My family is filthy rich. But in my past life, I ended up dumpster diving and eating discarded food just to avoid spending a single penny. All because of my snake of a colleague, Chloe Finch. She secretly installed spyware on my phone. Every single dollar I spent digitally was silently redirected straight into her bank account. Then, she used gaslighting and moral blackmail to force me into signing a pledge at our company’s annual gala, promising to cover the catering and venue bill for the entire company. Thinking it was just a good way to build professional relationships, I didn’t think twice. I signed a digital billing authorization for three hundred thousand dollars. But the moment the form was uploaded, my payment authorization mysteriously glitched. My bank accounts showed a terrifying balance of zero. Overnight, the entire office branded me as a pathetic liar who wrote bad checks. Even Jackson Miller, the rising star of our department whom I was dating, dumped me on the spot. Meanwhile, Chloe used my stolen money to flaunt her wealth. She generously paid the bill for everyone, branding herself as a sweet, generous heiress. She even spread rumors that I was just a charity case living off her family’s scraps. Furious, I pulled out my physical black card to prove my wealth, but the credit card terminals kept throwing fraud alerts, locking my limits. Chloe, on the other hand, casually swiped her card to pay a million-dollar deposit, booking the most expensive restaurant in the city. She sneered at me in front of everyone: “Still trying to play rich when you’re flat broke, Sera? Your mother is just a maid. Does her hourly wage even cover the cost of you pretending to be high class?” I was subjected to horrific cyberbullying and workplace harassment. The mental toll was too much, and my health rapidly deteriorated due to the stress. Before my dad could return from abroad to save me, my heart gave out, and I died in misery. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the company gala. Right at the exact moment Chloe was pressuring me to sign the dinner pledge in front of everyone.

“Sera Wood, you are so incredibly vain! You’re just a maid’s daughter. How dare you brag about paying for the entire company’s dinner!” “Exactly! If Chloe hadn’t generously stepped in and covered the bill for us tonight, you’d be exposed as a total fraud!” “Apologize to Chloe right now, or I’m calling the police for wire fraud and damaging the company’s reputation!” The deafening screech of insults rang in my ears. Jostled by the aggressive crowd of colleagues around me, I snapped back to reality. Looking at the familiar, angry faces of my coworkers, it finally clicked. I had been reborn. I was back to the day Chloe used that malware to set me up, forcing me to make a fool of myself at the gala. Just seconds ago, the digital payment authorization I signed had mysteriously failed. And Chloe had immediately stepped up, swiped her card to pay the bill, and loudly announced to everyone that I was just the daughter of her family’s housekeeper. Suddenly, a clear, intrusive thought flashed in my mind. It was Chloe’s inner voice! *【Sign it, you idiot! The software is already running. Once the authorization goes through, all your family’s cash will flow directly into my account!】* I understood everything in an instant. Seeing my silence, Chloe pushed through the crowd, putting on a fake, concerned face. “Sera, I didn’t mind when you secretly wore my designer dresses left at the office, or when you borrowed my limited-edition handbags to show off on Snapchat. But how could you write a bad check at a major company event?” “We all know you don’t have the money to pay for this. Just apologize. Otherwise, I won’t be able to defend you in front of the regional manager anymore!” Looking at the malicious greed in her eyes, I knew she was trying to bait me into a prideful rage. In my past life, I had fallen for it. I had angrily thrown my black card on the table, telling everyone to order whatever they wanted. But when the servers went to process the payment, the card reader blared: “Transaction Declined. Insufficient Funds. Please try again.” In contrast, Chloe had swept in like a savior, transferring millions to cover everything, even promising to pay for all future company outings. I became the office pariah—a vain, pathetic imposter—while Chloe became the beloved, generous billionaire heiress. As I was calculating my next move, my boyfriend, Jackson, suddenly broke through the crowd. He was the golden boy of our marketing team. Tonight, he was dripping in designer clothes, wearing a luxury watch worth a hundred grand on his wrist—all bought with my money. He pointed a finger at me, disgust written all over his face. “Sera Wood! I actually believed you were from a wealthy family. Turns out you’re just a cheap fraud! If you hadn’t practically begged me and acted like my loyal little puppy for the past year, I wouldn’t have looked at you twice. We are over. Don’t ever contact me again!” But he was the one who had practically begged me on his knees to date him after drooling over my luxury lifestyle posts on Instagram. If he hadn’t been decent-looking and competent at his job, I wouldn’t have bothered keeping him as a pet. But now, he looked at me like I was toxic waste, violently shoving me back to make sure everyone saw him cutting ties with me. The onlookers cheered, congratulating Jackson on escaping a “gold-digger.” Ha. A gold-digger? I gave him a hundred-thousand-dollar monthly allowance. And they called him the victim. Just as I opened my mouth to expose them, Chloe’s eyes welled with fake tears, and she slapped me across the face. “Sera, why can’t you just admit you’re wrong? Your mother is a housekeeper at my estate, but I’ve always treated you like a sister! All you had to do was say sorry, and I would have forgiven you. Why do you have to keep lying?” “Admit it? Fine. I’ll admit it right now.” I held my red, stinging cheek, stood up straight, and raised my voice so the entire room could hear: “You’re right. I, Sera Wood, am just a maid’s daughter! I was vain, I pretended to be Chloe, and I made a promise I couldn’t keep. I was wrong!” “I hope the great heiress Chloe Finch can find it in her heart to forgive a poor maid’s daughter like me.”

The entire room fell dead silent. No one expected me to confess so easily. Chloe stammered, trying to find more words to humiliate me, but I turned around and walked straight out of the banquet hall, giving her no chance to spin her web further. The moment I got back to the modest apartment I had rented to “experience normal life,” I opened my shopping apps. Chloe probably thought my lack of resistance meant I was planning something. But as she watched her bank account balance swell, she couldn’t help but gloat. She immediately sent me a message on Snapchat: *”Sera, the team says you need to prove your apology. Order 100 deluxe organic catering boxes to the office tomorrow.”* I sneered and replied with a simple, *”Sure.”* I ordered the most expensive catering boxes available. But the moment the delivery driver dropped them off at the front desk, I immediately logged onto the app and clicked “Refund – Wrong Address/Item Spoiled.” I didn’t stop there. I went on Amazon and luxury retail apps, buying millions of dollars worth of designer gear, and immediately filed “Chargeback” disputes and “Item Not Received” refunds. With a few clicks, the hundreds of thousands of dollars I had just “spent” flowed right back into my bank accounts. In the distance, I could practically hear Chloe’s panicked thoughts. *【What the hell? Why is my ledger app showing a random catering purchase? And why can’t I delete this refund history?!】* I knew it! To perfectly replicate my transaction history, her spyware automatically generated matching records on her device. But a refund bypasses the spyware’s routing, leaving an indelible, undeletable digital trail of fraud on her phone! I wanted to scream with joy. Chloe was in for a wild ride. Over the next few days, I went on a massive three-million-dollar shopping spree. And for every single purchase—from cheap snacks and makeup to limited-edition luxury bags, designer gowns, and even a foreclosed suburban property—I exploited the instant-refund and chargeback loophole. Still, a lingering anxiety remained. Remembering how my health had suddenly collapsed in my past life, I decided to head back to my family’s actual estate over the weekend to investigate. But the moment I pushed open the grand double doors of my mansion, I froze. Chloe and Jackson were throwing a wild party in my living room, surrounded by a crowd of my coworkers. When they saw me, their faces immediately twisted in disgust. “Oh, Sera. You’re back,” Chloe said. She was wearing one of my custom-tailored designer gowns, casually swirling a glass of 1992 Chateau Lafite. She walked toward me with mock elegance. “It’s Jackson’s birthday today. He really wanted to have his party at my family’s estate, so I brought him and the team over. We actually drank through the entire wine cellar. Go order a few more cases of the ’92 Lafite right now.” I stared at her glowing, heavily made-up face, momentarily stunned. Clothes really do make the person. Chloe, funded by the millions she had stolen from me, looked entirely different from the plain, nervous girl who had followed her mother to my house years ago to beg for a job. But I was genuinely curious about how she was pulling this off. Seeing me silent, Chloe grew impatient, pointing a manicured finger at my face. “What are you standing there for? Move! I put together this birthday bash for Jackson. If you ruin his night, you won’t survive the consequences. Oh, and make sure you get the Lafite. It’s Jackson’s favorite.” “And while you’re at it, call the Michelin-star pastry shop for a custom cake, and book a VIP lounge at the rooftop club for the afterparty.” I almost laughed out loud at her sheer audacity. Using my stolen money to fund her luxury lifestyle, and now she wanted me to act as her personal errand girl? In her dreams.

I stood rooted to the spot, refusing to budge. Looking at the hundreds of empty, priceless wine bottles littered around the room, I silently prayed for them. If my dad found out his vintage collection had been guzzled by these parasites, he would personally destroy them. Jackson, clearly drunk, stumbled over, flanked by a group of scowling coworkers. “Sera Wood, are you deaf? You’re a worthless maid’s daughter. When Chloe, our resident heiress, tells you to do something, you jump! Go buy the damn wine!” “If you ruin Jackson’s birthday because of your laziness, Chloe can have your mother fired with a single phone call. She’ll be begging for scraps on the street!” one coworker sneered. The luxury watch I had gifted Jackson was gone. In its place was a ridiculously thick, gaudy solid gold watch. He was also spinning a key fob for a limited-edition supercar on his finger, looking like a total textbook nouveau riche. No wonder everyone was kissing his ass. Chloe must have spent at least three million of my dollars on him. I couldn’t help but chuckle. No wonder Chloe was so desperate for me to keep spending; she needed to fund her boytoy. “I’m so sorry, Chloe,” I said mockingly. “My salary is only a few thousand dollars a month. I don’t have the funds to prepay for your expensive wine. If you want to fire my mother, go ahead. I’ll tell her to pack her bags and leave your estate immediately.” I turned to leave, but someone grabbed my hair from behind, ripping me backward. “Sera Wood, you ungrateful bitch! How dare a servant’s daughter talk back to Chloe!” Jackson’s eyes were filled with pure malice. “If you hadn’t stolen Chloe’s identity and tricked me, Chloe and I wouldn’t have wasted so much time apart!” “I’m going to teach you some manners today!” With a wave of his hand, half a dozen coworkers ran forward, pinning my arms behind my back. I struggled, panic rising in my chest. “Let me go! Are you all insane?!” Jackson laughed maniacally and slapped me hard across the face. “I’m doing Chloe a favor by disciplining her servant!” Searing pain bloomed across my face. My lip split, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Chloe stood by, sipping her wine and watching the show with a satisfied smirk. “Honestly, Sera, I’ve been way too soft on you. That’s why you forgot your place. It’s good for Jackson to teach you a lesson. Maybe now you’ll remember who the real owner of this estate is.” Dizzy and bleeding, I screamed for the estate’s butler and security, only to realize the house staff had been completely dismissed for the party. It seemed that during the months I was living near the office to focus on work, Chloe’s mother had completely taken over the estate management. After a while, Jackson grew tired of hitting me. But his greedy eyes suddenly locked onto my wrist. “Where did you get that watch? You stole it from Chloe, didn’t you?!” His eyes lit up with greed as he grabbed my wrist, trying to rip the watch off. The metal dug painfully into my skin. “Let go! This was my mother’s!” I screamed. Jackson didn’t believe me. He kicked me squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of me. “Your maid mother could never afford a watch like this! You definitely stole it from Chloe’s room!” He twisted my wrist violently. This watch was the only thing my late mother had left me. I would rather die than let him take it. I thrashed wildly, prepared to fight them to the death. But right then, a sharp gasp echoed from the grand entryway. “What on earth are you doing?! Stop this right now!”

