Ethan Hunt had a sex addiction. Whatever he wanted in bed, I did it. He wanted me in black stockings. I wore them. He wanted car sex in crowded places. I went along. He always said my body drove him crazy. But even so, he still got himself a mistress. Sabrina. “Vivian Gray is a dead fish in bed. How could she compare to you, baby?” He said Sabrina was wild in bed. That she knew how to please him. I stared at the intimate photos and pregnancy test results Sabrina had sent to my phone. I took a deep breath. I’d prepared the DNA paternity report long ago. I sent it to Ethan’s mother and the board of directors. I also sent the recording of that conversation. I smiled and turned off my phone. You bastard. Now it’s my turn to play with you. Vivian’s POV In everyone else’s eyes, Ethan Hunt was the cold, untouchable CEO of Hunt Corporation. Only I knew the truth. He had a sex addiction. Tonight, we went from the dining table to the couch, then to the bedroom. Three straight hours. He almost made me pass out several times. While I was barely conscious, Ethan was completely turned on, pounding into me nonstop. He leaned down, his voice low and rough. “Tired already? We’ve got a long night ahead.” I was so tired I could barely open my eyes. I said nothing. Ethan chuckled softly and kissed my earlobe. “Sleep if you’re tired, darling.” Just as I was about to fall asleep with my eyes closed, Ethan’s phone vibrated. Ethan probably didn’t want to wake me, so he walked toward the balcony outside the bedroom. The door wasn’t fully closed, and the conversation clearly reached my ears. I could tell it was his good friend and college roommate, Derek Shaw. “Ethan! What the hell is going on between you and Sabrina!” Derek’s fury was palpable even through the phone. Ethan replied calmly, “You don’t need to worry about this.” Hearing Sabrina’s name, my drowsiness vanished instantly. Sabrina Moore. The one who bullied Ethan in high school. She’d been expelled long ago. How was she involved with Ethan again? Derek grew even angrier. “I don’t care about Sabrina! But how can you hurt Vivian? All these years, if it weren’t for her staying by your side, helping you with treatment, could you have the good life you have today?” “Vivian won’t know.” “Sabrina’s already pregnant with your child, and you tell me Vivian won’t know!” Derek was practically shouting. My mind went blank. Ethan was silent for a moment. “Once Sabrina has the baby, I’ll wait a couple of years. Then I’ll tell Vivian the child is from an orphanage. That she’s a sweet kid. Vivian’s too kind. She’ll take her in and love her like her own.” “Ethan, don’t go too far!” Derek’s roar suddenly disappeared. Ethan had hung up. My whole body went cold, my head buzzing. The phone vibrated again. Ethan answered, and a woman’s weak voice came through. “Ethan, my stomach hurts. Can you come over?” I recognized that voice. It was Sabrina. Ethan became unusually tense. “Don’t be scared. I’m coming right away.” He quickly got dressed and left. I opened my eyes as tears silently slid down, soaking the pillow. What just happened left my thoughts in chaos. I just felt like my chest had been hollowed out, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe. I closed my eyes, and memories flooded back like a tide. Ethan was the only son of the wealthy Hunt family in New York, but at three years old, he was kidnapped and sold to a couple. That couple were bad people. They either beat or scolded him, didn’t let him eat his fill, and often kicked him out of the house. Ethan developed severe emotional disorder. He couldn’t feel pain, couldn’t feel love, and had no emotions. In high school, that couple moved near my house, and Ethan and I became schoolmates. At school, Ethan was isolated because of his withdrawn personality and unusual family background. He never spoke to anyone, but Sabrina in our class constantly bullied him. Sabrina put dead mice in his desk, insects in his water bottle, and deliberately pushed him down the stairs. Ethan showed no reaction, so the bullying only got worse. Finally, Sabrina locked him in the sports equipment room. The darkness and confinement triggered Ethan’s claustrophobia, and he started self-harming. I happened to pass by and saved him, then reported it to the school. Sabrina was expelled. That couple didn’t care about Ethan at all, so I brought him home with me. From then on, my mom and dad raised Ethan like their own son. To cure his emotional disorder, I deliberately majored in psychology in college. I accompanied him through psychological counseling, taught him to recognize emotions, and held his hand when he woke from nightmares to tell him not to be afraid. He couldn’t smile, so every day I tried different ways to make him laugh, until he finally managed a smile. To raise money for Ethan’s treatment, I attended classes during the day and worked three part-time jobs at night. After seven full years of treatment, Ethan was finally cured. Now, in front of others, Ethan was just a seemingly calm, normal person. Two years ago, the Hunt family found Ethan and brought him home. But Ethan’s parents looked down on me from an ordinary family. They refused to let us be together no matter what, forcing Ethan to break up with me. Ethan refused. Ethan’s mother finally agreed, saying that as long as I gave birth to a Hunt family child, I could marry Ethan. But Ethan told me, “I don’t want children. I’m afraid a child would be like me, unable to feel love or pain.” Hearing this, my heart ached so much that tears fell. I actively used contraception. Seeing that I never got pregnant, Ethan’s mother’s attitude became even worse. Afraid of affecting Ethan’s position in the family, I didn’t dare tell anyone about his history of emotional disorder. I silently endured his mother’s difficulties and kept Ethan’s secret. I never felt bitter, never thought of giving up. We’d survived the hardest days. As long as I was with Ethan, I wasn’t afraid of anything. But now, I couldn’t endure anymore. As daylight gradually brightened, my tears had long since dried up. I sat up in bed, my eyes severely swollen and red. I picked up my phone and dialed Ethan’s mother’s number. “I’m willing to accept the thirty million you offered and leave Ethan forever!”

Vivian’s POV Ethan’s mother froze, her voice rising. “What did you say?” I repeated, “I’m willing to accept the thirty million you offered and leave Ethan forever.” She couldn’t believe it. “Don’t try any schemes! You’re not good enough for Ethan! You can’t bear children. Do you want him to have no heir?” I said coldly, “Don’t worry, he won’t be without an heir.” Someone had already gotten pregnant with his child. Afraid I’d change my mind, she said, “Come over right now. We’ll discuss this in person.” Half an hour later, the car the Hunt family sent stopped downstairs. I got in the car and was taken to the Hunt family’s villa. She had already prepared the agreement. “This money is enough for your family to live on for a lifetime, but after you receive it, you must leave Ethan forever. Don’t drag him down anymore, understand?” I lowered my eyes and smiled self-mockingly. “I understand.” I would leave Ethan forever. I never wanted to see him again. She pushed the agreement over. I took the pen and, without any hesitation, signed my name at the bottom. She put away the agreement, finally showing a satisfied expression. A notification appeared on my phone: thirty million dollars, not a cent less. I took a deep breath. “I need one more favor from you.” She looked at me warily. “What favor?” “I need you to help arrange new identities for me and my parents. We’ll leave the country and never return.” She was completely reassured. “No problem. I guarantee Ethan won’t be able to find you.” Leaving the Hunt family villa, I didn’t return to the home I shared with Ethan. Instead, I went to my parents’ house. Mom was happy to see me. “What brings you here today?” I briefly explained the situation. “Ethan has a mistress. That mistress is even pregnant with his child. There’s no future for us. I can only take you abroad with me.” Her tears immediately fell. “What?! That scumbag! How dare he treat you like this!” The more she spoke, the angrier she got, raising her hand to wipe her tears. “If it weren’t for you back then, he would’ve been tortured to death by those trash foster parents long ago! Our family exhausted all our resources to send him to school and pay for his treatment, and this is how he repays us?” My dad was silent for a long time before sighing. “We helped him because we pitied him. We don’t want his repayment. Since he’s changed his heart, then we’ll just leave.” My tears fell. “Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. Because of me, you have to leave with me…” He patted my shoulder. “As long as we’re together, isn’t everywhere home?” My eyes reddened, and I nodded forcefully. My mom wiped her tears, crying as she recalled the past. Back then, our family’s circumstances were ordinary. My parents were regular people with modest salaries. With an extra person in the household, they simply couldn’t afford it. To support Ethan, my parents worked part-time jobs after their regular work. But they never shortchanged Ethan. His food and clothing were no worse than mine, and they paid his college tuition. Yet now, Ethan was hurting me like this. I took my identification documents from home and went to apply for a visa that afternoon. While waiting in line, Ethan called. “Vivian, why aren’t you home?” I answered calmly, “I went to my parents’ house.” Just then, the staff called my name. “Your visa materials have been approved. It will be ready in two weeks.” Ethan paused on the other end. “What visa? Where are you?” I made up an excuse. “My parents want to travel abroad. I’m accompanying them to apply for visas.” Ethan said, “Then I’ll come pick you all up.” “No need, we can get back ourselves.” I refused directly. That evening, I returned to the home I shared with Ethan. As soon as I entered, Ethan strode forward. He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Why didn’t you call me when you came home? I miss them too.” I silently thought, You won’t need to miss them anymore. I turned my head slightly, avoiding his movement. “You’re busy. Next time.” Ethan frowned and was about to hug me when my phone rang. It was a message from the high school alumni group. Classmates were discussing in the group that the day after tomorrow was the tenth anniversary of our graduation, and everyone wanted to have a reunion. I’d been student council president and had good relationships with everyone. After going abroad, I might never see these classmates again in my life. I replied in the group: “Sure, I’ll definitely be there.” Two days later, Ethan and I arrived at the reunion restaurant together. Quite a few people had already arrived in the private room. They were all happy to see us. “Vivian! Ethan! You two have been a couple since high school, when will you invite us to your wedding?” “Exactly! We’re all waiting!” Ethan smiled in response. I said nothing. I knew very well that wedding would never happen. We were chatting when the door to the private room was pushed open. Sabrina walked in and sat directly next to Ethan, her eyes full of provocation as she looked at me. I immediately noticed the hickeys on her neck. I picked up my wine glass and silently took a sip. As soon as Sabrina entered, the atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold. She’d always liked bullying people in high school. The one she bullied most severely was Ethan. No one welcomed Sabrina: “Sabrina, we didn’t invite you. What are you doing here?” “Exactly. After what you did back then, you still have the nerve to see us?” Ethan sat in his seat, frowning, saying nothing. Sabrina bit her lip, her eyes instantly reddening. The next second, she actually knelt on the floor. “I just came to see my classmates. I was young and made mistakes. I’m a sinner and I’ve been punished. If you think I was wrong, I apologize…” She choked up, tears sliding down her cheeks. “But you can’t insult my dignity. I’m not a mistress!”

Vivian’s POV Everyone in the room froze. No one expected her to kneel. For a moment, no one spoke. But I noticed that after Sabrina knelt, Ethan’s body immediately tensed, his fists clenched tight. Sabrina blinked her tearful eyes, her voice trembling. “You still won’t forgive me? Then I’ll give you my life!” She grabbed a wine bottle and smashed it on the floor, picked up a shard, and forcefully dragged it across her wrist. Ethan could no longer control himself. He suddenly stood up and rushed over. Ethan lunged forward and actually grabbed the shard with his bare hand. “What are you doing!” He whipped his head around, his presence instantly fierce. “Anyone who dares hurt her can go die!” The classmates were all stunned by his expression. He gripped the shard too hard, and blood poured out. Seeing him bleed, I instinctively went to pull him away. But Ethan, who’d lost his rationality, didn’t see who was coming. He raised his hand and pushed the person away hard. I was pushed heavily to the ground. Glass shards were everywhere on the floor. Sharp fragments pierced my palms, and blood quickly seeped out. I was in so much pain I almost passed out. Ethan didn’t notice me at all. He was busy bending down to lift Sabrina in his arms. “I’ll take you to the hospital!” With that, he rushed out of the room without looking back. Silence fell over the room. Several classmates snapped out of it and hurried over to help me up. “Vivian! Are you okay?” “Has Ethan gone crazy? What’s going on between him and Sabrina?” “We were helping him. Why is he siding with Sabrina?” I forced a bitter smile. “It’s exactly what you saw. So you probably won’t get to attend any wedding.” Several classmates froze and quickly changed the subject. “Don’t talk about that. Let’s get you to the hospital!” A few female classmates who were close to me supported me as we quickly headed out. When we reached the hospital emergency room, I saw Ethan. He was sitting in the blood collection room, letting a nurse draw his blood. The doctor stood nearby, frowning. “That patient’s condition isn’t critical. One person can donate a maximum of 400cc at a time. 400cc from you is enough. We can get the remaining 400cc from another hospital’s blood bank.” Ethan shook his head, his tone firm. “She’s pregnant. She can’t wait. She’s in danger.” The doctor hesitated but ultimately complied. My classmates watched this scene from afar, unable to believe it. Someone asked carefully, “Vivian, are you really okay?” I shook my head. “I already knew. Let’s go.” The female classmate next to me looked at me in shock. “How did you know?” I lowered my eyes. “He made a phone call in the middle of the night. I heard it.” Everyone felt sorry for me. “It’s good you saw that jerk’s true colors early. Better than finding out after marriage!” “Ethan must be blind. You treated him so well, yet he… ugh!” I forced a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.” When I got home, I sat alone on the couch in a daze. That night, Ethan didn’t come home and didn’t send any messages. Looking at my bandaged palm, I just felt empty inside. The next afternoon, the door lock suddenly rattled. Ethan pushed the door open, his face frighteningly dark. Without a word, he strode up to me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me outside. I stumbled several steps as he pulled me. “Where are you taking me?” Ethan didn’t answer, only said coldly, “You’ll know when we get there.” He pulled hard, not noticing the bandage on my hand. I couldn’t break free and could only follow him to the car. The car stopped in front of a high-end apartment building. The elevator reached the 16th floor. He took out a key and opened the door. The door opened to reveal a luxuriously decorated apartment. Sabrina wore a silk loungewear set and was sitting on the couch. Seeing us enter, she immediately stood up, her eyes reddening. I instantly understood. This was the house where Ethan kept his mistress. My heart ached so much I could barely breathe. Ethan stood next to Sabrina and looked at me. “Did you team up with those classmates to bully Sabrina?” I looked at Ethan in disbelief. I immediately understood that Sabrina had said something behind the scenes. And Ethan actually believed her. I laughed self-mockingly and pointed at Sabrina. “You think everyone likes bullying people the way she does?” Ethan’s expression darkened further. “You’re the student council president. They all listen to you. If it wasn’t you, then who? Sabrina personally heard several of them planning how to bully her. Vivian, you know I hate people who bully others the most!” Hearing these words, my chest felt like someone had torn open a gash. When I rescued Ethan from the sports equipment room that year, his face was pale, blood flowing from his wrists. Back then, he barely communicated with anyone. If you weren’t careful, he might self-harm. I called all the classmates together to care for him and cheer him up. No matter how hurtful his words were, the classmates didn’t mind. They continued to patiently comfort him and help him emerge from the shadows. The pain back then was caused by Sabrina. But now, Ethan was protecting Sabrina while accusing me and the classmates who helped him. I held back my tears. “You hate bullying? Why do you hate bullying? Did we bully you back then?” Ethan was rendered speechless by my question. But when he turned and saw Sabrina’s aggrieved face, he frowned again. His tone softened. “Regardless of the past, Vivian, just apologize to Sabrina, and we’ll let this go.” I closed my eyes. “What if I don’t apologize?” Ethan’s expression instantly turned cold. He stared at me and said sternly, “If you don’t apologize, everyone who attended the reunion will lose their jobs tomorrow.” I froze, because I knew Ethan could do it. With his current capability and position, making a few ordinary people lose their jobs was just a matter of one sentence. Those classmates were innocent. I couldn’t drag them down.

