, I brought you a gift from Switzerland.” Julian spoke up. “It’s that designer plushie you’ve been wanting. I’ll go get it for you right now.” He got up, opened his suitcase, pulled out an elaborately wrapped box, and handed it to the girl. “Thank you, Julian.” The girl opened it, her eyes lighting up with joy, her tone delighted. I suddenly remembered what Mrs. Vance had told me: “Your brother was so incredibly excited when he heard we found you. He even picked out a gift for you.” A bizarre, stubborn defiance flared up in my chest, forcing me to stand there rigidly. As if I were waiting for something. But I waited, and nothing came. After Julian handed over the gift, the three of them watched adoringly as the girl showed off the plushie, discussing its origins and backstory. It felt like two distinct force fields had formed in the living room. Them in one, me in the other. I couldn’t cross into their world. Watching them patiently humor the girl and her plushie, I silently turned around and walked upstairs. That night, hiding under the covers, my grievance morphed into an uncontrollable flood of tears. They soaked half my pillow. 7 I missed my mom and dad so much. I abruptly sat up in bed. I opened my suitcase. Inside lay a solitary smartphone box. My parents had promised me that if I scored in the top three of my entire school on the high school entrance exams, they would reward me with a smartphone. They hadn’t even had the chance to buy it before my biological parents showed up, throwing everything into chaos. Right before I left, my dad rushed out of the house. When he came back, he shoved a brand-new smartphone directly into my suitcase. “A promise is a promise. Mom and Dad always keep their word.” He also handed me a new SIM card. “This is a secondary line attached to my account. It’s never been used. You use this for now, and you can switch to a local Chicago number once you get settled.” I took the new phone out and popped the SIM card in. I knew my parents’ phone numbers by heart. I immediately dialed my mom’s number. When the call connected, I had barely managed to say, “Mom, it’s Chloe,” before the sound of a little boy wailing like a banshee erupted from the speaker. “Chloe Vance, where did you go?!” “I only went to Grandpa’s house for half a month, how could you just disappear when I got back?” “You promised if I got first place on my finals, you’d take me to the arcade! You’re a giant liar!” As he kept talking, his tone shifted from righteous indignation to pathetic whimpering. “Mom and Dad said you found your biological parents. Are you ever coming back, sis?” “I already miss you so much, sis.” “How could you be so cruel and just leave me?” The tears I had just managed to dry started falling all over again. “Chloe, it’s Mom.” My mom’s gentle voice came through the receiver. “Don’t listen to your brother, he’s just throwing a little tantrum. Tell me, you’re back now, your biological parents must be thrilled, right? What kind of delicious food did they make for you? Are you adjusting okay over there?” Hearing my mom’s familiar, soothing voice flowing into my ear, my tears—which had finally stopped—began falling in massive drops once more. When people feel wronged, the hardest thing to bear is hearing the voice of someone who truly cares about them. Because the grievance instantly magnifies tenfold. I fought back the sobs, covering the phone’s mouthpiece, taking deep breaths to force my emotions back under control. When I finally spoke again, the tremor was gone from my voice. “They’re treating me really well. The house here is huge and incredibly fancy. The food is great, and my bedroom is the pink color I love. I’m adjusting perfectly fine.” My mom’s anxiety finally seemed to dissipate. “That’s wonderful. Focus on your studies, and whenever you have time, come back and visit. Your room here will always be waiting for you.” “Mhm. Sounds good, Mom.” Right before we hung up, I could still hear my little brother complaining loudly in the background: “I wasn’t done talking yet!” After that phone call, I felt significantly better. The negative emotions that had been suffocating me—the grievance, the resentment, the discomfort—vanished in an instant. I felt like my energy had been fully restored. Lying in bed, I started to think rationally. Maybe the girl named Maya really was just in very poor health. She looked so frail, so pale, she clearly didn’t look healthy. Martha had also said they had just gotten back from the hospital. So Maya must have had a medical emergency, right? When a girl you’ve raised since childhood gets sick—a girl who is essentially your own daughter—it’s completely natural for the whole family to be anxious and focused on her. This just proves they are deeply emotional people. It doesn’t mean they are cold and heartless, right? Was I being too petty by holding onto this? 8 The next morning, after getting washed and dressed, I hummed a little tune as I went downstairs. Seeing the family gathered around the dining table, I flashed a massive, bright smile and greeted them loudly. “Good morning, everyone!” As for what to actually call them, I genuinely didn’t know how to open my mouth. Mom and Dad? I couldn’t bring myself to say it yet. However, calling him “Brother” felt doable. I looked at Julian and said loudly, “Good morning, Brother!” Maya, who was looking down and sipping her soup, froze. The porcelain spoon slipped from her hand and clattered onto the floor. The other three immediately rushed over to her in a panic. “Maya, what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick again?” Maya’s expression looked like it was about to shatter, but she forced a brave, strained smile. “I was just startled hearing someone else call him ‘Brother.’ I’m just not used to it. I guess… I guess he’s not just my brother anymore.” The room plunged into dead silence. It took a long moment before Julian gently stroked the top of her head, comforting her softly: “Don’t worry. I’m your brother, and nobody is ever going to take me away from you.” Only then did Maya offer a genuine smile. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but sitting at that table, I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I just wanted to escape this awkward, suffocating situation as quickly as possible. After finishing my food, I put down my fork and practically sprinted upstairs to my room. Not long after, there was a knock at the door. I opened it. Julian was standing there. He spoke with an emotionless, flat tone: “From now on, don’t call me ‘Brother’ directly. Just call me Julian.” Perhaps seeing my bewildered expression, he cleared his throat and tried to explain. “Maya has a very weak constitution, and she’s extremely psychologically fragile. She can’t handle sudden shocks.” “You arriving so suddenly… she’s having a hard time processing it. Over time, as we all get used to each other, she’ll adapt.” “Okay, Julian.” I agreed obediently. He hadn’t been gone long when another knock came at the door. This time, it was Mr. and Mrs. Vance. They wore expressions of vague guilt and awkwardness. “Um, Chloe, as you can see, Maya is a very sensitive child.” “If you start calling us Mom and Dad, she—” “I understand.” I interrupted her with a smile. “I’ll just call you Mr. and Mrs. Vance!” Honestly, calling them Mom and Dad was something I couldn’t bring myself to do anyway. This saved me the trouble. Seeing me say this, they visibly relaxed. Mrs. Vance nodded approvingly. “I knew it. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were a very mature, understanding girl, Chloe.” She reached out, intending to pat me on the head. I instinctively took a step back, dodging her hand. A flash of hurt crossed her eyes. She froze for a second, but ultimately said nothing.

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