I looked up. It was Brenda Finch, Chloe’s mother—our estate’s housekeeper. Except today, she was dripping in diamonds and gold, looking like a wealthy Beverly Hills housewife. Chloe gathered her skirt and ran over to her, whining. “Mom, why are you back so early?” Jackson and the colleagues immediately stood up straight, politely greeting her. “Good evening, Mrs. Finch!” I spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, “I didn’t know my family’s estate hired a new ‘Mrs. Finch’.” My dad had only been out of the country on business for six months. He trusted Brenda, a long-time employee, to look after the mansion. And this was how she repaid him? By trying to steal our home? Seeing my bloodied state on the floor, a flash of panic crossed Brenda’s eyes, but she quickly masked it with a stern face. “Hmph. You’re just a maid’s daughter. Stop acting like you own the place!” She turned to Chloe with a doting smile. “Chloe, sweetie, how many times have I told you? You are a high-society lady. Why are you wasting your time dealing with this trash? It’s beneath you.” “Since you’ve already taught her a lesson, throw her out! Don’t let her dirty our floors!” Chloe giggled and gestured for the coworkers to drag me out. But then, she pointed at my bruised wrist and the watch, looking for praise. “Mom, look! Luckily, I caught her trying to steal this watch. We can’t let her keep something this valuable!” But the moment Brenda’s eyes landed on my watch, the color drained from her face. She lunged forward, slapping Chloe’s hand away from my wrist. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Brenda’s voice was visibly trembling. She looked at me with sheer terror, frantically trying to cover for me. “This… this watch is just a cheap knockoff her mother bought from a street vendor to look rich! It’s worthless junk!” “None of you are allowed to touch Sera’s watch ever again, do you hear me?!” At that moment, her inner panic echoed clearly in my mind: *【My god! The microchip inside can’t be damaged! If the signal breaks, the Trojan and the tracking device will completely fail!】* Looking at her terrified expression, the puzzle pieces fell into place. The watch held a micro-chip that boosted the spyware’s signal. It was the anchor for their entire theft operation! But Chloe herself had no idea. “Oh? A knockoff? I thought it was real!” “Figures. Sera is so vain, she’d wear fake trash just to fit in.” “Ugh, a maid’s daughter indeed. So pathetic.” The crowd mocked me as they threw me out into the cold night. I dragged myself up, immediately unclasped the watch, and sent a message to my dad telling him to return immediately. I also arranged for a trusted courier to take the watch to a tech-forensics lab. Then, I ran to the luxury boutique, spent three million dollars to buy an exact replica of the watch, and bought a brand-new phone. I turned off my old phone and sealed it in a lead bag. The moment I switched devices, the heavy, suffocating fog in my chest instantly cleared. I felt a surge of energy. It turned out the chip in the watch and the malware on my old phone had been emitting harmful low-frequency radiation, slowly poisoning my body while draining my bank account. To avoid alerting Brenda and Chloe, I continued my routine. Aside from ordering luxury items and filing for chargebacks, I posted daily selfies showing off my “new” watch on Instagram. Even though the comments were flooded with hate and mockery, I remained unfazed. Soon, Jackson couldn’t resist leaving a comment: *”Lmao, bragging about a fake watch? Let me show you what real wealth looks like.”* He immediately uploaded a five-minute video on Instagram. In the video, he was wearing a bespoke designer suit, kneeling before Chloe with a massive, flawless diamond ring. He shouted: “Chloe, will you marry me?” Chloe wept tears of joy, and instead of flower petals, the venue was showered with crisp, hundred-dollar bills. The extravagant video went viral instantly. “OMG, the power couple of our department! I’m so jealous!” “I looked up that ring—it’s easily worth a million dollars! Not to mention the cash shower!” “Sera Wood is officially a joke. Posting her fake watch daily while Jackson marries a literal billionaire!” I scrolled through the comments, smiling. In North America, credit card chargebacks and refund fraud over a certain amount are federal offenses. I wondered what Chloe’s face would look like when the authorities presented her with millions of dollars in fraudulent transactions that she couldn’t erase from her devices.

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I had a silent agreement with Ethan Sterling, the billionaire CEO. Every year on our wedding anniversary, we would drop all our work and spend the entire day together. But on our fifth anniversary, he didn’t show up. Instead, he flew to a private island for a vacation with his childhood sweetheart, Chloe Henderson. At the same time, he sent me the deed to my 100th luxury property as compensation. Just like he had done the previous 99 times. I didn’t cry. I didn’t make a scene. I simply attached the divorce agreement to the last page of the property transfer documents, waiting for his signature. After he signed the papers without looking, a rare soft expression appeared on his face. “Wait for me to get back. I promise I’ll make it up to you on our next anniversary.” But when he finally cleared his schedule to spend time with me, all he received was a text. “There won’t be a next time. We are done.” Over the past five years, Ethan had transferred a hundred luxury properties to my name. Every time a new deed arrived, he was always spotted somewhere with Chloe. Sometimes it was a high-end condo right next to an amusement park, the paperwork still smelling of fresh ink. Sometimes it was a beachfront villa on a private island, delivered to me along with his vacation itinerary. He even bought the building right across from City Hall. The title was transferred to me today, and tomorrow he would take Chloe to stay in the penthouse of that very building. The companionship I begged for was something Chloe got with absolute ease. And all I got in return was a stack of cold, lifeless property deeds. I locked my phone and sat on the curb, waiting for my Uber. I waited for a long time, but the car didn’t arrive. Instead, Ethan’s call came through. The moment I picked up, his cold voice echoed through the speaker. “It’s this late and you’re still not home? My wife is spending the night outside. Have you ever considered how that makes me look?” “Where are you right now?” I remained silent. If this were the past, I would have bowed my head first, explaining my situation in a soft, apologetic tone. But now, I just couldn’t bring myself to care. Ethan’s voice grew irritated. “Avery, did you suddenly go mute?” “Westview Heights Park.” Ethan went dead silent on the other end. It seemed he finally remembered today was our fifth wedding anniversary. He had once promised me that every year on this day, he would cancel all his meetings and spend it here with me. But today, he had flown to a private island in the Caribbean with Chloe, starting a three-day “anniversary weekend.” “I… wait for me. I’ll pick you up as soon as I’m done here.” The line went dead. I canceled my Uber. It wasn’t because I was expecting Ethan to show up. It was because the weather suddenly took a sharp turn, and a heavy blizzard started to fall. I stood by the side of the road, shivering violently. Due to the freezing temperature, my phone battery drained to zero in less than three hours. From beginning to end, Ethan never showed up. The last notification I saw before my phone died was a Page Six headline: *Billionaire Ethan Sterling Spotted on Private Island with Mystery Woman for Romantic Weekend.* The attached photo was a shot of him from behind, his arm wrapped tightly around Chloe’s waist at the airport. In the reflection of the black screen, I saw my own relieved smile. On our fifth anniversary, he chose to spend three days on a private island with Chloe. I waited in the snow all night, and he never showed. I spent five of the best years of my life collecting his “compensation” deeds. But in the end, one hundred luxury properties couldn’t beat a single moment of genuine presence. Ethan, I’m not waiting anymore. ***

In the freezing night, I didn’t go home. I dragged my numb body for two hours to the nearest hotel—which, ironically, was under my name. The deed was right inside my bag. That night, Ethan didn’t send another text or make another call. The next morning, I arrived at the office early to prepare my resignation letter. Ethan was the founder of the company. I was just a low-profile business specialist on paper, a ghost in his corporate empire. I had been by his side since he had nothing. But now, my presence was completely insignificant. Even if I vanished, Ethan wouldn’t notice a thing. Just as I was about to sign the last line of my resignation letter, Ethan suddenly appeared behind me. I remained completely calm under his gaze, switching my screen as if nothing had happened. He looked at me, his voice crisp. “What are you writing?” “Nothing. Just some property management files.” He frowned slightly, failing to notice anything unusual, and turned to walk into his private office. “Avery, come in for a second.” The moment Ethan called me in, the surrounding colleagues started whispering among themselves. “Oh no, Avery is going to get chewed out by Mr. Sterling again.” In the entire company, everyone assumed Chloe was his public partner. None of them knew I was his legal wife, holding nearly a hundred luxury deeds under my name. Inside the office, Ethan looked at me with a tight frown. “Just because I missed the anniversary, is it really necessary to throw such a tantrum and not even come home?” I shook my head. “The snow was too heavy. It wasn’t safe to drive.” It was the truth, but also an excuse. The important thing was that I didn’t want to go back. I wanted to leave forever. Ethan didn’t seem to notice my detachment. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “The transfer of the Fontainebleau Manor is complete. The deed will be delivered to you in a few days.” Then, he slid an invitation card over to me. “We are going tonight.” They were front-row tickets to my favorite symphony orchestra. I knew this was yet another one of his “compensations.” I thought about it and took the card. After all, he owed me this. Seeing that I remained quiet, Ethan opened his mouth, wanting to say something more. But a sharp ringtone cut him off. I watched him quickly step away to answer it. I knew it was Chloe. After all, only she had the power to make Ethan drop everything instantly. When I left his office, I printed out my resignation and went straight to Marcus Brody, the Vice President. Marcus was shocked when I handed him the papers. “Avery, you’re resigning? Is this because of Mr. Sterling?” I pursed my lips, finding it slightly amusing. They all thought I was leaving because I couldn’t handle Ethan’s harsh attitude at work. None of them knew it was because my heart was completely shattered. Seeing me nod, Marcus sighed and finally signed the approval. As I was leaving the corporate building, I ran straight into Ethan and Chloe. The entire company knew Chloe was his favorite. Seeing me, Ethan’s face darkened slightly. “Avery, if you have a report, do it later.” With that, he brushed past me with Chloe on his arm. As she passed, Chloe threw me a warning glare. I said nothing and showed up at the concert hall on time that night. The hall was packed, except for the seat next to me. Ethan’s spot was completely empty. In the past, whenever he asked me out, I would wait for him at the entrance until he arrived. This time, I didn’t wait. I went in alone and enjoyed the music. By the time the concert ended, Ethan still hadn’t shown up. I wasn’t even angry. I had already wasted five years of my life. Why care about this last bit of disappointment? Whether he knew about my resignation or not wouldn’t change my decision to leave. ***