Vivian’s POV I took a deep breath and turned to face Sabrina. “I’m sorry, Miss Moore. Please forgive me.” A flash of triumph crossed Sabrina’s face, but she quickly replaced it with a pitiful expression. She wiped the corner of her eye and spoke softly, “Vivian, I don’t blame you. What happened back then was indeed my fault, though because of your report, I’ve had a terrible life these years…” Her tears fell again. “But that’s what I deserved. I actually really want to be friends with you. If you could…” She paused, her gaze falling on the bracelet on my wrist. “Give me that bracelet on your hand, I’d be so happy.” I blurted out, “Impossible!” That bracelet was the only keepsake my grandmother left me. When I was young, my parents both worked and had no time to care for me. I was raised by my grandmother. In high school, Grandma was critically ill, but Ethan’s condition was very unstable at the time. I stayed with him, not daring to leave. By the time Ethan’s emotions stabilized, my mom brought news of Grandma’s death. I never even saw Grandma one last time. I held the bracelet Grandma left behind and cried night after night. At that time, Ethan barely communicated with the outside world. But that day, he spoke his first complete sentence. He held my hand and said solemnly, “I will protect this bracelet for life, just as I will protect you.” That was his first promise to me. I stared at Ethan, my voice trembling. “She wants my bracelet, Ethan?” Ethan turned his head, not daring to look at my eyes. “Vivian, the bracelet is a dead object. It’s not as important as a living person.” My eyes turned red as I stared at him intently. Ethan’s brow furrowed deeply, as if hesitating. Just then, Sabrina’s tears fell again. She said pitifully, “Forget it, I don’t deserve it. Someone like me should live in the mud forever. How could I be qualified to be friends with you?” This sentence stung Ethan. He no longer hesitated and signaled to the bodyguard at the door. Two bodyguards immediately stepped forward. One pressed down on my shoulder while the other reached for my wrist. I struggled desperately. “Let go of me!” But how could I match the strength of two adult men? The bodyguard roughly tore the bracelet from my wrist and handed it to Sabrina. Tears instantly welled up. I glared at Ethan, my eyes full of disappointment and despair. Sabrina took the bracelet, a flash of triumph on her face. The next second, she loosened her hand, and the bracelet fell to the floor. The bracelet shattered into several pieces, fragments scattering everywhere. “Oops, I didn’t mean to…” Sabrina covered her mouth, pretending to be panicked. I desperately broke free from the bodyguards’ control, crouched on the ground, and picked up the fragments while crying. I clutched all the fragments in my palm, gripping them tightly. The edges of the bracelet were sharp. Combined with my already injured palm, blood seeped out. Ethan’s face changed dramatically. He grabbed my hand. “Vivian, let go now!” I raised my head, tears blurring my vision. I laughed, my laughter full of mockery. “Are you satisfied now? Is your Sabrina satisfied? Can you leave everyone alone now?” Ethan immediately picked me up. “Don’t talk. I’ll take you to the hospital right away!” Behind us came Sabrina’s call. “Ethan.” Ethan didn’t hear her at all and rushed out of the apartment. At the hospital emergency room, the doctor bandaged me. Seeing the wound, he frowned. “You just injured it two days ago, and now you’ve injured it again today? If you don’t take care of it properly, the flexibility of this hand will be affected in the future. It may never recover to what it was.” Ethan’s face turned white. “How did it get injured the day before yesterday? Why didn’t you tell me?” I stared woodenly out the window, my tone indifferent. “Isn’t it thanks to you?” Ethan froze, apparently remembering the scene from the reunion that day. His tone became panicked. “Vivian, I didn’t see. I-” I closed my eyes and shook my head. I didn’t want to hear him speak. Ethan’s words stuck in his throat, unable to come out. After the doctor rebandaged my wound and gave a long list of instructions. On the drive home from the hospital, I leaned against the car window with my eyes closed, not saying a word. Ethan hesitated for a long time before finally speaking. “I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, Vivian.” His voice was very low. “I just can’t stand seeing many people bully one person. When Sabrina knelt on the ground that day, I remembered myself back then, so I lost control.” I sneered inwardly. How was that the same? Sabrina knelt down voluntarily. No one forced her. No one invited her. She came on her own. Everyone present could see that Sabrina was deliberately acting. Only Ethan couldn’t see it. Or rather, he didn’t want to see it. I kept my eyes closed and said nothing. Seeing no response, Ethan grew more anxious. “I just wanted you to apologize to her today, wanted everyone to be okay. This outcome wasn’t my intention.” He continued, “I’ll have someone restore the bracelet. I promised I would protect this bracelet for life, just as I would protect you. I won’t go back on my word.” Mentioning the bracelet made my heart ache again. I remembered when Grandma died, the way he held my hand and said those words. Back then, his eyes were sincere and serious. But now, he personally had someone take the bracelet and watched it shatter. I spent seven years transforming Ethan from someone who couldn’t feel pain or love into a normal person who understood love and kindness. But he gave all his love and kindness to Sabrina. My heart hurt to the point of numbness. I still didn’t speak. The car fell silent again. Looking at my pale face, Ethan’s expression grew increasingly panicked. He took a deep breath. “Vivian, there’s nothing between Sabrina and me. I just ran into her recently and saw her working as a waitress at a small restaurant, being bullied. She was pitiful.” “Besides, I really was abnormal back then. I can’t blame her for saying I was sick.” Hearing that last sentence, I suddenly laughed. I opened my eyes, turned my head to look at Ethan, and laughed until tears came out. The person I worked so hard to save all these years actually thought he deserved to be bullied.

Vivian’s POV The car stopped. I pushed the door open and walked away, not wanting to say another word to him. Ethan quickly caught up, reaching out to grab me. I sidestepped and shook off his hand. Ethan chased me to the doorway and grabbed my wrist again, saying frantically, “Vivian, the only person I love is you. I want to be with you forever. Believe me.” I shook off his hand once more and entered the house expressionlessly. I didn’t expose him, nor did I want to go along with him. Nothing he said mattered anymore. Over the next few days, Ethan didn’t go anywhere. He stayed home the whole time. He was more diligent and considerate than before, barely letting me do anything. His phone rang countless times. Each time it rang, Ethan would frown and stare at the screen. His finger hovered over the answer button but never pressed it. Finally, he steeled himself and pressed reject. I took it all in. I said flatly, “Answer it. Maybe it’s urgent.” Ethan shook his head hastily. “Nothing’s urgent. Nothing is more important than you.” He was about to step forward and pull me into his arms. I stood up directly, avoiding his outstretched hand, turned, and went back to the bedroom. Two days later, the bracelet was repaired. Ethan came home with the box, happily presenting it to me. “Vivian, look, it’s exactly like before.” I took the box and opened it for a glance. The bracelet was indeed restored well. The cracks were concealed and couldn’t be seen. But broken was broken. No amount of restoration would help. I closed the box without another look. I walked into the bedroom. Just then, my phone rang. I pressed the answer button. A voice came from the other end: “Miss Gray, all the materials for your visa have been approved. It will be ready in three to five days.” “Okay, I understand. Please notify me when the visa is ready…” I replied. Ethan suddenly pushed the door open. “What visa? Vivian, you applied for a visa?” My expression was natural. “My parents’ tourist visa. I told you last time.” Ethan paused, relieved, and didn’t ask further. Three days later was my birthday. Early in the morning, Ethan was busy in the kitchen. He even had Boston lobster, my favorite, shipped in. Before we started eating, the doorbell rang. Ethan went to open the door. Sabrina stood outside. She looked haggard, her eyes red and swollen, noticeably thinner. “I know today is Vivian’s birthday. I’m not here to cause trouble.””Today’s my birthday too. My parents are dead, and I’m alone in an empty house, scared to death. I just wanted someone by my side on my birthday.” Ethan’s brow furrowed deeply. He was silent for a long time without speaking. Sabrina raised her hand and touched her belly, her expression even more sorrowful. Without a word, Ethan stepped aside and let her in. At the table, the three of us sat down. Ethan wouldn’t let me lift a finger. He skillfully began peeling shrimp. But he unconsciously placed the food onto Sabrina’s plate without a second thought. He didn’t even realize it himself. Triumph flashed in Sabrina’s eyes as she raised her head to look at me. I calmly looked away and continued eating. My heart was already dead. It wouldn’t hurt anymore. After a while, Ethan brought out the Boston lobster. The steaming hot Boston lobster was placed on the table, its aroma filling the air. Ethan picked one up and started peeling it for me. Sabrina watched this scene, jealousy surging in her eyes. She deliberately reached for a Boston lobster too. Ethan saw this and shouted sternly, “Don’t touch that!” Sabrina’s hand trembled in fright. Sabrina pouted her lips aggrievedly and lowered her head, silently eating the pasta on her plate. Not long after, she reached for the salmon. Ethan simply took all the salmon back to the kitchen. He explained to me, “This salmon isn’t fresh. I’ll buy you fresh salmon next time.” I no longer had the desire to speak. The salmon he’d specially had flown in. How could it not be fresh? Clearly, Sabrina was pregnant and couldn’t eat raw food. So he took all the salmon away. But he forgot that I loved salmon the most. After a while, Ethan brought out the birthday cake. Sabrina asked pitifully, “Can I make a wish too?” Ethan’s expression remained serious, but he still said, “Yes.” Sabrina immediately clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, looking very devout. “I hope every birthday from now on, I can spend it with my lover and child.” Her eyes glistened with tears. Ethan still had a stern face, but his eyes unconsciously softened. I took all of this in. I put down my fork. “You two eat. I’m done.” With that, I stood up and went upstairs. I really didn’t want to watch these two people act anymore, didn’t want to be involved in anything between them anymore.

Vivian’s POV I went upstairs alone. Not long after, footsteps sounded in the hallway. Sabrina walked in, her face showing a triumphant and arrogant smile. She sat down on the edge of the bed and crossed her legs. “Vivian, your room is so shabby. But then again, no wonder. The Hunt family doesn’t recognize you as Ethan’s wife.” I sat by the window, ignoring her. Sabrina continued, “Last time on your anniversary, Ethan said he had to work overtime and couldn’t be with you. Actually, he took me to the Maldives.” She pulled out her phone, scrolled through several photos, and thrust them in front of me. A beach at sunset. Ethan was half-kneeling on the ground, tying Sabrina’s shoelaces. In another, he sat on a couch with Sabrina lying on his lap while he massaged her feet. “He cares about me so much. When I said my feet hurt, he immediately rubbed them. When I said I wanted strawberries from the farm, he went to buy them for me in the middle of the night.” Sabrina’s smile grew even more arrogant. “Remember that day when it was pouring rain and he told you to take a cab home yourself? That day he was at my place. We were in bed. How could he have time for you?” My fingers tightened slightly, but I still didn’t acknowledge her. Seeing me remain silent, Sabrina became even more enthusiastic. She leaned close to me and lowered her voice. “He told me you just lie there like a dead fish in bed, that having sex with you is no fun at all. I’m the one who understands him, who knows what positions he likes.” I finally raised my head and looked at her calmly. “Are you done?” Sabrina froze, probably not expecting me to react so coldly. She continued, “You really think he loves you? Vivian, he stopped loving you long ago. What he feels for you is responsibility, gratitude.” “But your family shouldn’t be too greedy. He’s the Hunt heir now. You’re not good enough for him. Leave on your own. Don’t cling to him.” My voice was flat. “Are you finished? If so, get out.” Sabrina was enraged by my indifferent attitude. She suddenly stood up, looking down at me from above. “Did he tell you he doesn’t want children? But I’m pregnant!” “Ethan personally promised that the child in my belly will be the Hunt heir. There won’t be any other children. He watched you suffer the Hunt family’s difficulties and still didn’t want to have a child with you. What are you still doing here?” I lowered my eyes. That sentence did hurt. But I’d already decided to leave. I didn’t want to think about these things anymore. Seeing me still silent, viciousness flashed in Sabrina’s eyes. She grabbed me and dragged me toward the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Sabrina suddenly threw herself backward, rolling down the stairs. Her head hit the steps, and blood immediately gushed out. Not only that, blood also seeped between her legs. Sabrina lay at the bottom of the stairs, shrieking, “Why did you push me!” Ethan heard the sound and rushed over quickly. Seeing blood flowing from both Sabrina’s forehead and legs, his pupils constricted sharply. “Sabrina, how are you?” Tears kept falling from Sabrina’s eyes. “I told Vivian I was pregnant, and she pushed me. Ethan, save me, save my baby!” Ethan suddenly raised his head and glared at me. Ethan stared at me, his voice frighteningly cold. “When did you become so vicious!” I just found it laughable. Sabrina actually used such a crude method to frame me. I opened my mouth, about to say “I didn’t push her, there are cameras.” Before I could speak, Ethan slapped me across the face. After hitting me, he didn’t look at me again. He picked up Sabrina and headed out. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll go to the hospital right away. The baby will be fine.” Sabrina nestled in his arms, turned her head, and looked at me triumphantly. I stood there, my fingers lightly touching the side of my face that had been struck. I could barely feel the pain in my face. Because my heart hurt too much. I thought my heart had died long ago, gone numb, that it wouldn’t hurt anymore. I didn’t expect it to still hurt. Just then, my phone rang. The caller ID showed: Dad. I took a deep breath, suppressed all my emotions, and answered the call. “Dad-” I didn’t even get to finish. My mom’s panicked voice came through the phone. “Vivian, get to the hospital right away! Something happened to your father!”

Vivian’s POV Hearing that Dad had an accident, I didn’t care about anything else and rushed to the hospital in a panic. Outside the emergency room, my mom kept pacing back and forth. Seeing me arrive, she immediately rushed over and grabbed my hand, her lips trembling. “Vivian, something happened to your dad.” I forced myself to calm down and helped Mom sit. “Mom, don’t panic. Tell me slowly, what happened?” It turned out that Sabrina had also gone to our house today. Sabrina showed Mom and Dad the video from last time, when Ethan sent bodyguards to hold me down and take Grandma’s bracelet. She also said many hurtful things. “You need to see clearly. Ethan treats Vivian like an enemy now.” “With one word from the Hunt family, they could bankrupt you.” Dad was very angry. Not long after Sabrina left, he suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed. After being rushed to the hospital, the doctor said he had a myocardial infarction and needed surgery immediately, or he wouldn’t survive. But just now, all the cardiac surgeons in the hospital had been called away to treat Mr. Hunt’s wife. No one could perform surgery on my dad. My mom wiped her tears. “They said Mr. Hunt. Who is that? How can they do things this way? They called all the doctors away. What about the other patients?” “Vivian, think of something to save your dad!” All the blood in my body froze. Mr. Hunt. That was Ethan. He’d called all the good doctors to treat Sabrina. My hands trembled as I dialed Ethan’s number. The phone rang for a long time. No one answered. I called again. Still no answer. The third time, it was hung up directly. I grabbed a nurse’s arm. “Where is Mr. Hunt? Please tell me!” The nurse was startled by me. “In the VIP section of the inpatient building, the innermost room on the third floor.” I’d just reached the third floor when two bodyguards blocked me. The bodyguards recognized me, looking conflicted. “Miss Gray, Mr. Hunt said he’s not seeing anyone today.” I pleaded with red eyes, “My dad needs emergency surgery. Please let me in!” The bodyguard shook his head. “Don’t waste your effort. Go find another doctor.” I had no other doctors to find, and no time to find them. I shouted from the stairwell, “Ethan!” The bodyguard pressed down on my shoulder. “He can’t hear you. This room is soundproof.” I broke down. I shouted loudly, “Ethan! My dad is dying! Please! Give me back the doctors!” “Ethan! Come out! I’m begging you!” But there was no response from the room. My phone rang. It was Mom calling. I answered, and on the other end was Mom’s anguished crying. “Vivian, stop looking. Your dad is dead.” Mom and I buried Dad together. On the day of the funeral, I knelt in front of Dad’s grave all day. It was all my fault. I let the wolf in the door and ultimately harmed Dad. Mom cried as she pulled me up. “Vivian, don’t think like that. It’s not your fault.” “Before your dad collapsed, he kept telling me you need to look forward, you’re still young.” The two of us cried in front of the grave. Mom and I went home together. I sold the house at a low price and came back to pack up our things. Looking at this house, my eyes reddened again. When Ethan first came to our house, he didn’t dare sit on the couch and always huddled in the corner. Dad moved a stool to sit beside him and talked to him. After Ethan slowly got better, he would voluntarily wipe the table and wash dishes. He always said, “I can never repay the kindness they’ve shown me in this lifetime.” When the Hunt family took him back, Dad actually didn’t agree with us continuing our relationship. “Ethan, you’re the Hunt heir now. You and Vivian aren’t from the same world. I don’t want Vivian to be wronged in the future.” Ethan knelt before Dad. “Vivian saved my life. In this life, I’ll only marry Vivian. I’ll only be good to her. I’ll never let her suffer even a little.” I thought, if I could choose again, that day I passed the sports equipment room, I wouldn’t open that door again. My phone rang. “Miss Gray, the new identity has been arranged. The original identity can be deactivated at any time.” Mom came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of pasta. “Vivian, eat a little. Your dad wanted us to look forward. We need to take care of ourselves.” The two of us ate a few bites of pasta and packed up our luggage. I took Mom to a nearby hotel to stay temporarily, then returned to the home I shared with Ethan myself. I began packing my own luggage. Of my own belongings, except for necessities, I threw everything else away. The jewelry, bags, and clothes Ethan gave me, I left them all behind. The shirts, ties, and watches I bought for Ethan, I threw them all away. I also threw away all our photos together. On the table, I left a simple ring. That was what Ethan bought me with his first month’s part-time job salary. I didn’t want it anymore. During this time, Ethan didn’t call once. Instead, my phone pushed a news notification: “Mysterious woman hospitalized for pregnancy preservation, Hunt Corporation CEO stays by her side day and night.” I glanced at it and swiped it away. None of this had anything to do with me anymore. Finally, I came to the yard. There was an oak tree there, planted the year we moved in together. Ethan had said, “When we’re old, we can sit in the shade under this tree. It will be a witness to our happy life together.” I never expected it was all an illusion. Everything should end. I picked up an axe and chopped down that small tree, strike after strike. After packing everything, I got in the car without looking back, not sparing the house another glance. After picking up Mom from the hotel, we headed to the airport. Staff were already waiting at the airport. I took the new identity documents from him, pulled out my SIM card in front of him, broke it, and threw it in the trash. “Tell your boss that Vivian will never see Ethan again. Tell her not to worry.” He nodded. Mom and I boarded the plane. Ethan, let’s never see each other again in this lifetime.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “396511”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster

After marrying the heir worth three hundred billion, I put his used CK underwear up for sale online. When his underwear kept disappearing, he frowned and began to suspect there was a thief in the house. With a wave of his hand, he installed eighty-eight hidden cameras throughout the house, determined to catch the underwear thief. That’s how I got caught. When he discovered the underwear thief was actually me, he flew into a rage. “Hudson! Have you lost your mind from being broke? You’re actually stealing my underwear to sell!” “Do I not give you enough to wear or spend? You just can’t shake that poverty stench, can you!” I was about to explain when he threw new underwear in my face. “Since you love stealing things to sell so much, I’ll just pay your living expenses in underwear from now on!” Then he left without looking back, leaving me clutching the medical report I hadn’t had a chance to hand him. It read in bold letters: Late-stage gastric cancer. I’d just been diagnosed today. I hadn’t even paid the examination fee yet.

The bill amount was two hundred and fifty dollars. I picked up the underwear scattered on the floor, wiped off the dust, and continued listing it online. Priced at eighty-eight dollars per pair, forty-two pairs sold. I glanced at it twice, closed the page, and called Henry. “Henry, let’s get divorced.” Two seconds of silence on the other end, followed by a scoff. Then came a woman’s voice, syrupy sweet and mocking. “Oh, Hudson, how much are you trying to squeeze out of Henry this time? Come up with a new trick already?” It was Aurora, a famous beauty and the daughter-in-law Henry’s parents truly wanted. Henry didn’t say anything. But I could imagine his expression—brows knitted, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes cold as ice. That was how he looked at me every time, especially after what happened five years ago. Back then, Henry’s society lady mother came to see me. Before I could even say hello, she handed me a check for five million dollars. “Leave my son. This money is yours.” I took the check and agreed to break up. Not because I loved money, but because my mom had just been diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Chemotherapy was a bottomless pit—one day in the ICU could burn through ten to twenty thousand dollars. Henry had just started his business right before that, and I’d transferred all my savings to him as startup capital. I hadn’t kept a single penny. His company was just getting off the ground and couldn’t scrape together even five hundred thousand. He ran around every day chasing investors, so exhausted he’d collapse into bed as soon as he got home. That five million was my only way out. Later, his company came back from the brink and grew to a market value of three hundred billion. He was also acknowledged by the elite Franklin family—truly reaching the pinnacle of success. But then he came to find me, saying he wanted to marry me. I thought he’d learned the truth and was repaying his debt. Instead, on our wedding night, he told me: “Hudson, I’m marrying you just so you can see how much the man you abandoned for being poor is worth now.” He didn’t know my mom died anyway. He didn’t know I’d gotten on my knees in front of his mother that day, begging her not to tell Henry the truth. On the other end of the phone, Henry finally spoke. “Divorce is fine.” His voice was calm, like he was discussing a business deal. “Leave with nothing. Don’t expect to take a single penny.” “Also,” he paused, “return everything I gave you in cash.” What had he given me? For our third anniversary, he gave me a Cartier necklace. I later discovered it was a knockoff and was laughed at by high society ladies for a whole month. The bag he gave me for my birthday came with a receipt inside, but the price had been blacked out. The only valuable thing was the wedding ring. But the next day, someone came to “borrow” it, saying it needed to be resized. It was never returned. I calculated—if I converted all these things to cash, they’d be worth about ten thousand dollars at most. “Fine,” I said. Silence on the other end for a few seconds. He probably hadn’t expected me to agree so readily. Aurora spoke again, her voice tinged with laughter: “See, Henry? I told you. She can’t wait to take the money and run. Five years ago she could abandon you for money, and now she’s willing to leave with nothing—she’s probably latched onto an even bigger sugar daddy.” Henry didn’t respond to her. He just said coldly, “Hudson, you really are something,” then hung up. I folded the payment slip twice and stuffed it in my pocket. Then I counted the new underwear he’d thrown at me—a hundred pairs total. At eighty-eight dollars per pair, that was eight thousand eight hundred dollars. It should be enough for my divorce.

Henry and I got together in college. He’d tested out of poverty-stricken rural nowhere, top of our entire department. My parents didn’t approve. They said we were from different worlds, and I’d suffer for it later. I didn’t listen. After graduation, I left with him. When he was starting his business, we lived in a basement to save money. Water pipes ran across the ceiling. The sound of upstairs neighbors flushing toilets echoed through the night. The dampness was so heavy our bedding never dried. He held me and said I’m sorry you have to go through this. I said it’s not hard, as long as you’re here. When we were young, we thought that was forever. Neither of us expected my mom would be diagnosed with cancer then. So when his mother handed me that five million dollar check, I took it. Then I broke up with him. He asked me why. I said I was tired, didn’t love him anymore, didn’t want to live in poverty. He stared at me for a long time, his gaze heavy, and said, “Hudson, don’t regret this.” Later, when he came to marry me, I thought he’d uncovered the truth. Instead, it was his carefully planned revenge. At first, I did think about telling him the truth. Not long after we married, I gathered courage for ages and told him everything about what happened back then, from beginning to end. But after listening, he looked at me like I was a joke: “Hudson, you’re better at making up stories than you are at having taste.” He didn’t believe me. So I stopped trying. I thought if I was good enough to him, he’d eventually see. He was picky about food, so I got up at five every morning to make congee. He had lots of business dinners, so I’d make hangover soup and wait for him every night. He was a perfectionist—shirts had to be hand-washed, collars had to be pressed. I did all of it myself. Until he started bringing other women home. The first was a minor celebrity, the second was an investment banker, the third I didn’t recognize. Every one of them wore perfect makeup, had killer bodies, and carried themselves with elegance. That night at 2 AM, he brought yet another strange woman through the door. This time, I finally broke down. I stood in the hallway, eyes red, blocking his path. “Henry, please don’t do this.” He glanced at me like I was a piece of furniture in the way. “Move.” “I can pretend nothing happened, just leave me some dignity…” “Dignity?” He laughed. “A woman who’d do anything for money wants to talk to me about dignity?” He walked past me with that woman in his arms, his words cutting like ice. “You’re no different from them. Except they have clear prices. You don’t even need to name one.” My heart felt like it had been stabbed clean through, one strike fatal. After that, I never tried to stop him from bringing women home again. But I started having sleepless nights, sitting on the living room sofa waiting for dawn. That’s when my stomach problems started. At first it only hurt when I ate. Later it got worse and worse, eventually hurting so badly I’d shake all over. But he only gave me a hundred dollars a month for living expenses. I couldn’t even afford decent stomach medicine. I could only hide it from him and work as a waitress, serving plates from 5 PM to 3 AM, earning eighty dollars a day.

Today I worked my usual shift until 3 AM. When I got home, I pulled out my key. The door was locked from inside. I pressed the doorbell. The maid’s voice came through the intercom. “Sir brought Miss Aurora home and specifically instructed that no one is to be let in tonight.” The night frost was heavy. Shivering from cold, I begged through gritted teeth: “Can you just let me in for a moment? I’ll just grab a coat and leave, okay?” “Please don’t make this difficult for us.” Clutching my still-aching stomach, I slowly slid down along the door and curled into a ball. The maid muttered something inside. The sound wasn’t loud, but the soundproofing was poor—I heard it. “Coming home reeking of cooking oil every night. I don’t know why the master married someone like her in the first place.” My stomach started cramping again. Crouching by the door, cold sweat streamed down my forehead. My vision kept going dark until I finally collapsed, unable to control it. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying on the ground. I don’t know how long I’d been lying there. My clothes were soaked with dew. I climbed up and wiped the corner of my mouth with my sleeve. Blood. A wave of desolation swept through me. I hugged myself, curled up on the front steps. Trying to find some warmth this way. I thought of the year Henry and I lived in that basement. That winter was especially cold too. The basement had no heat. To warm my hands and feet, Henry would go jogging outside every night. He’d come back steaming with body heat and dive under the covers to wrap me up. His body was hot as a furnace, but his hands and feet were freezing. He’d deliberately press them against my waist, making me shrink from the cold. I asked why his hands were so cold. He said the wind got to them while jogging outside. I said then don’t jog anymore. He held me tight: “No way. If I don’t jog I won’t have body heat, and you’ll be cold while sleeping.” And now, looking at the luxurious mansion before me, I felt nothing but alienation. When the maid woke up and opened the door, I was leaning against the doorframe, face pale green, lips white, half my body stiff and numb. I dragged my stiff legs into the living room. The house was silent. When I reached the entrance, the gossiping voices of two maids in the break room were especially grating. “She froze all night and still didn’t leave?” “Right? Miss Aurora already spent the night upstairs, and she’s still clinging here. Really shameless.” I said nothing and walked straight into the kitchen. After searching for ages, I finally found a package of stale oatmeal deep in the cupboard. I mixed it with water and put it on the stove. Just as the ginger water finished cooking, Aurora walked in wearing a silk bathrobe. Her exposed snow-white skin was covered with faint red marks, painful to look at. She wore delicate no-makeup makeup. When she looked at the shabby bowl of oatmeal in my hands, her eyes filled with disgust. “Henry’s already planning to give me this villa as an engagement gift. If you’re smart, pack up your junk and get out now. Save yourself the humiliation of being thrown out by security later.” I ignored her and tried to walk around her with the bowl. The moment we passed each other, Aurora’s peripheral vision caught the staircase. She suddenly cried out and slammed into my arm. “Ah!” The bowl in my hands immediately flipped over, the entire bowl of scalding oatmeal spilling onto my hand and thigh. My skin instantly turned bright red, searing pain drilling into my core. Aurora fell to the floor in a sitting position, covering the back of her hand with a sob in her voice. “Miss Hudson, I was just trying to help you with the bowl. Even if you don’t like me, you shouldn’t splash hot porridge on me…” Urgent footsteps came from upstairs. Henry came down with a dark expression, striding over to help Aurora up. Looking at the ceramic shards and water on the floor, his gaze was sharp as a blade. “Hudson, what are you doing?” “I didn’t splash her.” I endured the severe pain on the back of my hand, my voice dry. Aurora hid in Henry’s arms: “Henry, don’t blame Miss Hudson. Maybe I said something careless earlier and she misunderstood.” Only a small patch on the back of her hand was red. But large blisters were rapidly forming on the back of my hand, which Henry completely ignored. “Apologize.” I looked at him and said coldly, “She ran into me herself.” “I’ll say it one more time. Apologize to Aurora.” The disgust in his eyes nearly overflowed. “A woman with poverty in her bones like you—what else can you do besides these lowlife tactics?” I looked into his eyes and didn’t argue another word. I just lowered my head and pulled out a bankbook from my pocket, its edges worn fuzzy. I held the bankbook out in front of Henry. “You said before that to get divorced, I’d have to return everything you gave me over the years in cash.” “This is all the money I can come up with. See if it’s enough. If it’s not enough, I’ll work to earn the rest and pay you back slowly.” Henry looked at the bankbook without reaching to take it, his brows knitted even tighter. Aurora moved first, swiftly snatching the bankbook from my hands. “Oh my, looks like Miss Hudson has saved quite a nice ‘nest egg’ behind Henry’s back these years.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she opened the bankbook. The smile on her lips froze instantly when she saw the number. Then she laughed mockingly: “Three thousand one hundred and twenty-six dollars and five cents? Hudson, are you giving charity to beggars or putting on a show here?” She tossed the bankbook onto the coffee table in front of Henry. Henry’s expression looked terrible. To someone worth three hundred billion like him, this probably couldn’t even buy a single bolt on his car wheel. “Hudson, are you mocking me with this pocket change?” He raised his head, eyes cold as ice. “Or do you think asking for divorce will get my attention?” “This is all the money I have.” “If it’s not enough, I’ll work more. I’ll pay you back two thousand a month. Eventually I’ll pay it all off.” Henry stared at the bankbook, an indecipherable irritation flashing in his eyes. He suddenly stood up. “This little money? I’d be embarrassed to take it out. I can’t believe you’d pull such a pathetic stunt.” Aurora hummed delicately from the side: “Henry, don’t bother with her. My hand hurts so much. I hope it doesn’t scar.” Henry didn’t spare me another glance. He put his arm around Aurora’s waist and walked toward the door without looking back. “Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital.” The sound of the engine gradually faded. The villa fell silent again. Enduring the pain, I went to the medicine cabinet and found a tube of burn ointment that was about to expire. The ointment on the red, blistered skin triggered piercing pain. I gritted my teeth and wrapped the back of my hand in gauze, layer by layer. After treating the wound, I took the bankbook upstairs. The study door wasn’t locked. I pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk and pressed the bankbook under several hundred-billion-dollar contracts. He found this money embarrassing, but I had to repay it. Late in the evening, my phone vibrated on the table. It was Aurora calling. “Hudson, Henry’s at ‘Nightfall’ bar. He said since you want to earn money to pay your debt, here’s an opportunity. If you can make him happy, he might waive the rest of what you owe.” After she hung up, I laughed self-deprecatingly. Even if there was only a thread of hope, I wanted to clear my debt to Henry before I died and leave with a clean slate.

When I arrived at the bar’s private room and pushed the door open, smoke filled the air inside. Henry sat in the middle leather sofa, a half-burned cigarette between his fingers. Aurora pressed herself bonelessly against him. Seeing me push through the door, Aurora raised an eyebrow and said to Henry with feigned surprise and a delicate laugh: “See Henry, I told you. Miss Hudson runs faster than anyone when she hears there’s money to be made. Even coming to a nightclub isn’t a problem for her.” Henry lifted his eyelids, looking at me through the curling smoke. His face was terribly dark, his fingers gripping the glass white at the knuckles, disgust thick in his eyes. He spoke, his voice hoarse and icy cold. “You’re this desperate for money?” I stood by the dimly lit doorway, the burn on my hand still throbbing dully: “Henry, as long as I can pay you back, anything is fine.” “Good. Very good.” Henry suddenly laughed coldly. He signaled someone nearby to bring over a briefcase. When opened, it was filled with stacks of cash. “Hudson, since you love money so much, I’ll give you a chance.” He tapped the ash from his cigarette, saying word by word: “Take off one piece of clothing, ten thousand dollars.” I looked at that row of checks and didn’t hesitate, reaching to unbutton my coat. There were several of Henry’s friends in the room. The moment they saw my action, mocking laughter came from around us. Henry stared at me fixedly, veins pulsing at his temple. He seemed not to have expected me to agree so readily. The fury in his eyes nearly consumed me. “Hudson, if you’re really this desperate for money, turn left when you leave—there’s a red light district. Just go sell yourself directly, wouldn’t that make money faster!” Aurora leaned on Henry’s shoulder, laughing until she shook: “Henry, don’t say that. Miss Hudson is earning money through her ‘skills.’” I said nothing and continued raising my hand, my fingertips touching the collar button of the thin shirt underneath. One button, two buttons. When the shirt slid off, revealing the black bra straps underneath and my shockingly thin collarbones, the mockery on Henry’s face finally couldn’t hold. He suddenly stood up, grabbing my wrist that was about to continue unbuttoning. His grip was so strong it felt like he’d crush my bones. “Enough!” He roared, his voice carrying a certain agitation. “You want a divorce this badly?” He glared at me, his eyes bloodshot. “Fine, I’ll grant your wish. You want to repay the money? Drink this bottle of whiskey, and I’ll write off the rest of the debt. I’ll sign the divorce papers tomorrow.” With a “bang,” he slammed an unopened bottle of strong whiskey heavily on the coffee table. Aurora paused, then looked at me with some excitement. I looked at that bottle of alcohol. My stomach was already beginning to ache faintly. The doctor said that with my stage of gastric cancer, alcohol was a death sentence. But I just nodded and reached for the bottle. “Alright. It’s a deal.” I pulled out the cork, tilted my head back, and poured it down my throat. The burning liquid scorched down my throat and into my stomach, burning my organs until they hurt. Henry stood there watching me, his expression shifting from anger to shock. When the bottle was half empty, he finally couldn’t take it anymore and violently swept the glasses off the table. “Get out! All of you get out!” Without looking at me once, he grabbed his car keys, pulled Aurora into his arms, and rushed out of the room. The door slammed shut with a “bang.” Seeing this, those rich second-generation friends also slipped out one after another. The huge private room was instantly left with only me. I still clutched the remaining half bottle of alcohol in my hand, my body sliding powerlessly onto the thick carpet. That pain was fiercer than any time before. My stomach felt like it was being ground by a meat grinder. I curled into a ball, cold sweat instantly soaking my entire body. “Urgh—” A fishy sweetness suddenly rushed up my throat. Lying on the ground, mouthfuls of fresh blood gushed from my mouth. I propped myself up, trying to get the painkillers from my pocket, but my fingers wouldn’t work. My vision began to blur. Henry, I’ve finally returned the dignity you wanted.

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The whole hospital said that my fiancé Fernandez blocked a knife from a violent patient for me, loving me to the bone. I waited eight years for our wedding. I gave everything to his medical career. Even after being stood up seven times at the marriage license office, I never complained. I stayed up countless nights writing papers to help him get promoted to Associate Chief Physician, giving up my own advancement to stay at this small hospital. After finishing my Valentine’s Day night shift, I took out the wedding rings I’d bought, wanting to surprise him and bring up registering our marriage again. But he just loosened his tie and irritably pushed my hand away. “Stop making a fuss! Don’t you know how busy the department has been lately?” My heart sank with bitterness. He went to hand over his shift. Suddenly, a message popped up on the smartwatch he’d left on the desk. I glanced at it reflexively. The sender’s name was actually “Wife.” “I’ve booked the Valentine’s Day honeymoon suite. Our family of three can go see the ocean.” He has a wife? My mind went blank. Then I found his other Instagram account. The photo album was full of him in a suit, kissing another woman passionately. Yesterday he’d even posted a prenatal checkup report. Footsteps echoed from the stairwell corridor. I threw the wedding rings into the trash. I sent all the evidence of his embezzlement to the hospital director. Let me send you one more big gift for your honeymoon trip. Let’s see if you can handle it.

I pressed Enter. The mouse arrow froze on the words “Sent Successfully.” This was the first time in eight years I hadn’t compromised. The email attachments contained all the evidence I’d collected of Fernandez’s embezzlement and illegal kickbacks. This was enough to get him taken away by the anti-corruption department for investigation on his first day back at work. Taking a deep breath, I suppressed my rage at being betrayed and walked toward my general practice office. I wanted to see with my own eyes how pathetic he’d look when suspended for investigation. I pushed open the office door. The person inside wasn’t Fernandez. My desk had been completely cleared out. The medical textbooks that used to sit on my desk were thrown in the trash. The matching couple’s cups I’d bought were also shattered into pieces, soaking in dirty water. Ivanka sat in my office chair. She wore the white coat I’d stayed up all night embroidering Fernandez’s name on. She was leisurely applying lipstick using my makeup mirror. “What are you doing? Who gave you permission to touch my personal belongings!” I strode forward and demanded sharply. Ivanka turned her head, looked me up and down, and sneered with contempt. “Dr. Nadal, do you still think you’re the star physician here?” “You’re involved in serious misconduct. This office no longer belongs to you.” I stood there frozen, not yet understanding what she meant. Familiar footsteps came from outside the door. Fernandez walked in with a cold expression. He threw a disciplinary document stamped with an official seal right in my face. The paper scraped across my cheek, stinging sharply. I looked down at the document on the floor. The bold text was striking. “Suspension Notice Regarding Nadal’s Suspected Theft of Patient Privacy and Tampering with Department Financial Data.” “Fernandez, have you lost your mind?” I stared at him intensely. His eyes held none of their former affection, only coldness and disgust. “Nadal, the evidence is irrefutable. You still have the nerve to question me?” As soon as he finished speaking, several colleagues who’d been on good terms with me crowded through the door. Leading them was Barbara, the senior financial supervisor I’d mentored personally. Barbara’s eyes flickered away for a moment, then she pointed at me and accused loudly. “Director Fernandez, I saw with my own eyes that Dr. Nadal used your computer to download patient information and modified last month’s supply accounts!” “When she gave them to me to sign, I thought you’d authorized it. Who knew she had such evil intentions!” My head buzzed. Over these eight years, to help Fernandez get promoted to Associate Chief Physician, I’d been the one covering up all his messy accounts. When Barbara’s elderly relative got sick, I’d paid her medical expenses out of my own pocket. Now, to curry favor with the soon-to-be-promoted Fernandez, she directly came forward to give false testimony against me. Ivanka stood up at this moment and intimately took Fernandez’s arm. She squeezed out two tears from the corners of her eyes, putting on a sympathetic act. “Nadal, I know you’re jealous that Fernandez got promoted quickly, but you can’t sell patient privacy for money.” “Fernandez is a sentimental person. If you just kneel down and apologize now, he’ll definitely protect you in front of the director.” She kept saying “Fernandez, Fernandez” in a way that made me sick. “I sold privacy? These accounts were clearly…” I pulled out my phone to retrieve the original backup from the cloud to refute them. Fernandez didn’t give me a chance to speak. He directly called the security guards at the door. “Security! Drag this emotionally unstable rule-breaker out. Don’t let her make a scene here!” Two security guards rushed in and clamped down on both my arms. My phone was knocked to the ground, the screen shattered to pieces. I struggled to raise my head and met Fernandez’s condescending gaze. “Nadal, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” “Starting today, I’ll make you notorious throughout Chicago’s entire medical system.” The security guards roughly dragged me out of the office. The hallway was full of doctors and patients giving me strange looks. But I didn’t expect that an even greater crisis was waiting for me outside the outpatient building.