After the concert, I didn’t go back to our house. Instead, I walked along the riverwalk. The sky was filled with a brilliant display of fireworks. But it couldn’t spark a single emotion in my heart. My phone kept buzzing. It wasn’t Ethan worrying about me. It was the local news. To celebrate “the perfect end to their anniversary weekend,” Ethan had set global social media ablaze by launching a massive firework show on his private island for Chloe. It wasn’t until midnight that I finally unlocked the front door of the house. The living room lights were on. Ethan was asleep on the couch. Was he waiting for me? In our five years together, he was always the one coming home dead drunk. I used to worry he’d choke or get hurt, calling him dozens of times. I’d prepare hangover cures early, fearing his stomach would hurt. Ethan had told me countless times he hated when I did that. His reason? It made him feel like he was getting old. My thoughts snapped back. Maybe he heard the door open, because he suddenly woke up with a start. The moment he saw me, he rushed over and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Where were you? Why didn’t you pick up my calls? Do you know I was about to call the police?!” I froze for a second, then gently pushed myself out of his grip and pulled out my phone. Only then did I realize it was completely dead. “The cold killed the battery. I didn’t get any calls.” Hearing me mention the snow, a rare flash of guilt washed over Ethan’s face. His lips pressed into a tight line. He awkwardly pulled out a thick envelope and handed it to me. I took it and opened it. Inside was the complete deed to the Fontainebleau Manor—what should have been my 100th property. I stared at it. Once upon a time, I had dreamed of the day Ethan would stand in front of me, offering me a real hug instead of another piece of real estate. But that was in the past. Now, my heart was a flatline. I calmly folded the documents and tossed them casually onto the coffee table. “Thanks.” Ethan stared at me, his handsome brow furrowing. He couldn’t seem to understand my polite indifference. “Why are you acting like…” I looked at him, slightly amused. Perhaps in his mind, I should have gasped at the sight of this multi-million-dollar estate, cried tears of joy, and forgotten all my grievances. With that thought, I forced a dry chuckle right in front of him. “Oh, I’m so thrilled. Yay.” “Are you satisfied now?” I thought Ethan would leave it at that, but my attitude seemed to spark his anger. “Avery, I only took Chloe to the island for a weekend!” “And I already gave you the Fontainebleau Manor! How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?” I wasn’t intimidated by his dark expression. I calmly plugged my phone into the charger. “You’re misunderstanding. I’m just tired.” Ethan’s face tightened. It was the first time he had ever felt such blatant indifference from me. He bit his lip, reaching out to grab my hand. But a sharp ringtone broke the silence again. It was Chloe. He looked at me, about to explain, but I spoke first. “You’re busy. No need to explain. I understand.” Seeing how “understanding” I was, Ethan looked even more bewildered. He gripped my hand tighter, desperate to figure out what had changed. But the phone kept ringing, louder and more urgent. Finally, under my calm gaze, Ethan slowly let go of my hand. “Wait for me to get back. I promise I’ll make it up to you next year.” With that, he rushed out the door. I acted as if nothing had happened. I went back to my room, pulled out the “property transfer documents” he had just signed, and turned to the very last page. The words *Divorce Agreement* were printed clearly on the white paper. I stared at his signature for a long time, then filed it away safely. That night, I had the best sleep I’d had in five years. Once the HR transition was complete, Ethan would never see me again. ***

When I arrived at the office, I walked toward my desk as usual, but Sarah pulled me back. “Avery, you’ve got trouble today.” I looked at her, confused. I had already resigned. What trouble could I possibly have? Sarah pointed ahead. I looked over and saw Chloe sitting in my chair. After Sarah’s quick explanation, I understood the situation. Today was Chloe’s first day as an official employee. When choosing her desk, she had taken a liking to mine at first glance. I walked over to her calmly. Seeing me approach, Chloe raised an eyebrow, a mocking smirk playing on her lips. “I like this spot. Find yourself another desk.” I looked at her and gave a calm nod. “Sure. Let me just pack up my things.” Though I didn’t say anything, the colleagues around us immediately assumed I was being bullied into submission by Chloe. But because of Chloe’s special connection to the boss, no one dared to speak up. They only whispered and cast sympathetic looks my way. Just as I finished packing my box and was about to leave, Ethan walked in. Chloe immediately ran to him, grabbing his arm. Ethan took the opportunity to introduce her to the team. “This is Chloe Henderson. She’ll be working with you all starting today. Please show her the ropes.” A few scattered claps echoed in the lobby. Ethan didn’t seem to mind. “Did you pick a desk?” he asked. The moment he said that, Chloe pointed directly at my old spot. “I want to sit there!” Ethan looked over and finally noticed me holding my cardboard box. His expression turned slightly uneasy. “That spot is taken. Choose another one.” Surprisingly, Ethan rejected her request. But Chloe was determined to have my spot. She clung to his arm, whining. “Ethan, I want this one. It’s closer to your office. I can see you from here.” I didn’t want to waste my time watching their little show, so I spoke up. “She can have the desk.” Since I had already resigned, a desk meant absolutely nothing to me. Seeing me back down, Chloe looked at Ethan triumphantly. “See? She gave it to me.” Ethan shot me a glance, his face turning incredibly dark for some reason. Then, he turned to Chloe, his voice dropping to a cold, firm whisper. “I said, that desk is taken. Pick another one.” Ethan, who had always spoiled her and given her everything she wanted, was snapping at her for the first time. Chloe stood there, completely stunned. The atmosphere in the room froze. Having made his decision, Ethan spared me one last look before turning on his heel and walking back to his office. Panicking, Chloe rushed after him, but not before turning back to glare at me with pure hatred. I found it almost funny. Once, I was just like Chloe, chasing after Ethan’s back. The only difference was that I chased him for five years and got 99 deeds, but never a single day of his undivided attention. As I was about to walk out, my phone buzzed with a text from Ethan. *Tomorrow at 7 PM. Westview Heights Park. I’m making up for our anniversary.* I smiled, blocked his number, and deleted his contact information. After saying goodbye to a few colleagues, I walked out of the building. With my bags already packed, I headed straight to the airport. The next day, Ethan dressed up in a sharp white suit, carrying a beautifully wrapped gift, and arrived early at Westview Heights Park.

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In my past life, I fell down the stairs and suffered a miscarriage. But even after that, I kept wearing a fake baby bump every single day, pretending I was still pregnant. I did it because, in my previous life, my sister Chloe and I went into labor on the very same day. She gave birth to a healthy baby, while I gave birth to a severely deformed child. My husband, Marcus, had pointed at me in front of everyone, screaming that I was a monster who abused drugs during my pregnancy and ruined our baby. That wasn’t all. Marcus then reported me to both our company and the police, accusing me of stealing corporate secrets. I was dragged away in handcuffs. After ten years in prison, I was finally released. I was nothing but skin and bones, broken by a decade of abuse. Meanwhile, Marcus had been promoted to CEO. He was hailed as a hero who saved the company by turning in his own “criminal” wife. He stood before me, holding my sister Chloe’s hand. “Vivian, now that it’s come to this, I won’t lie to you anymore. Chloe and I have been in love for years. The baby she carried was mine from the start.” “But her baby was born with severe defects. She couldn’t handle the trauma, so I had no choice but to swap your healthy baby with hers.” “That money we gave you bought ten years of your life. Since you have a criminal record, I’ve already divorced you. Even our son thinks you’re an embarrassment.” My own biological son had looked at me with pure disgust. “Chloe is my real mom. She’s nice to me, and she’s never been to prison. I don’t want a criminal like you for a mother!” That same day, Marcus had someone run me over with a car. But now, I am reborn. I want to see how they plan to ruin me this time—now that my baby is already gone!