The security guards pushed me out of the lobby without mercy. The steps outside had just been rained on. I stumbled and fell heavily into the muddy water. My knee scraped open, but I couldn’t care about the pain. The automatic sensing door of the outpatient building closed mercilessly behind me. I stood dazed in the cold wind with nowhere to go. Suddenly, a man rushed out from the shadows by the flower bed. He was disheveled with bloodshot eyes, clutching a butcher knife. “Nadal! Quack! I’ll kill you!” My pupils contracted. It was the family member of a patient who’d caused a disturbance in the emergency department eight years ago over surgical complications! That surgery was clearly performed by Fernandez. I’d taken the family’s anger for him, even spending a full day and night with him at the police station giving statements. Why would he appear at this moment? And how did he know my name exactly? I had no time to think. Instinct drove me to turn and run back. The blade swept past my ear, cutting off a strand of my hair. I ran desperately toward the side safety passage, trying to rush through the door to seek help. Just as I was about to grasp the door handle, that heavy glass door was slammed shut from inside. It was Fernandez. He stood right behind the door, pulling the terrified Ivanka into his arms, dragging her into the passage and locking the safety latch. With a “click.” The lock engaged. My last hope vanished. He’d shut me out in the danger zone. The violent patient’s footsteps closed in behind me. I pounded desperately on the thick glass with both hands, tears flooding my eyes. “Fernandez! Open the door! Please open the door!” Inside, Fernandez watched me quietly through the glass. His eyes held no panic or compassion. He even raised one hand to cover Ivanka’s eyes. To completely destroy my will, he pulled out his phone with his other hand and aimed it at me struggling desperately outside. He was recording. No, that was the hospital’s internal work group livestream interface! He explained to the camera in a calm tone. “Colleagues, look closely. This is what happens when you violate regulations and provoke family members with a bad attitude.” “Dr. Nadal is the best cautionary tale for all of you.” “Rip!” The sound of fabric tearing. The blade behind me viciously slashed my left arm. Blood instantly gushed out, staining a large portion of my white shirt red. I screamed in pain and collapsed in front of the glass door. The patrolling SWAT officers finally arrived at this moment, pinning the family member down with riot forks. The instant the family member was subdued, Fernandez suddenly pushed open the safety door and strode out. He didn’t glance at me lying in a pool of blood. Instead, he walked straight to the police and pointed accusingly. “Officers, it was Dr. Nadal’s bad attitude and insulting words during communication that caused the family member to lose emotional control.” “Our hospital will fully cooperate with the police investigation.” I clutched my bleeding arm alone, trembling all over as I raised my head. I only saw him carrying the unharmed Ivanka in his arms, striding toward the emergency department. “Quick! Prepare a stretcher! Ivanka has been severely frightened. Her heart rate is elevated!” The cold wind penetrated my clothes. I vowed to make him pay the price. But as soon as I entered the treatment room, even worse news followed.

The emergency department corridor was bustling with people, but no one would stop to help me. The nurses who used to greet me with smiles now all stayed far away. I dragged my bleeding arm and walked alone into the empty treatment room. I picked up the forceps and suture thread from the tray. Without anesthesia, I gritted my teeth and pushed the bloody needle through my own flesh. Fine cold sweat soaked through my back. I didn’t make a sound of pain. Just as I was tying the last stitch, my phone in my pocket vibrated frantically. The screen was shattered like a spider web, but I could barely make out it was my PhD advisor from overseas calling. As soon as I answered, my advisor’s angry voice came through. “Nadal! You’ve disappointed me so much!” “The medical association just received a transatlantic complaint letter from your fiancé Fernandez.” “He’s accusing you of plagiarizing all his original clinical data in every paper you published in core journals over these eight years!” My head buzzed. That data was clearly earned through my countless sleepless nights in the lab. I’d even voluntarily given up first authorship for his sake. My advisor’s voice trembled with anger. “Your hospital’s internal network has already submitted evidence from your work computer.” “There’s even a forged academic misconduct confession written by you!” “I’ve already applied to the medical association on behalf of the academy to revoke your medical license. Do what you will!” The call was mercilessly hung up. The dial tone stabbed at my nerves. Good. Really good. Destroy my career, ruin my reputation. Fernandez, you’re truly ruthless. I grabbed the medical gauze nearby and roughly wrapped it around my arm. I stood up and kicked open the door to the emergency VIP ward. The scene inside stung my eyes. Fernandez sat at the bedside, holding a bowl of bird’s nest soup. He blew on it gently with a tender expression and fed it to Ivanka, who was leaning against the headboard. As soon as Ivanka looked up and saw me covered in blood, she immediately screamed. She dramatically clutched her stomach and burrowed into Fernandez’s arms. “Oh no! Fernandez, my stomach hurts so much. Am I going to have a miscarriage?” Fernandez’s expression changed drastically. He put down the bowl and charged over furiously. He swung his arm and slapped me hard across the face. Already suffering from blood loss, this slap knocked me to the ground. My ears rang. Before I could get up, a plastic bottle hit me squarely in the face. It was the expired folic acid I’d been about to throw in the trash this morning. Fernandez pointed at my nose condescendingly, his voice loud enough for the entire corridor to hear. “Nadal, what’s wrong with you!” “Ivanka is carrying my child. If you hurt her, I’ll make you pay with your life!” “Look at yourself. What good did taking folic acid for eight years do? You’re a useless waste who can’t even lay an egg!” The doorway was already crowded with medical staff and patients watching the spectacle. Mocking voices came from all around. “So she can’t have children. No wonder Director Fernandez is replacing her.” “Academic fraud, bad character, and she’s infertile too.” “Poor Dr. Fernandez, entangled with this poisonous woman for eight years.” These words humiliated me deeply. I gritted my teeth and forcibly swallowed the bloody taste in my throat, then turned and left the hospital. But I didn’t expect that even worse things were still ahead.

Covered in injuries, I returned to the rental apartment where Fernandez and I had lived together for eight years. I’d paid the down payment for this place with my salary, but it was under his name. I habitually entered the password, but the screen flashed with glaring red lights. “Incorrect password.” The door lock had been changed. The new fingerprint lock refused me entry. Footsteps came from around the corner of the hallway. Fernandez led Ivanka by the hand, walking out unhurriedly. Following behind them was actually my gambling-addicted uncle John. “John? What are you doing here?” I looked at him in shock. John didn’t look at me. His eyes were fixed on the bank card in Fernandez’s hand. Fernandez threw the card on the ground with a cold laugh. “A hundred thousand dollars for both of Nadal’s knees. You’re getting a bargain.” John picked up the card, his eyes lighting up. Then he walked viciously to my side. For that hundred thousand dollars, he kicked the back of my knee. My legs buckled and I fell uncontrollably to my knees. John roughly pressed down on the back of my head, forcing me to kowtow to Ivanka in public. “Hurry up and kneel and kowtow to Director Fernandez and Miss Ivanka to apologize!” “You unfilial girl, you dare come home after doing wrong? You’ve ruined their work!” I refused to lower my head and struggled desperately. John pulled out his phone. The screen showed a live surveillance feed from the ICU. Inside was my only living relative—my grandmother. “Nadal, I’ll say this once.” “If you don’t kneel, I’ll call right now and have someone pull your grandmother’s respirator!” “That old thing has lived long enough anyway!” I trembled violently with rage. At this moment, Ivanka raised her phone. The screen flashed with the red light of a live broadcast starting. Tens of thousands of viewers flooded into the livestream instantly. She spoke tearfully to the camera. “This is the poisonous woman named Nadal.” “She can’t have children herself, so she’s jealous that I’m pregnant with Fernandez’s child. She’s occupying our marital home and won’t leave, and she even hired someone to attack us!” The livestream chat exploded instantly, the screen filled with cyberbullying and curses directed at me. “Beat this homewrecker to death!” “Skin her alive!” To save my grandmother’s life, I bit my lower lip hard until I tasted rust. Under the condemnation of thousands, I closed my eyes. My knees fell heavily on the cold cement floor. I happened to make eye contact with Fernandez, who was watching coldly from the crowd. I screamed at him like a madwoman, asking why. Eight years of my youth—what had I done wrong to make him humiliate me like this! But Fernandez just disgustedly shook off my clothes and wiped his hands with a tissue. “Nadal, don’t be so petty. Ivanka was just joking with you.” Suddenly, a piercing siren sounded. The hallway instantly fell silent. Two riot police vehicles screeched to a halt downstairs. The entire building could hear footsteps rapidly approaching. Several armed SWAT officers rushed upstairs, grabbed Fernandez’s wrist, and pinned him against the wall. “Fernandez, you’re under arrest for embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, and massive commercial bribery.” The cold handcuffs made a crisp collision sound in front of the livestream camera.

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That year of purest love, Wesley told me with red-rimmed eyes that her world was silent. To scrape together the two hundred thousand dollars for her cochlear implant, I worked three jobs a day. The calluses on my hands wore through layer after layer, and I couldn’t even bear to buy a one-dollar bottle of water. My friends all laughed at me for being foolish: “You’re literally selling yourself to buy her an ear!” I just smiled. As long as she could hear, anything I did would be worth it. The day Wesley got her cochlear implant, she held me and cried for a long time: “Ronald, you’re so good to me. I’ll never leave you for the rest of my life.” I held her tightly, planning out our future together. The night I had saved up enough money to propose to her, I saw Wesley leaning against the window smoking and talking on the phone. The cochlear implant I had bought her was carelessly thrown on the floor. Her friend’s sharp voice came through: “Have you actually fallen for that idiot? William will be back in three days!” She laughed, her tone casual: “What’s the rush? I’m not done playing yet. When William comes back, I’ll dump Ronald immediately.” I closed my eyes, my palms clenched tight. So her deafness had all been an act. My two years of wholehearted devotion had been nothing but a scam.

Two minutes later, Wesley stubbed out her cigarette and walked straight toward me, her finger lightly touching the corner of my eye. Her voice was low and husky: “Having a nightmare?” It was just a normal expression of concern, yet it sent chills through me. Disgust welled up as I swatted her hand away. I suddenly opened my eyes and met her gaze: “You lied to me. You don’t have any hearing impairment at all. Why would you do this?!” Unlike my breakdown, Wesley seemed to have been mentally prepared for this, as if she had anticipated this day would come. “What, I’m a normal person and you’re unhappy about it?” Wesley glanced at the cochlear implant on the table and sneered, as if it were just an insignificant decoration. “You’re the one who was full of himself. You’re the one who was willing to work and earn money to buy me the implant. From start to finish, you never asked for my opinion.” “I’ve already played along with you for two years—I’ve done more than enough. We’re still dating just fine now, so why dwell on these trivial matters!” Trivial matters? I couldn’t understand the person before me, couldn’t comprehend how she could lie to me and still feel so at ease. Back then, I had felt sorry for Wesley’s hearing impairment and how she never talked much with others. To help her regain confidence, I worked myself to the bone. During the most extreme few months, I even worked seven jobs a day, so busy I couldn’t even stop to drink water. My friend Johnson laughed at me for being the ultimate lovesick fool, saying I was destroying my body for a woman. I shook my head and shot back with my eyes full of concern: “You don’t know how hard the world is for disabled people. I don’t want to see Wesley excluded anymore. I want her to see and hear the beauty of this world!” Later, I finally bought the latest cochlear implant on the market. Wesley stared at my bloodshot eyes and abraded fingers, stunned for a long while. She reached out to touch my face, her eyes reddening: “Ronald, you’re so good to me. I’ll never let you down for the rest of my life.” Thinking back to those two years of sweet moments together, I felt nothing but chills running through my body. And the culprit acted as if nothing had happened, trampling all over my genuine feelings. “It’s all my fault for not explaining this misunderstanding in time. You wouldn’t break up with me over something this small, would you?” I opened my mouth blankly, unable to say a word. Wesley really knew how to manipulate people’s hearts. She knew how deeply I loved her, that I couldn’t bear to break up. Seeing me lower my head with my shoulders trembling slightly, a flash of something strange crossed Wesley’s eyes—perhaps a hint of guilt. “Alright, it’s all my fault. I won’t lie to you again, okay?” I was about to press her further about who this William from the phone call was when a sudden urgent ringtone interrupted me. Wesley’s usually composed eyes instantly filled with urgency—an excitement I had never seen before. “Ronald…” I opened my mouth to call her, but Wesley hastily changed clothes and rushed out the door, tossing out: “Something came up at work, I won’t be home for dinner!” But I saw through it immediately. This was just her clumsy excuse—her sweetheart from abroad must have returned. I laughed at myself bitterly, my chest aching dully.

I got up and threw the cochlear implant from the table into the trash, then looked around this modest apartment. After Wesley and I officially got together following graduation, she had me move into this place. It was close to the subway station, convenient for commuting to work. Whenever I asked about the origin of this apartment, Wesley would brush it off: “It was left by my family.” But what family would buy a newly renovated European-style apartment in the city center? It clearly had been personally designed by someone. But back then, my heart and mind were full of Wesley. I hadn’t noticed these odd details at all. No wonder Wesley could easily land an internship at a big company right after graduation despite her disability, not even needing an interview. No wonder Wesley rarely wore her cochlear implant—it wasn’t that she didn’t treasure it, but that she didn’t need it at all. So all of her experiences were fake. The hearing impairment was fake, the impoverished family background was fake, even her love for me and wanting to marry me were all fake! I closed my eyes, struggling to process the grief in my heart, thinking back to what she had said during that phone call. “Ronald is mine now. I’m not done playing yet!” “When William returns home, I’ll naturally marry him!” Wesley, you really hid it well! At seven in the evening, I packed up all my belongings in the house. Since I had decided to leave, I needed to leave cleanly. My gaze swept over every corner of the apartment—the matching couple’s dinnerware we bought together, the couple’s slippers, the potted plant we spent two hours picking out… Memories were like a merciless hand, gripping my throat tightly, making it hard to breathe. Just then, the door was pushed open directly, and William’s handsome features appeared before my eyes. “Who are you, and why are you in our home!” ‘Our home’—it took me several seconds to process that. William quickly sneered, his slender finger pointing right at my face: “I remember now. You’re that little lover Wesley mentioned out of spite, saying she wanted to marry you?” “Looks like her taste really is mediocre!” I ignored William’s mockery and grabbed his provocative finger, flinging it down. “I’m not her secret lover. I’m her boyfriend. You’re the one who’s the homewrecker now.” At these words, William’s brow furrowed sharply, his eyes taking on a vicious edge. He smiled lightly, then suddenly his foot twisted and he crashed hard into the nearby shoe cabinet, groaning in pain. Wesley entered carrying shopping bags just in time to see this scene. William was clutching his waist, barely propping himself up on the floor, his features twisted in pain. I instinctively tried to explain, but Wesley slapped me across the face. My mouth burned with pain. I thought it might split open. “William just got back to the country—do you really have to target him like this!” “Don’t you know William injured his knee and can’t handle any impact? You’re trying to cripple him completely!” Wesley’s words were extremely harsh, as if I were some kind of irredeemable villain. But she knew full well I had never thought such things about anyone, never hurt anyone. Yet she only believed William’s one-sided story. “I didn’t—I never even touched him!” William immediately spoke up, cutting off my explanation: “Maybe your boyfriend doesn’t want me here. I should just go stay elsewhere and not disturb you two…” “And about helping me with work when I return—you don’t need to worry about that anymore. I shouldn’t have come to you!” Hearing this, Wesley’s heart immediately clenched. She quickly embraced William to comfort him, her eyes overflowing with tenderness. “William, we bought this apartment together. It’s your home too. How can you not want me, not want this place…” After saying this, Wesley suddenly looked at me and issued an eviction order: “Ronald, you don’t need to live here anymore. Move to a hotel—my treat!” I pulled at the corner of my mouth. So with just one word from William, I didn’t even have the right to live here anymore. Perfect. I had no intention of staying anyway! I straightened my spine and dragged two suitcases toward the exit. As I passed, Wesley frowned at me, seeming to want to say something, but was interrupted by William’s cry of pain.