Returning from the hospital to Marcus’s suburban estate, I bumped right into him. He was gently guiding my sister, Chloe, out the front door. Luckily, I had put on my fake baby bump beforehand. Neither of them noticed anything unusual. Chloe smiled sweetly when she saw me. “Vivian, you’re back! I wasn’t feeling well, so I told Marcus. He said he’d take me to his private clinic for a checkup.” “Look at him, making such a big deal out of a minor stomach ache. Marcus is so responsible. I’m sure he’ll be an amazing father when your baby is born.” In my past life, her words would have made me blush, painting a picture of a happy future raising a family with Marcus. But now, after being reborn, I only felt sick. I couldn’t believe I had ever thought this disgusting duo was kind. Their eyes locked onto my belly. There was no affection in their gaze—only greed and calculation. In my past life, I was too naive. I never noticed that Marcus, my husband, cared far more about Chloe than he did about me, his wife. When Chloe and I went into labor on the same day, I actually thought it was a beautiful blessing that we were sharing this milestone. But after I delivered a healthy baby, the child Marcus brought to my bedside was blue, gasping for air, and on the verge of death. He slapped me hard across the face in front of the doctors, accusing me of abusing illegal weight-loss drugs during my pregnancy, which supposedly caused “my baby’s” birth defects. I was in shock. I screamed that my baby had been swapped, but nobody believed me. To make matters worse, Marcus immediately reported me to the board and the police for leaking corporate secrets. Along with his report, he handed over forged documents found in our study, supposedly showing my correspondence with our top competitor. Overnight, I became a disgraced white-collar criminal. Before I could even recover from childbirth, I was taken in for interrogation and sentenced to ten years. After enduring a decade of hell, I was released, only for Marcus and Chloe to mock me with the truth. He held Chloe’s hand and my biological son’s hand, tossing a check at my feet like I was a stray dog. “Vivian, I’ll be honest. Chloe and I have been together for a long time. The child she had was mine.” “But her baby was sick. She was devastated, and I couldn’t bear to see my own blood suffer… so I swapped your baby with hers.” “This check is compensation for your ten years. We’re divorced now. Our son hates you.” Even my son sneered at me. “Chloe is my mom. She didn’t go to prison like you. You’re not my mother!” Already frail from prison life, I was literally choked to death by my own rage. Remembering my tragic end, while Marcus climbed the corporate ladder using my stolen career and lived happily ever after with Chloe, a dark fire burned in my chest. “An amazing father? We’ll see about that,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “I told you I had a cold yesterday, Marcus, and you didn’t care at all. It seems you care much more about my sister than your own wife.” Marcus’s face stiffened. He quickly tried to cover it up. “Don’t be silly, Vivian. You’ve always had a strong immune system. Chloe is different. She’s been delicate since she was a kid.” “Besides, she’s your sister. She’s all alone, and the baby’s father is a deadbeat. As her brother-in-law, it’s only right that I look after her.” He sounded so noble, as if he were just being a good guy. Before leading Chloe out, Marcus turned back and added one more thing. “If you’re not feeling well, just stay in bed. Oh, and don’t take any cold medicine. It might hurt the baby.” The first sentence was filler. The second sentence was his real point. Noticing his eyes darting to my stomach again, I mumbled a quick response, turned around, and walked upstairs. Once in my room, I took some vitamins with a glass of water. What a joke. The ungrateful brat who would eventually call my enemy “mother” was already gone. Why would I care about any warnings?

That night, I used my pregnancy discomfort as an excuse to demand we sleep in separate rooms. Marcus hesitated at first. It was Chloe who convinced him, telling him that a pregnant woman needed undisturbed rest for the baby’s development. Only then did he agree. “Chloe is right. If sleeping apart is better for the baby, let’s do it.” “But Vivian, pay close attention to how you feel. If anything feels off, call me immediately.” If I didn’t already know he was just terrified that something would happen to his backup baby, I might have actually believed he cared about me. Unfortunately, it was all a lie. I hid the hatred in my eyes and nodded gently. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to take ‘good care’ of the baby.” Hearing this, Marcus finally relaxed. He knew I was a woman of my word. When we first started dating through a business merger, I had fallen head over heels for him. Believing he was a family-oriented man, I had promised to step down from my executive role to become a stay-at-home wife once we married. After the wedding, I kept my promise and put my career on hold, asking my business partner to suspend my active status at the firm. Because of this, even though my professional standing had once been higher than his, Marcus assumed I loved him blindly. He was confident he had me completely under his thumb. Over the next few weeks, I played dumb, watching him shower Chloe with undivided attention. His schedule at the office was packed, but whenever he had a free hour, he was taking Chloe to her prenatal appointments. The staff at the private clinic already assumed Marcus was Chloe’s husband. When the doctor casually mentioned that “the mother looks a bit thin,” Marcus immediately bought crates of premium prenatal supplements, insisting Chloe take them every day. But because Chloe suffered from severe morning sickness, those supplements ended up in my stomach instead. She didn’t gain a pound, but I gained some healthy weight, which gave me more energy for my daily prenatal yoga. Marcus wasn’t thrilled about this. Yet he couldn’t say anything. After all, I was his legal wife. How could a husband complain about his wife eating the food he brought home? Eventually, Marcus and Chloe became so indiscreet that even our neighbors started noticing. An older lady next door pulled me aside one afternoon. “Vivian, honey, I know you’re open-minded, but don’t be too naive. Your husband is young, successful, and handsome. Keep an eye on him. Don’t let other women get too close.” I just smiled and thanked her for the warning. Are you kidding? I wanted Marcus to focus all his energy on Chloe. Otherwise, if he ever reached out to touch my “belly” or insisted on coming to one of my doctor’s appointments, he would have instantly discovered my womb was empty. My current baby bump was just a silicone prop, which I adjusted daily to match Chloe’s size. Marcus didn’t disappoint me. As the due date neared, he still had no clue. He was just getting incredibly anxious because my “pregnancy” showed no signs of labor, causing him to break out in stress hives. Meanwhile, Chloe was having painful Braxton Hicks contractions. The doctor advised her to check into the hospital, but she was too paranoid about the plan failing. She insisted on staying at our house, watching my belly like a hawk. Two days later, Chloe couldn’t take it anymore. She cried out that she was in agony. Hearing this, Marcus immediately brought a bowl of herbal soup to my room and knocked on the door. “Vivian, my mom sent over this special herbal soup. Drink it while it’s hot. It’s good for the baby.”

I glanced at the soup. It looked like a highly concentrated brew. I took the bowl and, under Marcus’s tense gaze, set it down on the nightstand. Predictably, he panicked. “My mom had the kitchen brew this for hours. It’ll get cold. Drink it now, don’t let her kind gesture go to waste.” “Your mother? Having a kind gesture for me?” I almost laughed out loud. Marcus’s mother, Eleanor, had always disliked me. She thought I was too independent and stubborn, unlike Chloe, whom she praised for being sweet, submissive, and pleasant to be around. Her favorite phrase was: “It was my mistake not pairing Chloe with Marcus in the first place. I adore Chloe. She’s a thousand times better than that rigid Vivian.” Once we both got pregnant, Eleanor, just like Marcus, only cared about Chloe. Every organic grocery delivery and luxury baby item went straight to Chloe’s room. I didn’t get a thing. Marcus knew all of this. Remembering his mother’s blatant bias, a flicker of guilt crossed his face. But he quickly recovered. “Vivian, you know how my mom is. She has a sharp tongue but a good heart. How could she not care about our child?” “She personally ordered the kitchen to brew this for hours. Please, don’t hold a grudge against her. She is still my mother.” I didn’t argue. Pretending to be swayed by his words, I picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Marcus let out a massive sigh of relief, took the empty bowl, and walked out, thoroughly satisfied. I knew there were labor-inducing drugs in that soup. An hour later, I began fake-groaning in pain, clutching my stomach. “Ah! My stomach hurts so bad! I think the baby is coming! Marcus, get me to the hospital!” Marcus and Chloe exchanged a thrilled look. Chloe immediately clutched her own belly. “Marcus, I think my water just broke too!” “Perfect! You’re both going into labor! I’ll take you both to the hospital right now!” Marcus cried, practically vibrating with excitement as he rushed us to the car. By the time we arrived at the private clinic, Chloe’s pants were wet, and she was crying hysterically. “It hurts so much! Marcus, am I going to die?” Terrified for her, Marcus swept Chloe into his arms. He didn’t even look back at me, throwing a single sentence over his shoulder: “Chloe’s situation is more critical! I’ll take her in first. Find your own way!” I rolled my eyes at his retreating back and casually walked toward the private delivery suite I had booked. Waiting inside was the doctor Marcus had bribed. What Marcus didn’t know was that a few days ago, I had met with this same doctor and offered him triple the amount to play by my rules. I lay in the hospital bed for a few hours until my uninvited guests finally arrived. Marcus crept into my room, holding a tightly wrapped swaddled bundle. Seeing my eyes closed, he assumed I was asleep and tiptoed toward the empty crib next to my bed where “my baby” was supposed to be. But before he could swap the bundles, I spoke up. “Marcus, what are you doing?” Startled, Marcus nearly dropped the bundle in his arms. He managed to catch it, his face pale as he forced a smile. “Oh, nothing! Look, Chloe just delivered. I wanted to come check on you and our baby.” Right then, the sick baby in his arms seemed to realize he was in a new environment and began to wail weakly. Marcus’s eyes flashed. He quickly pulled back the blanket of my “baby.” But when he looked inside, his face twisted in absolute fury. “Vivian! What the hell did you do?! What kind of drugs did you take during pregnancy to ruin our child like this?!” His roar was so loud that patients and visitors in the hallway gasped and gathered around the door. Eleanor, who had just rushed to the hospital, pushed her way to the front of the crowd. The moment she saw the tiny, blue, sickly infant, she gasped in horror. “Vivian, you wicked, heartless woman! My son is a successful CEO! Our family spent so much money on your wedding! How could you do this to us?!” “You poisoned your own child just to keep your figure! How am I supposed to show my face in high society now?!” She collapsed onto the floor, wailing about how I had disgraced her family, demanding that the law punish me. Her performance was so convincing that onlookers began whispering and glaring at me with disgust. In the middle of the chaos, Chloe emerged from her room, looking pale but victorious. Seeing the crowd, a smug look flashed in her eyes before she quickly covered her mouth in mock horror. “Oh my god… Vivian’s baby… why is he so sick?” “Now that I think about it… back at the house, I always saw strange pill bottles in her vanity drawers…” She stopped, looking at me with fake fear. “I’m so sorry, Vivian. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s your private business…” Marcus immediately pulled Chloe behind him, adopting a righteous pose. “Vivian, I never thought you could be this vile! Poisoning your own child!” “And what about the company? Did you leak our proprietary data because of your unstable mental state during pregnancy? You used to be an executive—you know how critical NDAs are!” “Even if you are my wife, I will not cover for a criminal! Mom, call the corporate legal team and the police! Tell them we found the mole!” The moment the word “mole” was uttered, the crowd’s disgust turned into pure hatred. “What a parasite! Arrest her!” “Unbelievable! She doesn’t deserve a good, honest husband like Marcus!” “Throw something at her!” Someone actually threw a plastic water bottle, which bounced off my bed. Seeing me “cornered,” Chloe smirked from behind Marcus’s shoulder. But when she met my cold, steady gaze, her smile froze. She expected me to be hysterical, weeping and begging for mercy. Instead, I was just staring at her, looking right through her pathetic act. A cold dread washed over Chloe. Her eyes drifted to the swaddle in Marcus’s arms. The “healthy” baby he was holding… why hadn’t it made a sound this entire time? She grabbed Marcus’s arm, wanting to whisper to him, but a sudden commotion cut her off. Several men in business suits and two police officers walked into the room. “Corporate investigation team. Please step aside.”

The crowd parted to let them through. The lead investigator and the officers walked straight to the center of the room, looking between me and Marcus. “We received a report regarding corporate espionage and medical fraud. Who is the informant?” Marcus raised his hand eagerly. “Me! I am!” “I am reporting my wife, Vivian Vance, for abusing illegal drugs during pregnancy, causing severe birth defects, and for stealing our company’s trade secrets!” “This child, the drugs in her room, and the files at our house are all the proof you need!” The lead investigator frowned, waving his hand. “Secure the scene. Detain everyone involved for questioning.” The officers stepped forward, but instead of walking toward me, they grabbed Marcus and Chloe. Marcus went pale. “Wait! You have it wrong! I’m the one who reported her! Vivian is the criminal! Why are you detaining us?” I smirked, calmly sitting up in bed. I wiped a stray drop of water from my face and looked down at them. “Marcus, it was a solid plan. Swap your sickly baby with mine, frame me for corporate espionage, and let me take the fall for Chloe so she could walk free.” Marcus’s face turned paper-white. “You… you’re lying! You’re making things up!” “You’re the one who poisoned the baby! I’m your husband, of course I know the truth!” “Your baby is the sick one! Chloe’s baby was healthy!” “If you don’t believe me, ask the doctor!” He screamed, desperate to prove his point. The investigators hesitated. I let out a cold laugh, gesturing for Marcus’s bribed doctor to step forward. Dr. Evans had taken Marcus’s money. In my past life, he was the key witness who testified that I delivered the deformed child, presenting a fabricated toxicology report. But this time, I had gotten to him first. Under my watchful gaze, Dr. Evans trembled and spoke into the investigator’s recorder. “This sickly baby could not have been delivered by Mrs. Reynolds. I swear on my medical license. All of Mrs. Reynolds’s prenatal records show her fetus was perfectly healthy.” “In fact, Mr. Reynolds approached me earlier, offering me a bribe to claim this sick baby belonged to his wife and to falsify a toxicology report.” The room erupted into gasps. The onlookers who had been screaming at me were stunned. Who would have thought a husband could be so evil? At that moment, everyone’s eyes shifted to Chloe, who was trembling behind Marcus. Connecting the dots of what I had just said, the crowd’s murmurs turned hostile. Chloe bit her lip, cursing the doctor in her mind. Marcus was in pure panic. He knew if he admitted to this, his life was over. He pointed a shaking finger at me. “You! You paid off the doctor to lie!” “I am your husband! Why would I swap my own child and alienate myself? If I did such a thing, may God strike me down!” Hearing his pathetic vow, I almost laughed. Marcus really was shameless. “My husband? Did you ever attend a single ultrasound with me? Did you ever once touch my belly to feel the baby?” “How do you say these lies without choking?” “Why don’t you take a good look at what you’re actually holding in your arms!” The moment I said those words, Chloe’s heart dropped. She finally understood why I had been so calm. The bundle in Marcus’s arms… wasn’t a baby at all. Seeing Marcus reach for the blanket, she screamed, “No! Don’t look!”

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A blurry photo was leaked on the company’s anonymous Blind app. It showed a silhouette of our CEO, Nicholas Vance, kissing a woman under dim lighting. Nicholas’s profile was clear as day, but the woman’s face was completely hidden in the shadows. The only thing clear and blinding was the pair of blue diamond earrings on her earlobes—rumored to be worth ten million dollars. That very night, Bianca Sterling, a senior marketing manager, was spotted in the break room wearing an identical pair of earrings. The company’s WhatsApp group chat exploded. Everyone was privately congratulating Bianca on finally bagging the billionaire CEO and securing her ticket into high society. Only I knew she was posing as me. I was just an ordinary administrative assistant at the headquarters, working here for two years doing basic support tasks. This wasn’t because I lacked ability or ambition. I hid my identity and started from the bottom purely to understand the company’s operations inside out. It was just a warm-up phase before I took over my own family’s conglomerate. So, after two years, I was still an invisible nobody in the office. My manager assigned me to help coordinate some of this year’s Annual Gala, and even had me participate in some of the stage games to pad my resume. Today, one of the interactive games required me to share the stage with Bianca Sterling, the high-flying marketing manager. And Bianca was the “future boss’s wife” who wore the identical earrings. The gala was highly interactive. The host stood on stage with a mic: “Next, we’re going to play a little game! Everyone can draw a card to get their challenge task.” Since it was a corporate event, all the segments were loosely scripted. Bianca went first and drew the pre-arranged card: [Mix a drink on stage and invite a colleague or friend to taste it with you.] As soon as the task appeared, the employees below started whispering: “This was made for Bianca! She’s definitely going to invite the CEO!” “The gala is going to break the internet! If the CEO comes up, we’ll be the top trending topic tomorrow!” “Omg, I want to see Bianca and Mr. Vance show some PDA so bad!” The “Mr. Vance” they were talking about was Nicholas Vance. With his jaw-dropping good looks, ruthless business instincts, and mind-boggling wealth, he was a legend in our social circle. His “rumored romance” with Bianca started about a year ago when she “accidentally” posted a picture of herself using the same limited-edition fountain pen as Nicholas on Instagram. Over the past year, Bianca had “coincidentally” posted several other items identical to Nicholas’s personal belongings. Recently, she even secured a major project that the CEO had personally overseen. Naturally, rumors began to spread that this beautiful corporate elite had successfully captured the ultimate billionaire bachelor. The climax happened three days ago. Someone posted a blurry silhouette of a kiss on the company’s Blind forum. Nicholas’s sharp jawline was unmistakable, and the blue diamond earrings on the woman’s ears sparkled brilliantly. That same night, Bianca “carelessly” showed off her identical earrings in front of her colleagues. The office went wild. Many assumed it was the CEO’s silent way of making things official, and some had already started congratulating her in advance. But I knew it was a lie. Because the woman in that photo was me… Those earrings were mine… And that photo was taken by him on our anniversary when I leaned in to kiss him… In the original photo, my face was buried in his shoulder, smiling so hard my teeth showed. It was saved on my phone. Nicholas had cropped out the top half, leaving only our touching lips and that sparkling earlobe. I had no idea how Bianca got her hands on a replica pair of those earrings, but looking at her behavior now, it was definitely no coincidence. Holding the task card, the host asked Bianca, “Bianca, who are you planning to invite on stage? Will it be *that* special someone everyone is waiting for?” Bianca glanced at the whispering crowd, putting on a hesitant look before speaking. “Well… Nicholas is usually extremely busy. But whenever I call him, he usually makes time for me.” Her cheeks flushed with a soft pink, looking incredibly shy. “Let me give him a call.” The host, eager to stir up the crowd, played along. “Can we see what his contact name is on your phone?” Bianca showed her screen to the audience. The contact name was just one word: [Nick] A wave of giggles and excited murmurs rippled through the crowd, everyone teasing her for being so bold. Bianca smirked and dialed the number.

As a senior marketing manager, it wasn’t hard for Bianca to get the public contact info of the CEO’s office. Soon, the call went through. On the other end, a highly professional male voice answered, completely different from Nicholas’s deep, magnetic baritone. “Hi, Manager Sterling. How can I help you?” I recognized the voice. It was Arthur, Nicholas’s executive assistant. Bianca explained that she was playing a game at the Annual Gala, only to receive a formal reply: “I’m sorry, Manager Sterling. Mr. Vance is currently in an important board meeting and is unavailable to take calls.” With that, the call was disconnected. Bianca hadn’t put it on speakerphone, so only those of us on stage could faintly hear the robotic, professional rejection. But even after being rejected, her face didn’t betray her. She put on a sweet, slightly annoyed pout and complained to the host, “He’s just too busy. He’s stuck in a board meeting and can’t make it.” The crowd immediately started buzzing again: “The rumors are real! Bianca and Mr. Vance are definitely together!” “She can call the CEO’s office directly. That status is unmatched!” “Beautiful and capable, Bianca is living the dream!” The host smoothed things over. “That’s a pity. Who are you going to invite next, Bianca?” Bianca tilted her head, acting cute. “Let me think. I have too many options.” While Bianca was “thinking,” the host seized the opportunity to keep the program moving and had me draw my card. As fate would have it, I drew the exact same task. The host obviously didn’t care about a low-level admin like me. Her smile was purely polite and superficial. “So, Chloe, who are you going to invite? A colleague?” I shook my head. “No, not a colleague.” The host asked again, “A friend or family member then?” I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “May we ask who it is?” I thought about the stubborn guy at home… If I invited someone else to a stage game like this, he would definitely throw a tantrum… So, I said his name: “Nicholas Vance.” The host’s smile froze instantly. Immediately, the whispers below erupted into a loud roar, and countless mocking eyes locked onto me. “What is wrong with Chloe?” “How does she have the nerve? The CEO belongs to Bianca. Why is she inviting him?” “Is she trying to clout-chase? She must be desperate for attention!” The admin team and the planning crew standing backstage were both thrilled and stressed. Thrilled because my shocking declaration had instantly made the crowd’s attention skyrocket, making the atmosphere incredibly tense. Stressed because the gossip was getting nasty. Bianca’s loyal followers were pointing and laughing at me, and they were worried it would ruin the company’s image. Loving the drama, the host said to me, “Then, Chloe, can you show us your contact name for Mr. Vance?” I looked at the massive crowd below and shook my head reluctantly. “This number is not for public eyes.” This was Nicholas’s private personal number. It couldn’t be displayed in a place like this. The crowd erupted into loud jeers and laughter. “She’s lying through her teeth!” “How could a nobody like her have Mr. Vance’s private number? What a joke!” Only one or two reasonable voices tried to defend me. “Well, she has a point. If she showed a private number, his phone would be spammed to death…” Unfortunately, those sensible comments were quickly drowned out by the wave of mockery. Bianca’s face darkened, and she spoke in a sarcastic tone. “Some people really need to know their place. Chasing clout might get you attention, but the backlash will ruin you.” I didn’t bother to reply. I just dialed the number on my screen.