The night was truly cold. Dragging two large suitcases, my body shivered as I sneezed several times in a row. Wesley used to be most afraid of me getting sick. Whenever the weather changed, she wouldn’t let me go outside in the wind. Now, Wesley hadn’t even called once. After checking into a hotel, I started looking for landlords to rent from, but then I received an anonymous video. In the video, William was tugging at Wesley’s clothes, their tongues entwined, their faces flushed. He suddenly retrieved a black cochlear implant from the trash can, as if he’d found some amusing toy, and laughed: “Wesley, you’ve been playing it pretty wild here in the country behind my back—pretending to be deaf and mute?” Wesley glanced contemptuously at the filthy implant, snatched it away and tossed it aside, continuing to kiss him. She responded to William’s words in fragments: “Just messing with him… Who told him to take it seriously… That thing disgusts me!” My breathing slowed instantly, until all I could hear was the strong pounding of my heart. So the hundred-thousand-dollar cochlear implant I had worked myself to death to buy her was just disgusting garbage in her eyes! I clutched my chest, trying to ease the discomfort there, my breathing becoming labored. Just then, Grandpa called me, asking cheerfully: “Ronald, when are you and Wesley coming back to visit?” After my parents died in a car accident, Grandpa became my only emotional pillar. I went back to visit him several times every year. Before, I went alone. Later, Wesley accompanied me. I didn’t know how to face Grandpa, and fell silent. Grandpa was still beaming with joy, chattering away: “Wesley said you two are getting married this year. Grandpa will take his medicine on time and stay healthy so I can attend your wedding…” With each sentence Grandpa spoke, my shame deepened. I could only hastily hang up, unable to face him any longer. I blocked the burner account that sent the video and warned William: [Wesley and I will end things. You don’t need to provoke me.] That day, I remembered I had left something at Wesley’s apartment and took a taxi to retrieve it. I ran right into Wesley, who was about to go out. Looking up, I noticed several kiss marks on her neck—left by William. Wesley frowned and grabbed my arm, demanding to know why I hadn’t been responding to her messages these past few days. I ignored her. “My mom said to come home this week for dinner to discuss wedding plans.” I laughed out loud, looking at her with incomprehension: “Aren’t you supposed to marry William? Why are you telling me this? Do you need me to participate in your wedding too?” Wesley looked down at me, annoyance flashing across her brow: “My mom doesn’t like William. I won’t hold a public wedding ceremony with him. The wedding agreement I gave you still stands—I won’t owe you anything!” I was almost amused by these shameless words. “Wesley, from the moment you lied to me, we were already over!” “I’m not a tool for you and William to flirt with, and I’m not your cover for sneaking around!” “The wedding agreement is void. I won’t marry you. Let’s part on good terms from now on!” Wesley looked at me strangely, then laughed mockingly: “Ronald, don’t be jealous like this. I’m not joking with you. Besides this heart that I can’t give you, I can give you the title and everything else!” “Stop making a scene. My mom already had someone calculate an auspicious wedding date—it’s next month!” “You don’t want to disappoint your only living relative, do you?” Another naked threat and manipulation. Wesley had calculated that I couldn’t leave her and couldn’t bear to disappoint Grandpa. I was almost laughing with anger, my heart filled with despair.

Wesley threatened me with Grandpa’s health, forcing me to continue playing the role of loving couple with her to reassure her mother, Fiona. “Ronald, out of all the boys around Wesley, you’re the one who puts my mind most at ease. You two must have a smooth wedding and stay together for life!” Fiona’s words left me mentally exhausted, yet helpless. For the next month, Wesley treated me with the same meticulous care and gentle consideration as before, accompanying me to try on suits and rings. Looking at the gleaming ring on my hand, I couldn’t help but sneer: “Wesley, your sincerity is worthless. Aren’t you afraid William will go crazy when he finds out?” At the mention of William’s name, something strange flashed in Wesley’s eyes. “I’ll pacify William. He won’t throw jealous fits like you do. You just need to play the role of a happy groom!” Sometimes I truly hated Wesley’s cruelty, yet at other times I found myself helplessly drawn into this gentle whirlpool. I couldn’t tell whether Wesley had ever felt even a shred of genuine feeling for me. As the wedding approached, Grandpa grew noticeably more excited, unable to sleep all night, whispering to me over the phone: “Grandpa’s getting old. My only wish is to see you married with children. You’ve found someone you love—Grandpa is so happy…” “Grandpa has never seen you look so happy and content. Only this girl Wesley puts my mind at ease!” Listening to Grandpa’s rambling, I suddenly couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. It was just one wedding—I might as well fulfill this final wish for the old man. That’s what I naively thought, never imagining that William’s jealousy would strike so fiercely. The day I got off work, I was forcibly dragged into the underground parking garage. William threw two punches at me, furious: “Ronald, you’re really shameless enough! Wesley doesn’t love you at all, yet you still want to cling to her!” “You think that by stealing my position, you can be with her?!” “I’m telling you, I will never allow anyone to shake my position. Just you wait—I absolutely won’t let you off easy!” William’s words made my heart tighten. I couldn’t help but mock him back: “Wesley is the one who insists on marrying me. If you’re so capable, make her whole family change their minds!” “Oh right, Fiona can’t stand your scheming nature anyway!” William’s face flushed red with anger, his eyes practically shooting flames. He clenched his fists and said viciously: “Then just wait and see!” The day before the wedding, William sent me a string of strange numbers that looked vaguely familiar. When I tried to ask about it, he had already blocked me. On the wedding day, I kept feeling something was wrong, my heart filled with unease. Wesley still acted as before, playing the part of a qualified lover. For a moment, I thought we had returned to the past, back to when she still loved me. Suddenly my phone vibrated several times. It was an unknown number, and Grandpa’s voice came from the other end. William must have said something to Grandpa. I could hear Grandpa’s labored breathing and the two of them scuffling and arguing. I frowned and said “Hello,” but no one responded. I took it as just a minor incident. Suddenly, people outside the wedding venue began to panic. Someone shouted: “Someone fell from the building!” My heart pounded frantically, my vision blurred, and I desperately ran over to check. Wesley followed as well, but lying on the first floor in agony was William. What was going on?! Wesley rushed down from the second floor like a madwoman, embracing William, her eyes crawling with bloodshot veins. William cried out: “Wesley, save me! Ronald and his grandfather worked together to try to kill me!” Hearing Grandpa’s name, I frantically ran over, only to see him lying at the corner of the staircase, gasping for breath, his face pale, with several scratches on his body. “Ronald…” I strained to listen, but Grandpa’s breath was weak, in a near-shock state. I shouted to Wesley: “Wesley, quick, get someone to drive! My grandpa is dying!” “Wesley, I’m begging you, please come save my grandpa. I promise I’ll be obedient from now on!” The only response was Wesley’s voice, dripping with disgust: “Ronald, you and your grandfather schemed to hurt William and made him break his leg. I’ll definitely settle this score with you!” Wesley held William and rushed to the hospital, ordering everyone present not to call an ambulance for me. I held Grandpa’s gradually cooling body, suddenly realizing something. I let out a heart-wrenching cry: “Grandpa!” The person ahead paused briefly in their steps, then sneered contemptuously: “Ronald, your acting is too clumsy. I won’t believe you again!”

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Late at night, a phone call came in. As soon as I answered, I heard my wife’s moans mixed with her best friend’s fiancé’s. The man panted and said, “This makes it more thrilling.” Then the call was abruptly disconnected. I flew into a rage immediately and rushed out to find them. In the end, I discovered Ellis and her boy toy having sex in the company office. Nine years of marriage, and my wife frequently worked overtime, neglecting both me and our son. I kept lying to myself that she was just career-driven, that she still had me in her heart. I never imagined she’d been keeping a man on the side at the office! I grabbed a wooden chair, about to beat that man to death, when a gunshot hit my wrist. Ellis smiled as she pressed the gun to my forehead: “I never loved you. Be smart about this. Your father just died recently—do you want to join him?” Before I could answer, the gun fired accidentally, and I died on the spot. My eyes snapped open. I had been reborn. My phone screen was lit up with a message from her: “I’m busy today. I won’t be attending your father’s funeral.” I stared at the screen and slowly curved my lips into a smile. This time, I won’t come looking for you two. I’ll make you crawl to me and beg for mercy.

“Honey, you’re coming with me to try on suits. Won’t Howard be angry? I heard today is the day Howard’s father is being buried…” Roger’s voice carried a hint of guilt. Ellis quickly reassured him, “It’s fine. Atalanta is dead, and what she owed you, I’ll make up for on her behalf. After all, I’m Atalanta’s best friend! Besides, don’t worry. Howard understands. Anyway, it’s his dad who died, not mine. Whether I go or not doesn’t matter.” “Mm, thank you, Ellis.” Roger hugged Ellis tightly. The video cut off there. I knew Roger had sent me this video. Just like in my previous life, he knew exactly how to provoke me. But I would never be the same as before. I simply replied, “Don’t worry, I know your fiancée died and you’re hurting. I’m the one who asked my wife to go comfort you. I won’t be angry.” Then I forwarded the screenshot to Ellis: “Ellis, take good care of Mr. Roger and tell him not to worry.” After that, I didn’t look at my phone again. After handling my father’s funeral arrangements, my mom looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. I forced out a smile. “Mom, quit your job.” My mom froze, then as if realizing something, quickly nodded. “Okay, I’ll handle it as soon as possible and then leave. You two should leave quickly too.” “Mm.” We tacitly avoided mentioning our rebirth. After we parted, I took my son home. I just didn’t expect Ellis to be there. When she saw me, she looked extremely flustered. “Howard, don’t misunderstand. I was just worried Roger would be sad, so I…” “I understand everything. You’re already working so hard earning money to support our family. Atalanta was your best friend, and she died because of you. It’s only right that you take care of her fiancé.” “Howard, you…” Ellis looked at me in disbelief. Yes, she was right to be suspicious. After all, in my previous life, I had absolutely despised Roger. Even when Atalanta was still alive, I didn’t like Roger. I always felt this man had ulterior motives being with Atalanta, but Ellis said I was just jealous. “Just because Roger is more handsome than you, you say he’s scheming? Howard, you’ve disappointed me so much.” That was the first time we argued over Roger. “Howard, you’re really not angry?” Ellis asked again. I nodded. “Mm.” Seeing that I didn’t seem to be pretending, Ellis breathed a sigh of relief. I took the opportunity to slip the divorce papers among some insurance documents for her to sign. Perhaps because she felt guilty toward me, Ellis signed without even looking. And as I watched the freshly signed divorce agreement, my eyes were filled with nothing but hatred. Ellis, since in your previous life you didn’t hesitate to kill my entire family for this man, I’ll fulfill your wish this lifetime. I want to see—between money and this man, which will you choose. After that, Ellis behaved very well, even taking the initiative to drop our son off at school. But I didn’t expect Roger to lose his patience.

That evening, after Ellis picked up our son, she didn’t come home for a long time. No matter how many times I called, she wouldn’t answer. Frightened, I rushed out to find them. But as soon as I opened the door, I saw Ellis with a dark expression on her face. Not seeing my son, I was about to ask when Ellis’s palm struck my face. “Howard, I thought you were truly understanding, but I never imagined you’d deceive me! You incited our son to target Roger. Is that fun for you?” I didn’t know what had happened, but it wasn’t hard to guess—Roger must have staged something. “I didn’t.” But Ellis didn’t believe me at all. I asked where our son was, and she snorted coldly. “If he does something wrong, naturally he must be punished.” My heart clenched. Ellis glared at me viciously. To keep her stable, I said nothing more and simply apologized. Ellis’s attitude softened, and she told me to apologize to Roger. I went. He pretended to be terrified, hiding behind Ellis. In the end, I knelt in the pouring rain all night before Ellis finally calmed down. After bringing my son home, I finally learned what had happened. I never expected Roger would scheme against even such a small child. Elliott said that when Ellis picked him up, Roger was already in the car. Later, Elliott didn’t know what happened, but Roger suddenly said he felt unwell and mentioned something about allergies. Ellis immediately decided that Elliott had deliberately caused Roger’s allergic reaction. Looking at my son’s swollen eyes from crying, my heart ached terribly. In that moment, my desire to kill them peaked. After that, Ellis didn’t come home, staying away to comfort Roger. I was actually relieved to have the peace and quiet. But I didn’t expect that when she returned, she brought Roger with her. “Roger has been living in the house he used to rent with Atalanta. Now every object there reminds him of her. Our house is so big—one more person won’t make a difference.” Ellis wasn’t asking for my opinion—she was informing me. I said nothing, only looked at Roger. At this point, all the neighbors knew that Ellis had brought her best friend’s fiancé to stay and care for him. They all praised Ellis. “Miss Ellis is so righteous.” “Exactly. Atalanta was so lucky to have a friend like Miss Ellis.” Even Roger nodded along. “Yes, I’m truly grateful to Miss Ellis during this time. If not for her, I don’t know if I could have gone on living.” When Roger cried, Ellis tenderly held him in her arms. But she seemed to forget this was our home, and she was my wife. The onlookers also froze. When Ellis realized something was wrong, she quickly released Roger. “Howard, you take care of Mr. Roger first. I’m going to visit Atalanta’s grave.” The next moment, Ellis hugged me. “Thank you for your hard work.” Now no one around said anything else. I was nearly disgusted by her, but still pretended nothing had happened. After Ellis left, my son looked at me in confusion. “Dad, do we have to let him come? I don’t like him.” I didn’t know how to tell my son about our rebirth. When we first returned after rebirth, my son hugged me and cried for a long time. He said: “Dad, I had a terrible nightmare. Mom got together with that man. Mom killed us all because of him. I’m so scared…” It took me a while to calm my son down. But from that moment on, he stopped being close to Ellis. In the past, if she missed his birthday, my son would ignore her for days without me even having to get angry. Actually, before Roger appeared, our family was the most important thing to Ellis. Ellis once chased a thief an entire street to get my stolen wallet back, falling and bloodying her legs but refusing to let go. Later, after the thief was caught, he asked her, “Was it worth it for just a wallet?” She wiped the blood on her knees and said, “Howard’s ID is in there. He’d have to take time off work to replace it. I don’t want him to miss work.” When she was pregnant with our son, her morning sickness was severe, yet she secretly turned down a promotion interview at headquarters. I only found out later from her colleague that the interviewer had waited for her all afternoon that day. I asked her why she didn’t tell me. She said, “There will be other chances for promotion. My child with you is more important.”

You see, when a woman truly loves you, she really loves you. But when she doesn’t love you anymore, she truly doesn’t. Ellis once said, “Howard, my parents left me early. Your parents are my parents.” But later, she personally killed our entire family because of that man, Roger. So now, Ellis deserved to die even more than Roger. “Elliott, do you remember what Dad told you?” My son nodded innocently. I smiled. “Then listen to Dad. Don’t show that you dislike Roger. Dad and Grandma will take you away soon, okay?” “Okay.” Elliott was very obedient and said nothing more. My mom also sent me a message—she had already processed her resignation and could leave in another two weeks. On my end, I had the divorce agreement and evidence of Ellis’s affair. The lawyer said it wouldn’t take two weeks to finalize our divorce. According to the agreement, Ellis would leave with nothing. I was very clear that killing Ellis to avenge my previous life would be too easy for her. I had to make Ellis understand what it meant to wish for death. But as soon as she left, Roger dropped his act. The gentle, vulnerable person he was in front of Ellis became snarling in front of me. “Howard, I really underestimated you. Ellis has made it so obvious, yet you still won’t divorce her?” Facing Roger’s eyes that looked like they wanted to devour me alive, I couldn’t help but laugh. You want to claim your position so badly? Fine, I’ll grant your wish. Just before Ellis and Roger entered, I had already obtained the most crucial evidence. These two were truly ruthless. Ellis was right about one thing—Atalanta had indeed saved her life. Yet she personally caused Atalanta’s death. “Howard, if I were you, I would have gone and died already.” “Is that so? Someone who seduces her best friend’s husband hasn’t died yet. Why should I?” I didn’t hold back with Roger. Since Ellis wasn’t here, I had no need to pretend. We stared at each other with hostility for a long time, until the servants finished organizing Roger’s belongings. Watching his things being moved into the master bedroom, I said nothing. I was leaving anyway. If that bitch wanted to serve him, whatever. I didn’t want to be crushed by a dog. That evening, Elliott and I were having dinner when Roger suddenly screamed upstairs. At the same moment, the door opened and Ellis came back. But she didn’t even look at us and went straight upstairs. Soon, Ellis came downstairs seething with anger. Seeing her emotional state was off, I quickly moved Elliott behind me to protect him. “Howard, I never expected you to play one game to my face and another behind my back.” Facing Ellis’s eyes that looked like they wanted to eat me alive, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Howard, you’re the one who let Roger stay in the master bedroom. Why did you deliberately put a knife on the bed? Are you trying to kill him?” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Me? Put a knife there?” “Wasn’t it you?” “Then let’s check the surveillance footage.” As soon as I said that, Roger, who had been crying at the top of the stairs, turned pale. “You installed surveillance in the master bedroom?” “My house. Can’t I install surveillance wherever I want?” My rhetorical question instantly shut Roger up. “Fine, I want to see just how vicious you are.” Ellis was about to go to the surveillance room but was stopped by Roger. “Ellis, I’m fine. Don’t fight with Howard because of me.” Roger said many things. Ellis listened gently and even praised him: “Howard, you need to learn more from Roger.” I looked expressionlessly at these two despicable people, nearly vomiting. But I held it in. That night, nothing happened, except Ellis stayed in Roger’s room.

After that, Roger and Ellis were brazenly affectionate, and I turned a blind eye to it all. On the surface, I obeyed Ellis in everything and treated Roger exceptionally well too. Sometimes I even acted quite servile. Ellis saw it all, and her guilt toward me grew day by day. Now when she looked at me, her eyes were much softer. Sometimes she would even ignore some of Roger’s demands because of me. Roger gradually realized I was doing it deliberately, so he started acting even more than I did. Of course, what Roger did most was frame me. Unfortunately, having been reborn, I already knew all his tactics inside and out. When he framed me for pushing him, I injured myself instead. He fell to the ground, while I lay in a pool of blood. What could Ellis say when she saw me covered in blood? She would take me to the hospital. Every time this happened, Roger would stomp his feet in anger. And I took advantage of being alone with Ellis at the hospital to play recordings of Roger provoking me. Then I gently held her hand. “Ellis, I know Roger is like this because Atalanta died. I don’t blame him. Please don’t trouble him, okay? He’s already so pitiful. My son and I are fine. We’ll both help him get through this.” My appearance, with reddened eyes, swallowing my grievances, completely pulled Ellis’s heart back to my side. As soon as I was discharged, she pulled me into intimacy. But I was terrified. I quickly made some noise. Sure enough, within three seconds Roger rushed in. “Ellis, I don’t feel well. Can you take me to the hospital?” “Call the driver.” Ellis was displeased at being interrupted at such a passionate moment, and even her expression toward Roger turned sour. Roger was instantly heartbroken. As the husband, I expressed understanding. “It’s fine. You should go with Mr. Roger to the hospital first. If Atalanta were watching from heaven and saw us ignoring Mr. Roger, she’d be sad.” When I mentioned Atalanta, Ellis, though displeased, still got out of bed. A minute later, the car left the villa. I watched them leave from the balcony before going to my son’s room. Elliott had been ready for a while. Seeing the smile on my face, he asked, “Dad, can we leave now?” I nodded. After enduring for two weeks, it was time to go. During these two weeks, I had to endure Roger’s provocations while also enduring strange looks from those around me. No one knew how I got through it. But I knew it was time for blood debts to be repaid. When Elliott and I arrived at the airport, my mom was already there. Before boarding, Ellis sent me a message: “Howard, Roger’s situation is a bit complicated. Go to sleep first, don’t wait for me.” Seeing the message, I couldn’t help but laugh. Such good acting. She probably didn’t know yet that Roger and I communicated quite smoothly in private. Just now, Roger had also sent me a message: “Your wife is mine tonight.” Attached was a video of the two of them in bed. I didn’t reply to either of their messages, but I did something else. After completing the operation, I turned off my phone. In that moment, I felt completely liberated. The next instant, Ellis, who was in the middle of sex, received a call from her assistant. “You better have a good reason.” “Miss Ellis, you need to check the company’s official website immediately.” After the assistant finished speaking, Ellis impatiently opened the website. With just one glance, her face turned pale. “No, this can’t be.”