The phone rang three times. Nicholas didn’t pick up. My brows furrowed. It rang three more times, and then he declined the call. My mouth twitched. I suddenly remembered what Arthur had said earlier: “Mr. Vance is currently in an important board meeting.” Nicholas took his work very seriously. It wasn’t the first time he set his phone to “Do Not Disturb” during critical meetings, though he always called back immediately afterward. Still, being hung up on in front of everyone made me feel incredibly annoyed. Meanwhile, the crowd’s mocking reached a fever pitch. “This is hilarious! Did she really think she could get the CEO’s attention?” “What was she thinking? Why would Mr. Vance ever care about a nobody like her?” Bianca looked at me with a patronizing smirk. “Chloe probably just wanted to spice up the gala, so she played a little prank on us.” She intentionally flipped her hair, exposing her diamond earring fully to the audience. “But honestly, you don’t seem to have a sense of humor. This joke isn’t funny at all.” As she said this, the temperature on stage dropped a few degrees. The host laughed awkwardly to break the tension. “Bianca, have you decided on your guest?” Bianca nodded and looked toward the crowd. “I’ve invited an important business partner. He said he’s on his way.” The crowd showered her with compliments again. “Our Bianca’s connections are on another level!” “I wonder which handsome young billionaire it is?” The host played along, asking for the identity of this mysterious friend. Right then, my phone vibrated. I received a text from Nicholas. Nicholas: [Honey, I’m in a board meeting. Your dad is here too, so I have to behave.] My dad was a major board member. He had only found out about our relationship because of that leaked photo, and he had hauled Nicholas in for a stern talk that very day. In the end, he reluctantly accepted our relationship. Last night, Nicholas was still whining to me at home, saying my dad had grumbled about him giving me his late mother’s heirloom but still not giving me a public confession. My dad said it was unacceptable. Back then, Nicholas had wrapped his arms around me, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine. He kept insisting that since my father had given the green light, we should go public. I finally gave in under his relentless pleading. And then, this perfect opportunity fell right into our laps. Thinking about how he just hung up on me and made me lose face, I didn’t really want to reply nicely. I simply texted him the details of the gala task and gave him an ultimatum: [This is our best shot to go public. If you miss it, we’ll have to wait. Your choice.] This time, his reply was instant: [I’m on my way.]

With our guests confirmed, Bianca and I needed to choose the liquor base and ingredients for our drinks. I quietly made my selection, while Bianca kept chatting with the host. Amidst the host’s constant flattery, Bianca finally revealed her guest’s identity. “It’s Brandon, the son of the Hayes family. Our families go way back.” She looked at the audience. “He’s a mutual friend of Nicholas and me. Many of our custom outfits for formal events are tailored by his family’s luxury brand.” The crowd went wild. “I heard the Hayes family is a long-time partner of the Vance family!” “She called him ‘Nicholas’ so naturally. That’s so intimate!” “She really is the future lady of the Vance family. Her connection with Mr. Vance is undeniable.” I glanced at Bianca. The smug smile on her face was starting to get on my nerves. The “Brandon” she spoke of was a client she had desperately tried to keep. In reality, the true mastermind of the Hayes family business was his self-made father, not Brandon. The brand only grew this big because they secured crucial investments from Vance Enterprises due to their stable partnership. Bianca called him “Brandon Hayes,” but Brandon actually hated his full name, to the point where some new hires thought he grew up abroad and only went by his first name. As the crowd gossiped excitedly, the host turned to look at me, who was waiting quietly on the side. By this point, I understood the game. This segment was designed to compare me and Bianca, using a dramatic contrast to create drama and hype up the gala. The host smirked and asked me, “Chloe, since you couldn’t get Mr. Vance to come, did you manage to invite anyone else?” She walked over, pretending to be helpful. “If you don’t have any friends available, you can always invite a colleague, you know.” Following her words, the crowd began mockingly whispering again. “She has zero friends. No one likes her.” “She was bragging about inviting the CEO, and now she’s left high and dry.” “Just a low-level clerk. How could she know anyone important?” I sliced my lemons, not even looking up. “Who said Nicholas Vance isn’t coming?” The host froze, completely shocked. She looked back at the event planners, thinking this was a scripted surprise. She played along: “So, Mr. Vance is really coming?” “Just wait and see,” I said, looking up to give her a calm smile. The host looked like she was ready for some drama, while Bianca looked absolutely furious. Bianca glared at me coldly. “Honesty is a very precious virtue, Chloe. I hope everyone can possess it.” Meanwhile, the whispers below turned into outright shouting. “Is this Chloe girl out of her mind?” “Bianca already said Mr. Vance is in a board meeting! What is wrong with her?” “Ugh, this delusional girl is so annoying. How does she even work here?” I felt a bit helpless looking at the crowd, so I just focused on prepping my ingredients. My silence only made the crowd bolder. “Is Bianca mad?” “Honestly, even if Mr. Vance does show up, he’ll be here for Bianca. He’ll expose this fake girl right on the spot!” I ignored the voices and ignored Bianca’s glaring face. Whatever. Nicholas would be here in thirty minutes anyway. Everyone would find out who the real clown was. I started mixing my drink. As I layered the liquors and juices in a specific order, the host noticed something and gasped, “Oh! Bianca and Chloe are both making the ‘Sunset Bay’! What a coincidence!” Bianca said coldly to the crowd, “The ‘Sunset Bay’ is Nicholas’s favorite cocktail. It’s also my specialty.” She was clearly implying that I was copying her.

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My crush from high school just became my stepbrother. I thought we were over, a forbidden love that would never happen. That was until he gave me a plush doll that looked exactly like him. I thought it was just a cute coincidence. But then, a row of glowing, floating comments drifted across my vision. [Hehe, our sweet girl still has no idea this is the male lead’s sensory doll, does she?] [I heard that whatever she does to this doll, he will feel it for real. Is that true?] [Totally true! He gave her this doll just so she would cuddle him! There are so many naughty tricks waiting for them later!] I froze. Slowly, I looked down and kissed the doll’s soft ear. The next second, my stepbrother, sitting right across from me, flushed bright red. The first time I saw Ethan Vance was during the pep rally of my freshman year. He was a sophomore then, the star player of the varsity basketball team. I was being shoved around by the crowd at the edge of the court. After sinking a perfect three-pointer, he turned his head and looked right into my eyes. Then, he smiled. That single glance lived rent-free in my head for an entire year. So, when my mom told me she was remarrying and that her new husband had a son, I never in a million years expected it to be Ethan. On my first day moving into the Vance mansion, he stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at me with an unreadable expression. My palms were sweating. I was terrified he would recognize me—and equally terrified he wouldn’t. In the end, he just said, “You’re here?” It was as if we weren’t meeting for the first time. As if we had been family for a long time. Even so, I never stopped loving him. I just buried my feelings deep down in my heart. As long as I could be near him, it was enough. But lately, I felt like the way he looked at me was getting stranger. Then came Christmas Eve. Our parents had gone out to a gala, leaving only Ethan and me at home. The Christmas tree in the living room flickered with warm yellow lights. I was curled up on the couch scrolling through TikTok when I saw him coming downstairs. In his hand was a beautifully wrapped gift box. “For you,” he said, handing it over. His tone was casual, but the tips of his ears were slightly pink. What was it? Ethan, a guy who usually spoke in one-word sentences, had actually wrapped a gift himself? Filled with curiosity, I opened the box. A creamy-white plush doll was lying inside. It had a tiny red bow tied around its neck. Suddenly, a row of floating comments flashed before my eyes. [Hehe, our sweet girl still has no idea this is the male lead’s sensory doll, does she?] [I heard that whatever she does to this doll, he will feel it for real. Is that true?] [Totally true! He gave her this doll just so she would cuddle him! There are so many naughty tricks waiting for them later!] I stared at the doll, completely paralyzed. Did I stay up too late watching Netflix and start having hallucinations? Weren’t sensory-link dolls something only found in fantasy web novels? Ethan’s voice broke the silence. “You don’t like it?” [Oh no, our male lead looks like he’s about to shatter into pieces.] [What if my girl doesn’t like my gift? That’s literally bound to my physical senses!] [Chloe, nod your head, please!!!] [Don’t be fooled by his blank face. He’s clenching his fists so hard his knuckles are turning white.] “I love it,” I said. To test the theory, I reached out. It was just a plush toy. Yet, for some reason, my heart started racing. “Wait—” Before Ethan could finish his sentence, I pulled the doll into my arms and leaned down to kiss its ear. When I looked up, Ethan’s entire face was burning red. A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. “Thanks, Ethan. I really, really like this doll.” [Omg!!! One kiss and he’s already losing his mind!] [Blushing like that from a simple kiss on the ear? Is he really this pure?] [Oh my god, this is so cute. Chloe, go get him! Give us some spice!] [Wait, is he getting hard?] My sharp eyes caught Ethan clenching his jaw. Was he trying his best to hold it in? “As long as you like it. Take good care of it.” I nodded, holding back a laugh.

That night, I climbed into bed and held the doll tightly against my chest. The comments started floating by again. [Hehehe, Ethan’s face must be burning again because Chloe is cuddling him!] [He gets turned on just by a hug? He has zero self-control. I’m worried for Chloe’s future waist.] [Wait, the doll doesn’t have *that* part, does it? Does that mean we won’t get any smut yet?] [But if she touches that spot, he’ll still feel it, right? Wait, is Chloe reaching down?] I didn’t expect this doll to be so much fun. I sat up, pretending to inspect the doll. I slipped off its tiny clothes. Then, I pinched the doll’s little hands. I squeezed its waist. Finally, my fingers slowly traced down, lightly brushing the area between the doll’s chubby legs. [Ahhhhh! Did Ethan just make a sound in his room?!] [Oh my god, Chloe, you are a natural!] [Holy crap, Ethan lying in his bed right now must look so hot. He’s a basketball player, those abs… those thighs…] Picturing him in my head, I suddenly felt a wave of heat rushing through my own body. I didn’t push it any further. I just gave the doll a good massage, dressed it back up, and hugged it close as I fell asleep. Ever since I discovered the doll was connected to Ethan’s senses, I took it everywhere with me. And I let absolutely no one touch it. Until one day after school. I was waiting for Ethan so we could walk home together. Suddenly, a hand snatched the doll right out of my arms. It was Brooke Ashley, the senior girl I hated the most. “Pfft, a high schooler still playing with baby toys? How pathetic.” I turned around and saw her violently grabbing the doll by its hair. My heart stopped. This doll was connected to Ethan! How could she treat it so roughly?! [Relax, our male lead is smart. The doll is only bound to Chloe. Even if he touches it himself, he feels nothing.] [Exactly! He knew other people might touch it, so he locked the sensory link to Chloe only.] [But Chloe looks like she’s about to cry, my poor baby~] “Give it back!” I snapped. Knowing the truth from the comments made me feel a bit relieved, but I was still furious. I wanted to snatch it back, but I was afraid she would rip it. What if she actually hurt Ethan? “Wow, you care about this cheap toy that much?” Brooke examined the doll closely. “Wait, it kind of looks like Ethan Vance…” “You carry a doll that looks like Ethan every day. Don’t tell me you have a creepy crush on your own stepbrother?” She raised her voice on purpose. Passersby started to stop and stare. My face flushed a deep crimson. “Shut up! You’re making things up!” Suddenly, Ethan’s cold voice cut through the air from behind us. “What are you guys talking about?” [Ahhh, Chloe, you tease! You hugged him to sleep every night, making him unable to sleep, and now you’re acting shy!] [He looks devastated. His hands are literally shaking.] [Oh lord, he is extremely possessive. Chloe, watch out, you’re going to get wrecked in bed later.] [Hehe, I am so ready for that!] I turned around. Ethan’s face was as dark as a thunderstorm. Oh, he was mad. Brooke spoke first, her voice turning instantly sweet and victimized. “Ethan, I just wanted to look at her doll, and she got so aggressive with me.” Seriously? She was playing the victim now? Before I could speak, Ethan let out a cold laugh. “That belongs to her. Did you ask for permission before grabbing it?” “Brooke, you’re a senior. Since when did you lose your basic manners?” “Give it back to her. Now.” Brooke bit her lip, reluctantly handing the doll over. I didn’t reach for it. “Clean it first, Brooke. Then put it back in my bag.” “It’s a Christmas gift from my brother. It’s very precious to me.” Brooke’s face flushed. She whispered, “Chloe, don’t push it…” “Pushing it?” Ethan stepped in, his voice cold enough to freeze water. “You took my sister’s stuff while I wasn’t around, and you’re calling her difficult?” He took one step forward. Just one step, and Brooke stumbled back two. “Brooke, do you really think I don’t know the things you’ve been doing behind my back?” Brooke’s face went pale. I didn’t know what Ethan was referring to, but judging by her expression, it was bad. The surrounding students started whispering. Biting her tongue, Brooke pulled out a wet wipe, meticulously cleaned the doll, and placed it back in my backpack. Before leaving, she gave me a murderous glare. I just smiled back, then turned to Ethan. “Thanks, Ethan. Don’t worry, I will take good care of your doll. I’ll keep it close to me at all times and won’t let anyone else touch it.” He stared deep into my eyes. The tips of his ears turned red again. Without another word, he turned and walked away. Watching his retreating back, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Why are you running, Ethan? I’m not going to eat you. —At least, not yet. [Chloe is so teasing! Our male lead is suffering so much.] [Chloe doesn’t know he likes her back, she thinks she’s just teasing her brother.] [When is the confession? I want to see the spicy scenes now!]

That night, because the doll had been touched by Brooke, I wanted to give it a wash. But I was worried that washing it would do something weird to Ethan. [The male lead is in the shower right now!!!] [Oh my god, his body is insane! Six-pack, broad shoulders, but the camera is blurred below the waist, damn it!] [We can easily picture it. No one doubts the size of a smut novel male lead!] [Wow, he’s washing himself so thoroughly. I’m blushing just looking at him.] So he was taking a shower? Perfect. I stripped the doll naked and brought it into the bathroom with me. The next second, the comments went wild. [Ahhhhh! That was so sudden, his knees literally went weak! He almost slipped in the shower, thank god he held onto the wall!] [Holy crap, Chloe, what are you doing? Do more!] [His face is so red. I feel like he’s about to burst into her room right now!] [Chloe, your timing is impeccable!] I smiled and used my palms to gently soap and scrub the doll’s little butt. [Oh my god, so he’s not just taking a shower anymore?] [His face is always so stoic, we couldn’t even tell he was holding back so much pleasure!] [I can’t wait to see if he keeps that cold face when they finally make out…] “I like you so much,” I whispered to the doll. Then, I rinsed it and held it tight against my bare chest. [Wait, is Chloe pressing the doll against her boobs?!] [He definitely felt that! Don’t let him pass out from pleasure before they even confess!] [I think he’s reached his limit!] Just as I stepped out of the bathroom, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Ethan’s voice came through, thick and strained. “What are you doing in there?” What do you think, baby? You already know. “Just took a shower~” I replied playfully. “Go to sleep,” he said coldly. “We have school tomorrow. If you don’t sleep now, you won’t be able to wake up.” A threat? Please. I gently pinched the doll’s ear. I heard a sharp intake of breath from outside the door. “Are you… playing with that doll right now?” “Yeah.” Silence stretched outside the door. “Be gentle with him,” Ethan finally said, his voice husky. “The doll is… very sensitive. It breaks easily.” [Why do I feel like he’s not talking about the doll?] [He wants her to cherish *him*. Too bad he hasn’t confessed yet, how is Chloe supposed to know~] [Wait, Chloe’s blushing. Why?] [Actually, I feel like Chloe knows more than she lets on…] “I get it. I’ll take good care of the… gift you gave me.” Knowing his feelings, I purposely made my voice sound sweet and clingy. Ethan’s voice softened significantly. “Okay. Goodnight then.” “Goodnight, Ethan.” [Chloe is so cute, I want to kiss her!] [This is too sweet, he’s definitely pitching a tent again!] [Our male lead has no self-control. He’s going to be wrapped around her finger forever.] [Skip to the good part, please!] [Classic smut male lead. Here he goes again.] [Chloe, kiss the doll! Please!] I wanted to tease him more, but decided to hold back. I hugged the doll and lay down. I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but the doll felt unusually warm.

The next day was the high school basketball championship. The court was packed. I went to watch Ethan play. Holding the doll, I found a quiet corner in the bleachers. Ethan looked incredibly hot on the court. Sweat dripped down his sharp jawline, his jersey clinging to his back, outlining his muscular frame. When he jumped to shoot, his arm muscles tensed, and the ball traced a perfect arc through the air— Swish. Nothing but net. The crowd erupted. The buzzer sounded. Game over. Ethan’s team won. He bent over, hands on his knees, catching his breath. He was drenched in sweat, radiating pure heat. Just then, a figure pushed past me. Brooke was running toward him with a cold bottle of water. “Ethan! Drink some water!” She ran so fast that right before she reached him, she tripped over nothing— And fell straight toward his chest. [Ugh, this cliché b*tch again!] [That fake fall was so obvious, oh my god!] [Did he catch her? Please tell me he didn’t!] [Chloe, what are you doing? Go mark your territory!] My heart jumped into my throat. But— Ethan took a swift step aside, completely dodging her. Brooke hit empty air, stumbling a few steps before catching her balance. Her face was a mix of embarrassment and anger. “Ethan! I almost fell, and you didn’t even catch me?” Ethan stood up straight and looked at her coldly. “You seem to be standing just fine.” Brooke bit her lip and offered the water again. “Just take the water. You must be thirsty.” “No thanks, I brought my own.” He walked over to the bench, picked up his own hydro flask, and took a swig. Brooke stood there frozen, her hand holding the bottle mid-air. A few students nearby started snickering. [HAHAHAHA, I’m dead!] [Good job, Ethan!] [Her face turned literally green!] [Chloe, your turn! Go!] I took a deep breath, held the doll, and walked over to him. “Ethan.” He turned, blinking in surprise. “Chloe? What are you doing here?” I lifted the doll and tapped his arm with it. “Brought you some water.” He looked down, a small smile finally breaking on his face. “Water? Where is it?” I pulled a bottle of room-temperature water from my bag. “Here.” Without a second thought, he snatched it, opened it, and drank half of it. Brooke’s expression grew even uglier. “Ethan, didn’t you say you brought your own water?” Ethan capped the bottle and said indifferently: “My sister brought this. It’s different.” [Ahhhhh, I’m screaming!] [He knows exactly what to say!] [Chloe wins this round!] [Brooke’s face must be burning so hard right now, lmao!] My cheeks felt hot. I quickly looked down to organize my bag. Ethan reached out and ruffled my hair. “Let’s go. I’ll buy you dinner.” “Oh… okay.” I followed him. As we passed Brooke, she glared at me like she wanted to kill me. I just flashed her a sweet smile. Sorry, sweetie. I won this round.