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I glared at the five-year-old munchkin at my feet and viciously swapped his glass of milk for a cup of pure, unsweetened kale juice. From then on, he wasn’t allowed to be a picky eater. If he wanted a pet, he was on litter box duty. Later, when he applied for college, I even secretly altered his applications. Years later, the villain achieved massive success. I thought my doom had finally arrived. Instead, he stood before the media and said, “The person I want to thank the most is my mom. Her love accompanied me as I grew up, and she guided the direction of my life.” Wait a minute, did something go wrong here? 01 After I died of an illness, the System let me transmigrate as a villain’s wicked stepmother so I could continue living. But the catch was: I couldn’t break character. This was a gritty urban thriller novel. The five-year-old standing before me, Oliver Vance, was destined to become the ultimate villain who would one day ruin the male lead’s family. And the primary cause of his twisted psychology was me. His wicked stepmother. I thought about it for a moment. I really didn’t have any experience being evil. I simply interpreted it as: Don’t let him have it too easy. So, I looked at the little guy sitting properly in his chair, quietly drinking his milk. I snatched the cup away from him and handed it to the nanny. “Swap this for pure kale and wheatgrass juice. The more bitter, the better.” The little guy was stunned for a second, a white milk mustache still clinging to his upper lip. He glared at me furiously, but didn’t dare speak. When I transmigrated, this body had already been married into the Vance family for over half a year. According to the original plot, after I realized that Arthur Vance—the villain’s father—rarely came home, I gradually tore off my gentle mask. I started tormenting and framing little Oliver in every way possible. At first, he fought back, but how could a kid win against an adult? Every time he complained, I’d double down, falsely accusing him and twisting his words. After long-term emotional abuse, he had learned to swallow his anger and stay silent. Now, all I had to do was carry on this legacy. With a little bit of my own flair added in. Oliver had probably never tasted pure kale juice in his life. His little face scrunched up into a tight ball, and he instinctively stuck his tongue out in disgust. My heart melted at how cute he was, but I forced a cold tone. “Drink it all!” Making a kid drink gross health juice is basically cruel and unusual punishment. How is this not a form of abuse? I was doing a phenomenal job as an evil stepmother. Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but let out a sinister laugh. 02 After breakfast, the nanny was getting ready to take Oliver to preschool. I frowned when I saw him dressed in cheap, worn-out clothes. “Why are you dressing him like that on purpose?” “Didn’t you say before that we shouldn’t feed a child’s vanity, and that it’s better to keep him low-profile?” Tsk, tsk. The original owner of this body was truly wicked and manipulative. She actually wanted to use this method to crush Oliver’s self-esteem. But she completely miscalculated. What do kids in preschool know about being rich or poor? At this age, a kid’s biggest fear is being isolated and left out. Thinking of this, I immediately ordered the nanny to change Oliver into a tailored baby Armani suit. I even added an adorable little bow tie. Then, I had the driver pull out the most expensive, flashy Rolls-Royce from the garage. I had to make absolutely sure he became the most extra, stand-out kid in the entire preschool. Hate the rich! Let them all hate the rich! I suppose my behavior was a bit too different from my usual self. Right before leaving, little Oliver anxiously pursed his lips and asked softly, “Why are you doing this?” I crouched down and let out a villainous cackle. “Because I’m evil!” Oliver was so scared he took a step back. I lunged forward and planted a massive kiss right on his chubby little cheek. He covered his face in horror. I took the opportunity to threaten him. “Hurry up and say goodbye to Mommy, or else when you get out of school this afternoon, I’ll personally come block the preschool gates.” After living with the original owner for half a year, he probably hated my guts. Kissing him and forcing him to call me Mom was basically tap-dancing on his last nerve. But he had no choice but to submit. Watching Oliver clamp his mouth shut and run out the door, I felt I was being villainous beyond measure. 03 After Oliver went to school, I started wandering aimlessly around the massive mansion. The novel stated that Arthur Vance was always busy with business, often disappearing for weeks at a time. I was purely a wife he married just to have someone look after Oliver. He deposited a $500,000 allowance into my account every single month. He probably thought a massive allowance would make a stepmother treat his kid well. He didn’t realize it only fueled her greed instead. Thinking of this, I sighed and asked the System, How long do I have to keep up this evil persona? The System replied: The wicked stepmother has a crucial scene where she secretly alters Oliver’s college applications, forcing him to go abroad where he experiences even darker things. So, your persona must be maintained at least until Oliver takes his SATs and applies for college. A rough calculation meant I had at least thirteen years left. Although living as a billionaire’s wife meant every day was a blessing, having to maintain an evil persona every single day was exhausting. So, I decided to go on a crazy shopping spree to comfort myself. 04 As the sky began to dim, the driver pulled up right on time at the gates of the private preschool. Oliver hadn’t said goodbye to me when he left this morning. If I said I was going to pick him up, I had to follow through. I needed to establish my absolute authority. Let him know the true terror of his wicked stepmother. I have to say, this elite private preschool looked like a literal castle. Not long after, a teacher led a group of munchkins out the doors. They waddled around, finding their respective parents. I decided to sit quietly in the car for a moment. I planned to pop out and give Oliver a jump-scare right when he started panicking that his parents forgot to pick him up. But to my surprise, the moment the teacher walked away, several kids surrounded Oliver. I could vaguely hear them teasing him about “Mommy… picking you up.” Oliver kept his head down in silence. Those kids started jumping around him, clapping their hands and laughing. Me: ??? Hold on, are we bullying now? As a certified evil stepmother, I immediately swooped in to ruin their fun. “Hey, why aren’t you brats going home? Did your parents abandon you? Is that it? Are you unwanted?” I pulled the surrounded Oliver behind me and glared viciously at the group of kids. Yes, exactly like this. I’m going to alienate all of his little friends. “Who are you? Are you the liar’s big sister?” Being called a big sister made my heart flutter a little. But I immediately snapped back, “Who’s a liar? Didn’t your teacher teach you manners? I am Oliver’s mother! Our Oliver doesn’t like you, and you’re not allowed to play with him anymore.” “Oliver’s mom? His mom is the nanny, I’ve seen her! She doesn’t look like you. He lied and said she wasn’t his mom. He’s just a vain liar, we don’t want to play with him anyway!” What kind of messy preschool drama was this? “I am Oliver’s mother!” I angrily raised my fist, and the group of bratty kids immediately scattered, giggling as they ran off. At that moment, Oliver, who had been standing behind me, tugged at the hem of my shirt. He looked up at me, his big eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Thank you for coming to pick me up today.” Wait, is something wrong here? Why is he thanking me? 05 I guess my tactic of establishing authority actually worked. Once we got home, Oliver was unusually obedient. Not only did he trot behind me like a little duckling, but during dinner, he actively helped me peel my shrimp. He carefully placed the peeled shrimp into my bowl. Seeing I hadn’t moved to eat it, he made sure to emphasize, “I washed my hands.” I picked up my fork. Delicious. “Good peeling. Your reward is to peel a few more for me.” Little Oliver pursed his lips to hide a small smile, lowered his head, and earnestly went back to peeling shrimp. Eventually, I was too full to eat anymore, and the rest of the shrimp ended up in his tummy. Having eaten too much for dinner, it was time for some physical activity. Considering my evil persona, what better exercise than tormenting a child? I dragged my eighteen shopping bags into his room. I waved at Oliver, who was currently playing with a Rubik’s Cube. “Come here. Try on some clothes.” Oliver’s clothes were usually custom-tailored and delivered directly. He had probably never done a fitting session before, so at first, he was super excited. He even smiled, showing his cute little canine teeth. Until later. He choked back a sob, “Please… I can’t try on any more…” “But we haven’t even tried the bumblebee, the penguin, the little duckling, or the monster onesies yet.” Oliver went silent. Wearing a green dinosaur onesie, he just stood there, looking at me with teary eyes. Me: … Fine. Evil plan continued, switching to the next project. 06 When it was time for bed, I decided to inflict my final torment of the day on Oliver. I forced him to stay in my room to sleep with me. After he changed into his pajamas, I handed him a storybook. “Read a story to Mommy. Coax Mommy to sleep.” Oliver stared blankly, as if unable to comprehend how an adult could be this shameless. But he still took the book. “Once upon a time… a queen sat at an… o-pen win-dow, doing needlework for her daugh-ter.” Me: … I forgot the kid was only five and didn’t know many words yet. But this gave me an inspiration. Most kids love playing and absolutely despise studying. A lightbulb went off in my head. A truly sinister plan began to form. Beside me, Oliver was still stumbling through the book. He obviously knew he was struggling with the words, and seeing me staring at him, his little face flushed bright red, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I… I… I can read it to you tomorrow, okay?” I let out my villainous cackle and snatched the book away. “Lie down. Now it’s Mommy’s turn to read you a story. Tonight’s story is called Snow White and Her Seven Stepmothers.” An absolutely terrifying horror story. In the end, I have no idea if Oliver fell asleep, but I managed to put myself to sleep telling it. In my hazy state, I felt something soft press gently against my cheek. A tiny voice whispered, “Mommy.” 07 The next morning, while Oliver was at school, I put my “Tiger Mom” plan into motion. Advanced phonics, Kumon math, French, piano—I scheduled it all. I hired the strictest tutors and bought the thickest workbooks. I fully expected that when Oliver got home and found out, he would feel like the sky was falling. To my surprise, he adapted perfectly. He put extra, intense effort into learning to read. A few days later, as I was walking past the study, he poked his little head out and read aloud, loudly and fluently: “Once upon a time, a queen sat at an open window, doing needlework for her daughter.” After reading it, he looked at me with a face full of expectation. To encourage him, I decided to reward him by letting him read me bedtime stories every night to put me to sleep.

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After moving into my new place, I was added to a strange group chat. The people in the chat loved to roleplay as animals to communicate. Every day, I lurked in the chat, reading their conversations with intense amusement, but I never spoke. Until one day, a mouse got into my apartment. I posted in the group: “Does anyone know a reliable exterminator or pest control service nearby?” A few moments later, someone named AAA_Orange_Cat_Exterminator tagged me. [Two cans of wet food. Non-negotiable.] [The cat is at your door. Open up.] Outside my door, there actually stood an orange tabby cat. 01 On the very first day I moved into my new apartment, I was dragged into a bizarre group chat. The group was named Maplewood HOA Community Chat. Every member’s profile picture was a cute, random animal. At first, I didn’t think much of it. I just assumed the property manager added me to make sending community announcements easier. Until one day, I accidentally glanced at the chat log. Evil_Fleece_Monster: [Damn it! I got caught sneaking snacks, and my mom smacked my butt. I’m going to chew up her slippers tonight.] British_Gentleman: [Useless! How can you let the pooper-scooper assert dominance over you?] [Image: “I am the Emperor” Meme] Golden_Chubby: [I have a question. When you guys drink water, does the water ever feel… spicy?] British_Gentleman: [Idiot! Your water fountain probably has a short circuit! Kick it over immediately.] Sweet_Little_Cheese: [My mom wants to clip my nails! 911! Someone call 911 for cats!] I watched the chat with intense fascination for a long time. I figured this was just a bunch of the neighborhood kids being highly active online. Roleplaying as their pets to chat. Honestly, watching their adorable, dramatic conversations was pretty therapeutic. Suddenly, a new message popped up. [I think a stranger got into my house.] [Image: Dog secretly observing from a corner] The profile picture was a husky puppy. Judging by his previous messages, I always assumed he was a four- or five-year-old kid. My heart tightened. I was just about to ask if he was home alone. When the other group members started questioning his intelligence. [Are you SURE it’s a stranger?] [Another stranger? The last ‘stranger’ that broke into your house was just your dad wearing a different jacket.] [911! I’ll call 911 for you!] I hesitated and decided not to tag the property manager just yet. A second later, the little husky replied: [Hehe, never mind! It was just my dad wearing a medical mask. As a reward, I’m going to pee in his room tonight.] False alarm. I thought it was hilarious, but at the same time, a faint, lingering feeling told me something was… slightly off. 02 One evening, I got home late from a job interview. The moment I flicked on the living room lights, a black shadow darted across the floorboards. My heart skipped a beat. I was just about to crouch down and check under the coffee table. When a massive rat charged directly at my foot. I screamed and jumped onto the coffee table. Terrified, I immediately typed a frantic message in the group chat. [A rat got into my apartment! Does anyone know a reliable exterminator nearby who can come immediately?! Online waiting! Urgent! Urgent!] [Meow? Rat? What’s a rat?] [A rat is a fast little toy that squeaks when you bite it. My dad doesn’t let me play with them.] [Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before. Why is your profile picture a human? What species is your family?] Can’t a profile picture be a human? What do you mean, ‘what species is your family’? I didn’t have time to overthink it. The squeaking sounds were making every hair on my body stand up. I quickly opened Yelp to search for an emergency pest control service. Right then, someone tagged me in the group chat. AAA_Orange_Cat_Exterminator: [Two cans of wet food. Non-negotiable. Arriving immediately.] [The cat is at your door. Open up. Meow.] That fast?! I opened the front door. The hallway was completely empty. Just as I was about to close it, a sharp meow caught my attention. An incredibly polite orange tabby was sitting on my welcome mat, its front paws neatly tucked together. As we made eye contact, a completely unbelievable thought surfaced in my mind. “Are you… AAA_Orange_Cat_Exterminator?” The orange cat meowed twice. A message popped up in the group chat. [It is the cat.] [Two cans. Starting work immediately.] I found it so absurdly funny that I reached out to pat its head. The orange cat tilted its head, dodging my hand. [Meow meow meow. That costs extra. Head pats are half a sausage.] 03 I didn’t own any pets, so naturally, I didn’t have any cat food. I negotiated with Mr. Orange to use four sausages as payment. He licked his paws and agreed. But he demanded an installment payment plan. Deal struck. The incredibly agile Mr. Orange tracked the target from the living room straight into the kitchen. Aside from accidentally knocking over a glass of water I had left on the counter… The extermination service was successfully completed. Worried I’d be scared, Mr. Orange placed the dead rat out in the hallway. [Human. The cat accidentally broke your cup. The cat will deduct one sausage from the fee.] I shook my head. [A deal is a deal. Four sausages, not one less. But… can I get one free head pat?] Mr. Orange let out a soft, sweet meow. He lowered his head and rubbed it affectionately against the palm of my hand. Before leaving, he told me that if I ever needed him again, I could just call him in the group chat. It wasn’t until the apartment was completely quiet that I finally snapped back to reality. It felt like I was dreaming. The animals in the Maplewood HOA Community Chat were actually real animals. Those profile pictures… were their actual faces. 04 No matter how magical and surreal last night’s experience was… When the sun rose the next day, I still had to hustle across this unfamiliar city for job interviews. I lived on the 12th floor. When the elevator stopped on the 10th floor, a guy walked in holding a husky on a leash. He looked familiar. To clarify, I mean the husky looked familiar. I stared at the dog unblinking. Sensing my gaze, the dog stared right back at me unblinking. The guy noticed us having a staring contest. “Do you two… know each other?” I frantically waved my hands. How was I supposed to explain that I thought his husky was the one from the group chat? I couldn’t exactly ask him, Hey, did he pee in your room last night? Just then, a notification popped up from the Maplewood HOA Community Chat. My_Dad_Calls_Me_Einstein: [I just saw a lady in the elevator. She looks familiar, like I’ve seen her somewhere before. Hehe, she smells so good. I want to be petted.] Evil_Fleece_Monster: [Stupid dog!] British_Gentleman: [Stupid dog!] I tentatively reached my hand out, and sure enough, the husky eagerly nudged his head into my palm. The guy gave me a look that clearly said, And you claim you don’t know each other? While petting the dog, I asked gently, “What’s his name?” “Max.” I crouched down and gently squeezed his paw. “Hi there, Max.” The guy: “…” “My name is Max!” I looked up, mortified. “I am so sorry! I wasn’t thinking.” Max’s face turned slightly red. “It’s my fault for not realizing. His name is… Meatball.” My_Dad_Calls_Me_Einstein: [Einstein! Lady, my name is Einstein! My stupid dad forgot my name again! Hit him! Hit him! Hit him!] Einstein immediately stood up on his hind legs and started throwing paws at Max right there in the elevator. Max cursed at the “stupid dog” while trying to block the hits. I stood to the side, laughing while trying to break up the fight. 05 After running around all morning, I interviewed at three different companies. The results weren’t looking great. I decided to head home first to grab a bite to eat. While walking back along the street, I noticed a pet supply store with a “For Lease” sign in the window. Thinking about the Maplewood HOA Community Chat, a bold idea flashed through my mind. Wasn’t this the ultimate, direct line to consumer demand? If I could be my own boss, why would I want to be a corporate wage slave? I quickly calculated my savings, contacted the current owner on the spot, and took over the lease. Then, I started dropping promotional messages in the group chat. [Does anyone like this new little toy?] [We just restocked new biscuits, freeze-dried snacks, and treats! Tell your pooper-scoopers to bring you to the store for free samples!] The moment those promos dropped, the group chat exploded. No dog or cat had ever posted video advertisements in the chat before. They instantly realized I was different. British_Gentleman: [It’s a human! It’s a human! It’s a real human! A human infiltrated the chat!] [Image: “The Emperor Has Fallen” Meme] AAA_Orange_Cat_Exterminator: [The cat already told you guys last time…] Sweet_Little_Cheese: [Human, can you tell my mom that I don’t like getting my nails clipped?] At first, the pets in the group were stunned by my human identity. But once they realized I meant no harm, they quickly got used to it. They even started frequently asking me to pass messages along to their owners. So, I launched a special promotion. Any customer who spent over $100 in a single transaction would receive one free “Pet Consultation” session. 06 My very first customer was Max. He bought a 20-pound bag of dog food and a few chew toys for Einstein. “Can you actually communicate with them?” I gave a non-committal smile. He raised an eyebrow, smirking playfully. “Alright, then ask him this: He eats way too much, and his dad can’t afford him anymore. Ask him if he can go out and get a job to support himself.” I waved Einstein over, taking the opportunity to grab my phone. A moment later, I suppressed a laugh and said, “Ein… Meatball says that if you’re out of money, it’s okay. He can go out and eat poop. And he can take you with him. He said he’ll eat the base of the poop, and you can eat the pointy top.” Max looked down with an utterly indescribable expression. Einstein stared back up at him with eyes full of absolute, earnest devotion. “You stupid dog! After all the blood, sweat, and tears I sacrificed to raise you, this is how you repay your old man?!” Max violently ruffled the dog’s head. My_Dad_Calls_Me_Einstein: [???] [I gave Dad the best pointy part of the poop, and he’s STILL not happy! He’s bullying a poor dog! Hit him! Hit him! Hit him!] Einstein stood up on his hind legs, wildly swinging his front paws, and started brawling with Max right in the middle of my store. I have no idea how a dog learned to throw hands like a boxer.

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When they found her, her body was covered in scars, and a camera mounted across from her had recorded ten solid hours of torture. Yet, the three trust-fund kids who destroyed her were walking free, arrogant as ever. I watched the news with a completely blank expression. That night, I scaled the wall and broke out of the state psychiatric hospital. 01 Nurse #18 didn’t come to deliver a sunflower today. No one to bother me. Logically, I should be happy. But for some inexplicable reason, the irritation grew stronger and stronger, so loud it drove me to the edge of losing control. My eyes went bloodshot. I violently smashed a glass against the wall. In an aggressive stance, I scrutinized every living thing in the room. Finally, with steady, ruthless precision, I caught a rat. The little nurse had said that human life isn’t something to be trampled on. Not just other people’s lives, but my own life, too. Both are equally precious, she claimed. She was always saying these baffling things, trying to “redeem” me. She even said she wanted to be my friend, calling me Chloe the very first time we met. What a ridiculous, stupid girl. My hands didn’t stop moving. I easily disposed of the rat. The crimson staining my palms was warm, seemingly trying to soothe my nerves. But the suffocating irritation didn’t lessen; it multiplied. Whispers from the hallway suddenly drifted in: “She just graduated… how could something like this happen?” “Ugh, I don’t even have the stomach to open that video. After those three animals ruined her, they actually recorded it.” “The worst part is, I heard those scumbags got released without a scratch.” I walked toward them, cutting off their conversation. “Is #18 on vacation today?” In the three years I’ve been locked up here, this was the first time I willingly initiated a conversation with anyone. I tried to soften my features, even forcing out what could loosely be considered a smile. But they still scattered in terror, dropping a phone on the linoleum floor. I twitched my lips. Figures. They claim they don’t discriminate against patients, but once they heard I had blood on my hands, the entire staff treated me like a plague. I didn’t have to deal with their hypocritical faces, which usually gave me some peace and quiet. But this year, that fresh-out-of-college Nurse #18 showed up. Every single day, she shoved a sunflower into my hands, smiling brightly as she declared we were going to be friends. She was so annoying. I threw away all those ugly flowers. I hated her. I hated the carefree dimples on her cheeks when she smiled. But where did she go now? It’s not that I cared about her. I just needed to confirm she’d never come back to bother me again. My gaze fell on the dropped phone. The footage playing on the screen made my pupils violently contract. The victim on the screen was #18. The camera was zoomed in perfectly on her face. Her eyes were trembling, her pupils dilated to the extreme. I was all too familiar with that look. It meant the person was in a state of absolute, paralyzing terror. The young girl was dragged into an obscenely expensive black SUV. The sunflower in her hand was swatted away impatiently by a man, its yellow petals scattering across the concrete. The camera locked onto her face, documenting the most agonizing, vile things a human could endure in this world. At first, she was screaming and crying her heart out. Later, the three men got annoyed that she was too loud. With a swift slice of a knife, they made sure she’d never speak again. At the very end, a man’s frustrated voice cursed from off-camera: “Damn it! How is she this fragile? She’s dead already?” She was tossed out of the car like a broken, blood-soaked ragdoll. “According to our investigation, the victim, Sunny Davis, walked this route every day to visit a local flower shop…” “The suspects mapped out her daily routine, ambushed her on this road, and subjected the victim to ten hours of torture…” So #18’s name was Sunny. Such a stupid name. It fit her perfectly. If she hadn’t gone out of her way to buy me those stupid flowers, wouldn’t she be fine? I watched the entire video with a deadpan expression, my hands continuing to dissect the rat. But the paring knife suddenly felt incredibly heavy. No matter what I did, I couldn’t make a clean cut. I even accidentally nicked my own fingers. Hurting myself while using a blade was something I never tolerated, something that never happened to me before. But now, it happened just like that. Why? Was it because of Sunny? It felt like a blunt knife had been violently shoved into my chest. It wasn’t a sharp pain, just impossibly heavy, crushing the breath out of my lungs. Even more uncontrollably, this heavy grief started from my heart and spread out through my limbs. It hurt so much. I didn’t understand why I was feeling this. I threw the mangled meat onto the floor, grabbed my head, and screamed. The birds in the trees outside scattered in a panic. Panting heavily, I slowly raised my head. In a row of identical, sterile cubicle-like rooms, my room stood out like a sore thumb. In this dreary, gray-and-white asylum, only my room was bursting with massive splashes of bright yellow. I had told a tiny lie. Those sunflowers I supposedly threw away? I actually sneaked out and picked them all back up. Like a thief who had stolen her whole life, I finally had a treasure to call my own. After the initial disbelief came the cowardly fear; I wanted to hide them all away so no one could take them. But now, someone had plundered and destroyed even this tiny sliver of bright yellow. How dare they? 02 “Police alert: A patient has escaped from the state psychiatric facility.” “According to records, it is Chloe Miller, the violent offender who strangled her biological father to death three years ago…” Listening to the radio in the cab, the corners of my mouth curled into a mocking smile beneath my mask. My eyes dropped back to the files in my hand. Out of the three animals, Hunter Vance was the first to strike. He was the one who dragged Sunny into the car. A silver-spoon brat who had grown bored of his endlessly smooth, privileged life. He would pay any price chasing cheap thrills and morbid curiosities. My smile deepened. This kind of brainless brute was the lowest tier of trash in our circle of psychos. Dragging a massive suitcase, I walked right into the VIP club where Hunter was partying. I found his private booth and heard the noise inside. “I want a thrill! A real thrill, do you get it?! Not cheap trash like you who just shake it for a few bucks!” I kicked the door open and walked in under the stares of the entire room. Hunter froze for a second, then grabbed a glass bottle and hurled it at my head. “Who the hell are you? You dare crash my booth?” I sidestepped it easily and spoke with a half-smile. “Mr. Vance doesn’t need to know who I am.” “You just need to know I have a thrilling game. Guaranteed to satisfy you.” Flushed with alcohol, Hunter pushed the bottle girl off his lap, eyeing me with sudden interest. “Oh? What kind of fun do you have?” I opened the suitcase, pulled out a packet of powder, and dumped it right into his glass of liquor. “Drink this, and you’ll fall into a deep sleep for one hour.” “I’ll pack you into this suitcase and take you to a one-hour trip to paradise.” “I just wonder if Mr. Vance has the guts to take a gamble?” Hunter stared at the spiked drink, narrowing his eyes, seeming to hesitate. I took a step forward, locking eyes with him. “Don’t tell me you’re scared?” “The Vance family owns half this city, and with a dozen witnesses right here, do you really think I could kidnap and sell you?” “I wouldn’t be scared even if the Grim Reaper himself showed up!” Hunter sneered, grabbed the glass, and downed it in one gulp. I laughed along with him. Laughing at his stupidity. Laughing at his ego. I thought I would have to waste a lot of breath, or even physically force it down his throat. I never expected that, in his pursuit of a “thrill,” he would hand his life over to me so easily. Right in front of his wealthy frat-boy friends, I folded Hunter into the suitcase. I easily lost his bodyguards in the alleyways. Now, he couldn’t fly away even if he grew wings. 03 When Hunter woke up, I was boiling down pork rinds and animal bones. He realized his clothes had been stripped off, leaving him in nothing but his boxers, strapped tightly to a metal chair. He immediately flew into a panicked rage: “Where the f*ck did you take me, you crazy bitch?!” “Hey! Are you deaf? I’m talking to you!” “How many lives do you think you have to dare tie me up?!” I paused my stirring, turning around in annoyance. “You’re so loud.” I grabbed a meat cleaver, casually sharpened it twice against a stone, and walked toward him. Hunter glared at me mockingly and spat on the floor. “Who are you trying to scare? Come on! Let’s see if you actually have the guts to do it…” Before he could finish, the blade flashed. “Mmph… mmmph!” He stared at me in absolute horror, realizing he could no longer make a sound. I spat back at him, turning around with a deadpan face. If I hadn’t promised Sunny, I would have just ended him right here. Hunter let out muffled, agonizing wails from his throat. True terror finally broke across his face, and the sharp stench of urine pooled beneath his chair. “Not enough.” I shook my head, playing with the cleaver in my hand. I severed the tendons in his arms and legs, ensuring he would never walk or fight back again. The timer on the stove chimed perfectly. I smiled. The collagen was finally ready. Using massive amounts of boiled gelatin and silicone polymers, I crafted a meticulously detailed, hyper-realistic silicone mask exclusively for Hunter. Even his closest friends wouldn’t be able to recognize him. I knocked out the newly-faced Hunter and dressed him in fresh clothes. Then, I took him to find the second animal: Silas Montgomery. 04 In the video, Silas was the elegant psychopath. He used the most brutal, calculated methods to leave those horrific wounds all over Sunny’s body. He had a very handsome face. Even though he was a disgusting monster on the inside, that good-looking exterior made him incredibly popular. According to the files, Silas played the field, but the truth was, he was completely impotent. He could only find release through torture. He would bring his dates back to a secluded mansion, where he would subject them to an array of medieval torture devices. He seemed like he had a brain, but not much of one. Which played right into my hands. I dumped Hunter right on Silas’s doorstep. When Silas opened the door and saw the incapacitated stranger, he froze for a long time. He looked around, hesitated, but ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation and dragged Hunter inside. I smiled from the shadows. Such a beautiful, unconscious, physically helpless plaything. It was a fatal temptation for Silas. It was criminal psychology; it was baked into his DNA. Not to mention the Montgomery family spoiled him rotten. Even if he caused a disaster, his family would always wipe his ass for him. He couldn’t turn this down. Checking the time, Hunter would be waking up very soon. When he opened his eyes, he would find his role completely reversed—from the abuser to the meat on the chopping block. And his partner in crime, his twisted best friend, would be standing over him with tools, just like they did to Sunny. He would try to scream and explain, only to realize the organ for speech was missing. He would try to fight back or run, only to find his limbs were dead weight. In that moment, his helplessness and terror would be magnified to the absolute limit. The violence he inflicted on Sunny would be returned a thousandfold upon his own flesh and mind. Wasn’t this the ultimate thrill he was chasing? Thinking about this, I only felt he was getting exactly what he deserved. I had promised Sunny I wouldn’t get innocent blood on my hands again. But I never promised I wouldn’t borrow someone else’s knife to do the killing. Underneath the silicone mask, I had embedded a micro-camera. Right now, it was live-streaming the interior of the mansion to the entire internet. Just as I imagined, Silas was meticulously picking out his tools. Exactly like they did to Sunny. Silas used them, one by one, on Hunter. He had absolutely no idea the lamb on his slaughtering table was his best friend. Hunter’s body was rapidly covered in brutal wounds, but he had nowhere to run. Backed into a corner with no escape, Hunter let out terrified, whimpering sobs from his throat. He watched helplessly as everything he had done to others was visited upon him. Comments flew across the live stream. [I can’t even watch, is this legal to broadcast?] [Wait, isn’t that Silas Montgomery? The rich kid from the nurse torture case on the news?] [Am I seeing things? Is Silas pressing a branding iron to that guy’s face?] Under the intense heat, the adhesive on the silicone mask melted, and the fake face sloughed off. The entire internet was stunned. Silas’s hand froze in mid-air. He stood there, completely paralyzed, as if struck by lightning. By the time the Vance family arrived, Hunter was already dead. The wounds on his body were unimaginably cruel. Hunter was the sole male heir of the Vance family, destined to inherit their empire. The look the Vance patriarch gave Silas was like looking at a dead man. But just when everyone thought the Vance family would tear Silas to pieces in court, Silas was once again released without charge. Rumor had it the Vance family proactively signed a letter of forgiveness. The internet was completely baffled. Until three days later, when Silas’s remains were found in the wilderness. He had been eaten alive by wild dogs, stripped clean down to the skeleton. Watching the news broadcast of the Vance family offering their “condolences” to the Montgomery family, I scoffed. The Vance family was sloppy. If anyone bothered to dig a little deeper… They’d find out that those “wild dogs”… Came directly from the Vance family’s private breeding kennels. 05 The only one left who hurt Sunny was the last man: Adrian Pierce. His file was completely blank. In Sunny’s video, Adrian never lifted a finger. He just sat in the center seat, high and mighty, coldly watching those two rabid dogs tear Sunny apart. Clearly, he wasn’t interested in Sunny, nor did he care if she lived or died. So why did he instigate those two to attack her? What was his ultimate goal? I stared at the photo of those cold, detached eyes. He looked as if he cared about nothing, yet simultaneously obsessed over something. He was infinitely more terrifying than trash like Hunter and Silas. But I wasn’t in a rush to make my move. Someone as smart as Adrian—with Hunter and Silas dying back-to-back, he would easily guess someone was pulling the strings from the shadows. With the instinct of a fellow predator, I simply waited in my apartment for him to come to me. One day, two days. On the third day— The doorbell rang. I opened the door to find a face even more vividly melancholic and handsome than the photo. Adrian’s eyes were brimming with a smile. Like an old friend he hadn’t seen in years, he casually strolled into my home. He said, “Chloe, long time no see.” I smiled back and poured him a glass of water. “Long time no see.” 06 Adrian and I were old acquaintances. The first time we met was in his father’s basement. Back then, a tiny version of me was pinned against a wooden table, enduring the absolute worst malice a grown man could offer. I didn’t know what I had done wrong. All I knew was that my biological father had wagged his tail like a dog, begging the Pierce family for favors. He packaged me like a gift and delivered me straight to the Pierce family’s basement. Adrian hid by the doorway, watching his father abuse me. The look in his eyes shifted from initial curiosity. To utter fascination. Finally, one day, he stood behind his father, raising a heavy blade high in the air. Without hesitation, he drove it straight through his father’s back, piercing his heart perfectly. He didn’t do it to save me, of course. He did it because he wanted to possess me exclusively. He traced my face, obsessively whispering that I looked exactly like his late older sister. He wanted to lock me up and keep me forever. I docilely leaned my cheek into his palm and whispered my poison. “Little master, true control doesn’t come from ropes. It comes from taming.” “If you let me go, and I willingly come back to find you, only then will I truly belong to you.” He agreed. I will forever remember what my biological father said when I walked through the front door. “Why are you back? It’s a massive blessing that we could latch onto the Pierce family, stop throwing tantrums.” I smiled and told him not to worry. I said I just came back to celebrate his birthday. I gifted him a ridiculously expensive leather belt. Then I cooked dinner myself and served him a bowl of soup. “Happy birthday.” My dearest father. While the paralytic in the soup kept him from moving a single muscle, I used the belt I gifted him to take his life in the most agonizing way possible. I demanded the cops perform an autopsy. I wanted to see if his heart was black, or made of ice. Ironically, for a man who took pride in selling his own daughter, his heart was still warm and red. Adrian never got to see me return. Because I was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and the cops locked me away in the asylum.

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After completing my transmigration mission, I returned to my original world. Only to find out I was pregnant with the male lead’s child. The system told me the baby didn’t belong to this universe and couldn’t survive here. As my child lay on his deathbed, gasping for his final breaths, the system reappeared and said— “The only way to save him… “Is to send him back.” 01 It had been five years since I last heard from the system. When its voice echoed in my mind again, I was frantically running up and down the hospital corridors, begging doctors for answers, and trying to settle the astronomical medical bills. Leo had just been placed on critical life support, and my mind was a chaotic, terrifying mess. Suddenly. A sharp hiss of static crackled in my ears. That familiar, mechanical electronic voice rang out. “Host, it has been a long time.” It looked at the thick stack of medical charts and unpaid bills clutched tightly in my trembling hands, its mechanical tone carrying a hint of synthetic sympathy. “Do you remember what I told you before? “This child does not belong to this world. “If you want to save his life now, the only way is to send him back to his original universe.” I knew the system wouldn’t intervene out of the goodness of its artificial heart. “What’s the catch?” The system went quiet for a brief moment, then replied: “After you left, the male lead never ended up with the female lead. “Headquarters has officially flagged your previous mission as a failure. You need to return and complete the narrative. “However…” It hesitated, falling back into a long, static silence before finally speaking. “Let’s just take it one step at a time.” 02 Years ago, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer, left with only months to live. In my darkest, most desperate moment, I was forcefully bound to this transmigration system. I was thrown into a toxic, angsty billionaire romance novel, and my assignment was to play the tragic first love—the beautiful girl who gets away. My purpose was to make the male lead fall deeply, irreversibly in love with me, only for me to brutally break his heart and vanish, paving the way for the actual female lead to enter the picture. As long as the mission succeeded… I would be allowed to return to my original world with a perfectly healthy, cancer-free body. The binding was instantaneous and permanent. It was a miracle, a second chance at life, and I cherished it deeply. So, I pursued Caleb Thorne with everything I had. I bought him flowers, took him to see the sunrise, and planned elaborate dates. We did everything normal, deeply infatuated couples do. Slowly. We fell in love. We built a life together. … And eventually. I realized I couldn’t bear to leave him. 03 But back then, under the system’s relentless, frantic warnings… One morning, I made up a pathetic excuse and initiated our very first breakup. He pulled me tightly against his bare chest, mumbles of sleep still thick in his voice. “I’m sorry, babe. I know I’ve been working late. Once this corporate merger clears, I’m all yours. Be a good girl and go back to sleep.” He was still half-asleep, assuming I was just being playful or throwing a minor tantrum. I silently reached down and peeled his arms off my waist. “I’m not joking, Caleb. I want to break up.” Caleb froze, the sleep instantly vanishing from his eyes as pure panic took over. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I know I messed up. “I’ve been buried in work lately, and I haven’t spent enough time with you. “Give me a few days, and I’ll clear my entire schedule. “Didn’t you say you wanted to take a romantic trip to Aspen to see the snow? “I was wrong, honey. We can’t break up.” … His voice cracked, his breathing hitching until he was practically choking back tears. Me: “…” What happened to the ruthless, unyielding Alpha CEO persona the author promised? 04 And so. Our first breakup fizzled out into nothing. Caleb became incredibly clingy. During every spare second of his workday, he would call or text me, terrified of making me feel neglected. Every single moment outside of the office was dedicated entirely to me. I couldn’t find a single flaw to complain about, and our breakup made zero progress. The plot was completely stalled, and the actual female lead was scheduled to return from her Ivy League studies abroad very soon. The system’s warnings grew increasingly frantic and deafening. So. The second time I tried to break up with him, Caleb drowned his sorrows in alcohol, looking so profoundly destroyed that my heart shattered, and I folded immediately. The third time I tried to break up, Caleb wired $100 million directly into my bank account, and I happily agreed to give us another chance. The fourth time, I literally packed a bag and ran away. Caleb responded by legally signing over his corporate equity shares and several luxury estates to my name. I was so deeply moved that we got back together again. … This was lierally— Insane! Who? Who on earth could possibly refuse that?! Well, I certainly couldn’t. I don’t know if poverty can break a person, but absolute wealth definitely wins every single time! System: “…” 05 One afternoon, while I was intentionally ignoring the system’s thousands of frantic, incoming mental alerts. I was sitting in a quiet café, waiting for Caleb to get off work. Watching an elderly couple holding hands as they slowly crossed the street outside the window. Under the shifting shadows of the oak trees, the old man gently handed his wife a bottle of water, carefully wiping the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief. Suddenly, I wondered if Caleb and I would look like that when we grew old. Supporting each other, moving with slow, fragile steps, holding hands until the very end of our lives. It was a greedy thought. A beautiful, desperate longing. I grew up in an underfunded orphanage. There were too many kids, and we never had enough to eat. Getting beaten up and having my food snatched away by the older kids was just daily reality. I finally managed to grow up, secure a job, and support myself… only to be gut-punched with terminal cancer. But in this fictional universe, I had a man who loved me with every fiber of his being, and I loved him just as deeply. Why couldn’t we just be together?! I refused to accept this cruel script. So, I proposed a compromise to the system. The system panicked instantly: “Host! Absolutely not! Backing out of a completed mission triggers catastrophic consequences!” Me: “What kind of consequences?” The system urged: “There have been hosts before who tried to sabotage their missions to stay behind. In the end, they were violently rejected by the universe and forcefully deported back to their original world.” Back then, I thought to myself: The worst-case scenario is just being deported back to reality. At worst, I just go back to being a dying cancer patient. I had to fight for my own happiness. I couldn’t live with the regret. … 06 But after that… Caleb started suffering an endless series of bizarre, escalating accidents. At first, it was minor things—slicing his finger open while sharpening a pencil. Tripping over flat pavement and scraping his knees raw. Then, while conducting a routine inspection at a construction site, a loose steel beam fell from above and slammed directly into his head. Thank God he was wearing a hard hat; he escaped with just a concussion. I lived every single day wrapped in absolute, suffocating terror. Caleb, ironically, tried to comfort me, brushing them off as freak accidents. But then, while driving to pick me up from work, his car was hit head-on by a driver going the wrong way down a one-way street. I heard the vehicle was completely pulverized, compressed into a heap of scrap metal. I frantically sprinted to the hospital, only to see Caleb lying in the ICU, fresh out of major surgery. His head was fully wrapped in white gauze, stained with bright crimson blood. One arm and one leg were suspended in heavy traction. My heart shattered into a million pieces, and tears instantly flooded my face. System: “Host, you do not belong to this world. You aren’t bound by the physical rules here, but the narrative backlash will manifest randomly onto him…” Watching my eyes turn bloodshot from crying, it added softly, “Don’t worry. He’s the male lead. The plot armor won’t let him die.” He wouldn’t die, yes. But he would bleed. He would scream in pain. He would suffer. The system continued: “We are completely out of time. The female lead is landing tomorrow. It’s too late to swap in a backup host to replace you. Look…” If I refused to break his heart, Caleb would continue to face an endless cycle of near-fatal accidents. Until I walked away. They knew exactly how to twist the knife in my heart. After running in circles, I was forced back to the exact same starting line. I looked at Caleb lying on the bed, hooked up to a dozen beeping monitors and IV lines, his face ghostly pale from blood loss. I dug my fingernails deep into the palms of my hands. And made the most agonizing choice of my life. “I will leave.” 07 When I returned to my original world, my body miraculously healed. But then I discovered I was pregnant. It was Caleb’s child. I was overjoyed. I was carrying a piece of the man I loved more than life itself. Leo was born prematurely. On the day of his birth, the system briefly flickered back into existence. It told me Leo didn’t belong to the laws of this universe and would be incredibly difficult to keep alive. I didn’t care. I loved him. No matter how fragile he was, I was going to raise him. I became just like any other single, first-time mother. I learned how to meticulously care for him, protecting his fragile life with everything I had. But Leo was infinitely weaker than normal children. At best, he suffered from constant, relentless fevers and colds. At worst, he would slip into deep, catatonic slumbers for days, unable to wake up. I practically lived at the hospital, running between clinics. Until he turned five. He collapsed in the living room again, and I rushed him to the ER. This time, he didn’t wake up. The doctors told me they couldn’t find a medical cause. His vitals were fading by the hour. … And that was when the system appeared once more.

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When I was four years old, I followed my parents on a charity trip to an impoverished mountain town, where I was nearly abducted by human traffickers. It was Harper who saved me. My parents offered to fund her education out of gratitude. She took the opportunity to play the victim, using that favor to guilt-trip her way into moving into our house. Consumed by jealousy, she eventually murdered me, poisoned my parents, and seized our mansion and all our wealth. My entire family died tragically, while she flaunted our stolen fortune to become a mega-influencer with tens of millions of followers. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in Harper’s drafty, run-down stone house. Just before my parents could offer to sponsor her, I looked up timidly and asked: “Mommy, what does ‘little bitch’ mean?” 01 Hearing me curse, my mom’s face instantly dropped. “Who taught you to say that?” I innocently pointed a tiny finger at Harper’s mother. “That’s what this lady called me. She also took Grammy’s emerald necklace.” Mrs. Jenkins’s face drained of color. Standing off to the side, a dark, scrawny Harper had been staring blankly into space this whole time. My dad was the first to react, his expression darkening as he reached for my mom’s purse. The emerald necklace was gone. My maternal grandmother had passed away last month, and that necklace was the only thing she had left for my mom. We had come to this rural town to do charity work precisely to fulfill my grandmother’s dying wish of donating part of her estate. In my previous life, we didn’t realize the necklace was missing until we got home. Because it was so valuable, my mom called the police. But the rural area was underdeveloped—there were no security cameras on the dirt roads, the villages were interconnected, and the population was dense and chaotic. There was simply no way to track it down. Mrs. Jenkins had cried to the heavens, accusing us of framing her. Her dramatic performance made everyone think she was innocent. It wasn’t until after I died that I discovered the truth: Mrs. Jenkins, unable to extort more cash from Harper, had pawned the necklace to buy a house for her son’s wedding. While I was lost in my memories, Mrs. Jenkins—now enraged—spat on the ground at our feet. She grabbed a rusted pitchfork and started driving us out: “Fake philanthropists! So what if we’re poor? Does being poor mean we have to steal from you? At the end of the day, you rich folks just look down on us!” “Get the hell out of my house, you little bitch!” Her banshee-like screeching drew a crowd of neighbors. It also jolted Harper out of her daze. Her eyes regained their focus. After a brief few seconds of shock, she pushed past her mother and ran out: “Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, my mom took the necklace! I’ll get it and give it back to you right now.” “I really want to go to school. Please, for the sake of me saving Samantha yesterday, please help me.” Hearing Harper’s words, Mrs. Jenkins’s features twisted into a grotesque mask of fury. “You ungrateful little wolf! Framing your own mother just to suck up to these rich people! I’ll beat you to death!” Mrs. Jenkins violently slammed the handle of the pitchfork into Harper’s back, over and over again. Several villagers tried to break up the fight, but she swung the pitchfork to ward them off. The entire village echoed with Harper’s agonizing screams. 02 Ultimately, my parents called the police. The cops arrived just in time to put an end to the circus. After Mrs. Jenkins was restrained, Harper, covered in bruises and limping, went into the back room. She brought out the emerald necklace. With the evidence secured, Mrs. Jenkins was arrested on the spot. My parents safely tucked the necklace away, but they didn’t breathe a single word about sponsoring Harper. When Mr. Jenkins returned from the fields with his hoe, my dad handed him a stack of cash as a token of gratitude for saving me. Seeing that we were about to leave, Harper looked at us in sheer disbelief and screamed, losing control: “Wait! That’s it?” My mom turned to look at her in confusion. My dad instinctively reached out, shielding me behind him. Harper looked shocked and appalled: “This isn’t how it goes! You’re supposed to sponsor my education! If it weren’t for me, this dead bi—I mean, Samantha, would have been taken by the kidnappers.” “Mom, Dad, you’re going to take me with you, right?” Her seemingly manic words confused everyone else, but I understood them perfectly. In my past life, to put up the facade of a wealthy heiress, she claimed my parents were like a second set of parents to her and simply started calling them “Mom” and “Dad.” My mom corrected her a few times, but seeing she wouldn’t change, eventually gave up. My dad just avoided her altogether. I really hadn’t expected Harper to be reborn too. Hearing her call them that, my parents’ faces turned pitch black. Mr. Jenkins’s face contorted in rage. Cursing loudly, he slapped Harper hard upside the head. Harper’s eyes widened in fury as she tried to fight back, but Mr. Jenkins kicked her to the ground. My mom shielded my eyes and quickly carried me into our SUV. Meanwhile, Harper chased our car barefoot, crying and screaming. Until she couldn’t keep up anymore. My dad pulled his gaze away from the rearview mirror, frowning. “Is that girl mentally unstable?” “With parents like that, it’d be a miracle if she turned out normal. Thank God we didn’t bring up the sponsorship right away, or that family would have stuck to us like leeches.” My dad nodded in agreement. I slowly lowered my eyelashes. Harper didn’t know that my parents valued my upbringing and environment above all else. After witnessing the true nature of her family, they would never let me associate with someone like her. 03 Before we left, the town mayor approached us. The village was desperately poor and isolated. There were too many kids who couldn’t afford school, and if they missed out on us, who knew when the next charitable donors would arrive. She handed my parents a roster. Every child on the list had a photo and their family’s background attached. She hoped my parents could selectively sponsor a child’s education, even if it was just one. After the fiasco at Harper’s house yesterday, my parents were actually quite hesitant. But faced with the mayor’s earnest, pleading eyes, they didn’t know how to refuse. I stood beside them, flipping through the roster, and spoke up as if by accident: “Mommy, Daddy, this boy helped save me the other day too.” My parents turned their heads. Seeing the child I pointed to, the mayor’s face immediately lit up with joy: “Oh, that’s little Liam Carter. He’s just started third grade. He placed first in the whole district on the placement exams a few days ago.” “His mom was the only college grad from our village. When his dad broke his legs on a construction site, she gave up her city job and came back to take care of him. They had Liam, and she’s been here ever since.” After a brief discussion, my parents relented. They said we would visit Liam’s house tomorrow. I threw a childish tantrum, insisting we go thank the “big brother” in person right now. Unable to say no to me, my parents drove us there. In my past life, the person who actually saved me from the kidnapper was Liam. While Harper dragged me away to run, Liam had wrapped his arms tightly around the kidnapper’s waist, refusing to let go so the man couldn’t chase us. I originally wanted to scream for someone to save Liam. But Harper told me the kidnapper was Liam’s relative. She claimed they staged the whole thing just to scam my parents out of money. I believed her. The next time I saw Liam was during my freshman year of college. He returned to our university as a distinguished alumnus giving a speech. Back then, the campus was full of legends about Liam Carter. They said he was the only true genius-slash-heartthrob in the history of our Ivy League school. He studied architecture and interior design, taking on freelance gigs to make money since his freshman year. Before he even graduated, he had offers from top Silicon Valley tech giants. After building his network and padding his resume at a major firm, he quickly quit to start his own business, becoming an industry titan. I never expected someone like him to confess his feelings to me. But at the time, because of the lies from our childhood, I publicly rejected him. It wasn’t until Liam attended my funeral that I learned the truth. From Harper’s mocking, gloating words, I found out that on the day we ran away, Liam’s leg had been broken by the kidnapper, nearly leaving him permanently disabled. And that kidnapper was absolutely not his relative. My final memory before my rebirth was backstage at an influencer awards ceremony—where Liam violently drove a steel fountain pen straight into Harper’s forehead to avenge me. In my past life, he avenged me. This time, it’s my turn to protect him. 04 At the hospital, Liam’s parents welcomed us warmly. After understanding the situation, my parents immediately arranged for Liam to be transferred to a top-tier hospital in the city. They brought in orthopedic specialists for a joint consultation. Once it was confirmed that Liam’s leg would make a full recovery, his parents thanked mine with red, tear-filled eyes. By his hospital bed, I asked Liam: “Does it hurt?” Liam shook his head. I stared into his eyes. “Big brother, thank you for the other day. You have to get better quickly.” “I will. What’s your name?” “Samantha.” “I’m Liam Carter. Here, this is yours.” He opened his palm. It was my hair clip. In my past life, after I rejected him, the hairpin he returned to me was this exact one. Back then, I had thrown it straight into the trash. Thinking about it now made me want to go back in time and slap myself. When I looked up at him again, my eyes curved into a sweet smile: “You keep it as a souvenir, big brother. You have to remember me. When I grow up, I’ll come find you.” “Okay.” Liam solemnly closed his fist around the clip. My parents officially chose to sponsor Liam’s education. I don’t know if it was a side-effect of being reborn, but after returning home, I ran a high fever for a week. The moment my fever broke, we received devastating news about Liam’s family. 05 Liam’s parents were dead. Someone had laced their cooking pot with strychnine rat poison. Liam only survived because he was still living and eating at the hospital. The ones who poisoned them were Harper’s parents. They were consumed by jealousy that the Carter family had “stolen” their sponsorship spot. While Liam’s parents were at the hospital visiting him, Mr. Jenkins sneaked into their house and poisoned their food. After the Carter family died, Harper’s parents actually stood on their fence watching the commotion like it had nothing to do with them. Liam was now an orphan. His relatives were mostly struggling financially and couldn’t even fend for themselves; no one was willing to take him in. His schooling became a major issue. The village mayor called my parents to explain the tragedy and asked if they needed to pause the sponsorship. After discussing it, my parents decided to adopt Liam. When we arrived to pick Liam up, we could see a massive crowd of people gathered outside his hospital room from down the hall. Harper’s loud, weeping voice echoed from inside: “Liam, I’m begging you! Please sign the forgiveness letter for the judge.” “If my parents go to prison, my life will be completely ruined!” I squeezed through the crowd. I saw Harper kneeling at Liam’s feet, aggressively kowtowing to him. Fury surged through me. I rushed forward and yanked her up by the collar. Smack! A sharp slap echoed across Harper’s face. Everyone was stunned. Harper snapped out of it and screamed: “What are you doing, Samantha?!” I was originally going to curse her out, but seeing my parents approaching, I swallowed the vicious words. Mimicking a child’s crisp, innocent tone, I said: “Big sister, your mommy and daddy murdered his mommy and daddy, and you’re actually forcing him to forgive them! You’re a bad person!” “Also, I don’t think I ever told you my name. How do you know I’m Samantha?” Thanks to my reminder, my parents immediately caught on. My mom rushed over, picked me up, and gently comforted me. My dad stared at Harper with eyes full of suspicion and hostility: “Did you and your parents target our family from the start? Was that kidnapper hired by you?!” In my past life, because Harper always felt out of place in our home, my parents went out of their way to care for her—treating her even better than they treated me. Even if she made a small mistake, they never scolded her. Let alone look at her with such intense scrutiny. Harper was terrified and frantically tried to defend herself. “Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, that day was the first time we ever met! I didn’t know you before, and I didn’t know you were coming to the village.” “I just heard you calling her ‘Sammy’ that day, and I knew you were Mr. Hayes, so I guessed her name was Samantha.” “She hit me first just now! Look at my face!” She purposely turned her head, deliberately exposing her right cheek. But there were no finger marks on her face, not even a trace of redness. No matter how loud the slap sounded, it was still just the strength of a four-year-old. Feigning fear, I buried my face in my mom’s shoulder and started to cry softly. Furious, Harper ran out to the onlookers in the hallway. “Grandma, you tell them! Didn’t Samantha hit me first?!” “Sir, you definitely saw it, hurry up and tell them!” But no one paid her any attention. Her voice grew increasingly hysterical. It wasn’t until the village mayor arrived and dispersed the crowd that Harper finally went silent.

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