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1 When my adoptive sister first beat me badly enough to send me to the hospital, I was only five years old. That was the day a floating golden screen first flickered to life before my eyes: [CONGRATULATIONS, HOST. YOU ARE NOW BOUND TO THE SYSTEM. COMPLETE MISSIONS TO EARN POINTS AND EXCHANGE THEM FOR ANYTHING YOU DESIRE.] From that day on, I followed the system’s demands. I accepted the lie my family drilled into me: that we owed Tabitha our lives. I let her kick me out of my bedroom, let her tear up my school certificates, and stayed quiet. I deliberately played dumb in front of my teachers and told my relatives my grades were terrible, terrified of overshadowing her. I even pushed away my childhood friend, Stefan, watching in silence as he grew closer and closer to her. Until last week, when the system issued its final, ultimate mission: [YOUR SAT SCORE MUST NOT EXCEED YOUR ADOPTIVE SISTER’S.] I spent three grueling months calculating, studying just enough to score exactly two points lower than her. When the system flashed green with the words Mission Accomplished, I was so overwhelmed I nearly cried. I couldn’t wait to redeem my points for the ultimate reward: my freedom, a chance to escape this house forever. Instead, my older brother, Joshua, walked out of his study holding a small black remote control. He pressed a button, and the golden interface floating in my vision flickered once, then went completely dark. That was the moment I realized there was no system. There were no magic missions. It was an AR chip, a piece of high-tech cruelty Joshua had spent years perfecting, implanted in my head while I lay unconscious in the hospital at five years old. Every single “mission” was just a command he typed into his computer. All the suffering, all the years of playing the fool, was just a sick game he played to make me willingly pay back our family’s “debt” to his beloved adoptive sister. Joshua smiled, patting my shoulder. “Tomorrow is your sister’s Ivy League celebration banquet. Once that’s over, my debt to her is paid. I’ll take you to the clinic to have the chip removed.” I looked at him and smiled back. The system was a lie. But my life didn’t have to be. If they wouldn’t let me go, I would escape on my own. “Fiona, don’t you dare throw a tantrum at your sister’s dinner tomorrow.” Joshua casually tossed the black remote into a desk drawer, locked it, and pulled out the key. The movement was so smooth, so practiced, he must have done it a thousand times. The golden screen in my eyes was gone. For thirteen years, the “system” that forced me to fetch water for Tabitha, ordered me to tank my tests, and demanded I hand my achievements to her, had died inside a cheap plastic remote. I stared at him. “Joshua.” “What?” he asked, adjusting his collar in the mirror, his tone completely indifferent. “For thirteen years, you watched me talking to empty air. You watched me punish myself when I couldn’t complete those fake missions.” I paused, my voice barely a whisper. “Did you find it funny?” Joshua frowned, his brows knitting together. “Watch your mouth. Funny? If I hadn’t come up with that, would you have ever stepped aside for Tabitha? Her father died saving our dad. Our family owes her a life. You’ve been stubborn since you were a kid. If I didn’t trick you with a ‘system,’ would you have ever been this obedient?” He stepped closer, reaching out to pat my head. I flinched away. His hand froze in mid-air, and his expression hardened. “Fiona, don’t be ungrateful. I only did this to protect our family’s honor. Your sister got into Yale. We’ve done right by her father’s memory. Once the banquet is over tomorrow, I’ll take you to the clinic to get the chip out. After that, you can do whatever the hell you want. I won’t stop you.” Whatever I want. I was eighteen. The early-admission offers I had to decline, the ripped-up Math Olympiad awards, the condescending glares from teachers who thought I was a lost cause, the childhood best friend he had pushed into Tabitha’s arms… could removing a chip ever give those back to me? Tabitha walked down the stairs, wearing a freshly tailored white designer suit and holding an iced americano. Her hair was perfectly styled, and she practically glowed with the smug satisfaction of a victor. “Joshua, don’t be mad at Fiona. Her SAT scores were barely enough for a community college. It’s only natural she’s bitter.” She stopped in front of me, looking down her nose. “Fiona, I know you feel like life is unfair. But some people are just born to win. Your brain isn’t as sharp as mine, and that’s okay. If you ever struggle to make ends meet, just come to me.” She took a sip of her coffee, offering a condescending smile. “I’m going to run the family company eventually. I can always hire you as my assistant. I’ll even pay you double. I’ll make sure you’re looked after.” The girl who had stolen my resources, hijacked my life, and was now preparing to take over my family’s company, was talking about “looking after me.” Joshua looked at her, his eyes filled with pride. “Look at how mature your sister is. And then look at you, moping around like the world owes you something. Aren’t you going to thank her?” I looked at Tabitha. Her eyes were alight with malicious triumph. Of course she was thrilled. For thirteen years, no matter how hard I worked, the “system” would force me to ruin my own success. She was used to stepping on my head to reach the stage. “No thanks,” I said, turning toward the door. “Where are you going?” Joshua yelled behind me. “To my room. To pack.” “Wake up early tomorrow! And wear that old grey coat. Don’t you dare try to steal your sister’s spotlight!” I locked my bedroom door, pulling a dusty suitcase out from under my bed. My phone buzzed. A text from Stefan. Fiona, don’t act like a mute wallflower at Tabitha’s dinner tomorrow. Smile more, try to be supportive. She doesn’t have her real parents, and this day is huge for her. You already have everything, so just let her have this. I stared at the words you already have everything. What did I have? A chip in my skull that could shock my brain at any moment? A brother who treated me like a sacrificial lamb to pay his debts? An adoptive sister who had bled me dry for over a decade? I typed back: How exactly do you want me to support her? Stefan replied instantly. There will be a lot of family friends there. If they ask about your scores, just be honest and admit you didn’t do well. Don’t look so victimized, like Tabitha stole something from you. Fiona, a girl needs to have some grace. I stared at the text, a heavy exhaustion settling over me. Thirteen years as childhood friends. Because of the fake “system missions,” I had pushed him away, driving him toward Tabitha. I used to think he would see through it, that he would ask questions. But he didn’t. He happily ran to her side and now had the nerve to lecture me on grace. I didn’t reply. I tossed the phone onto my bed and unzipped the hidden compartment of my suitcase. Lying inside was a folder: a flight confirmation from Chicago to Boston, and a full-ride scholarship admission letter to MIT. They thought I had ruined my life just to satisfy a fake SAT score cap. What they didn’t know was that the crude chip in my head could only track domestic, standardized tests. It had no access to the international science competitions, the independent research, or the private AP exams I had stayed up past midnight to complete under my covers. I ran my fingers over the gold-embossed letters of the MIT letter. Tomorrow was indeed a great day. Perfect for a celebration, and perfect for leaving them forever. 2 The next morning, Joshua pushed my door open before I had even finished brushing my teeth. He threw a pile of fabric onto my bed. “Put this on.” I looked down. It was a faded, grey coat with frayed cuffs. “This is from my freshman year of high school.” “I know,” Joshua said, checking his watch impatiently. “Today is Tabitha’s day. If you dress up, the relatives will start comparing the two of you again. You failed your exams anyway, so there’s no point in wearing anything nice. Just wear this and keep your head down.” Keep your head down. For thirteen years, those were the only words he had for me. I didn’t argue. I pulled the coat on, but as I zipped it up, the tight fabric cut painfully into my shoulders. I had grown nearly four inches since freshman year. The sleeves were laughably short, making me look like a pathetic clown. Joshua glanced at me and frowned, but he didn’t say a word. “Alright, let’s go. Stefan is downstairs.” Stefan was sitting on the sofa, wearing a pastel pink linen shirt and a delicate silver chain around his neck. That chain was a birthday gift I had saved my allowance for an entire year to buy him. Sitting right next to him was Tabitha, looking sleek in her custom white suit. On her wrist was a gleaming Rolex Submariner. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, my eyes locking onto the watch. Stefan noticed my gaze and cleared his throat uncomfortably. “The watch…” “Stefan got it for me as a congratulatory gift,” Tabitha said, flaunting her wrist with a smirk. “Pretty, right? Fiona, you always did have great taste. This watch is absolutely perfect for me.” My taste. Just before our senior year, Stefan and I had walked past a boutique window, and I had stared at that exact watch. Stefan had laughed and said, Once you get into a top school, I’ll save up and buy it for your graduation. But the system had forced me to leave my practice exams blank. Stefan had been disgusted by my “laziness.” In the end, the watch went to Tabitha. “You bought that for her?” I asked, looking directly at Stefan. Stefan stood up, walking over to me. “Fiona, don’t look at me like that. Tabitha is the state’s top AP scholar. She worked incredibly hard for this, she earned it.” “But you promised it to me.” “With the scores you got, how could I possibly justify giving it to you?” He spoke with absolute conviction. “Besides, Tabitha grew up as an orphan. She never had anything nice. You’ve had a privileged life, Fiona. It’s just a watch. Do you really have to be this petty?” Just a watch. A privileged life. When Tabitha first came to our house at five years old, she had demanded my limited-edition Lego set. When I refused, she pushed me down the stairs. My head slammed into the coffee table, requiring six stitches. When I woke up in the hospital, Joshua was crying, begging me to forgive her. And then, the golden screen flashed in my eyes: [MISSION: GIVE THE LEGO SET TO TABITHA AND APOLOGIZE TO HER.] When I fought back, the chip in my skull released a sharp electrical current, making me convulse in pain on the hospital bed. Joshua had stood by, watching me shiver with a cold, detached gaze, until I screamed that I would do it. That was the day I learned what my “privileged life” actually meant. It meant having no basic human rights. “You’re right,” I said, my voice dead calm. “It’s just a watch. It suits her perfectly.” Stefan blinked, clearly surprised by my lack of an argument. Usually, I would plead or cry, only to be branded as a spoiled brat. “I’m glad you see it that way,” he sighed, his posture relaxing. “Today is a happy day. Don’t ruin it for everyone.” The doorbell rang. A courier stood outside. “Delivery for Fiona. International express, needs a signature.” I walked over and signed the screen, taking a thin cardboard document envelope. Tabitha sauntered over, peering at the label. “International express? Fiona, don’t tell me you applied to some sketchy, unaccredited offshore college because you couldn’t get in anywhere else?” She snickered. “Joshua, don’t waste your money funding her. Those online degrees are worthless anyway. She’d be better off working in our family warehouse.” Joshua didn’t even glance at the envelope. “Fiona, stop wasting your time with nonsense. If you failed, you failed. Our family can afford to feed you, but don’t embarrass me today. Put that trash in your room and get in the car.” I gripped the cardboard envelope, my knuckles turning white. “Alright.” I walked back to my room, slid the envelope into the deepest pocket of my suitcase, and zipped it shut. I didn’t tell them it was my official scholarship confirmation. The tight grey coat dug painfully into my shoulders. But it didn’t matter. It was the last time I would ever wear it. The ride to the restaurant was lively. Joshua sat in the passenger seat while Tabitha and Stefan sat in the back, laughing together. I was squeezed against the far right door, forgotten. “Stefan, the local newspapers are going to be there today. Do you have your speech ready?” Tabitha handed him a bottle of water, her voice dripping with sweetness. “Just a few words,” Stefan replied, opening the bottle for her. “We really need to thank Joshua for everything he did to help you get here.” Joshua chuckled from the front. “Tabitha is a good kid. Not like some people who only know how to pout after eighteen years of being taken care of.” Everyone in the car knew exactly who he was talking about. I kept my face pressed against the window, watching the city lights blur in the rain. Stefan nudged my arm. “Fiona, why are you so quiet?” “What is there to say?” “Congratulate your sister. She did amazing. It brings honor to your family.” I turned to look at his handsome face. “Stefan.” “Yeah?” “When did you find out about the chip in my head?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the hum of the engine. Stefan’s body went completely rigid. The plastic water bottle in his hand crinkled sharply. “What… what are you talking about? What chip?” His eyes darted away, refusing to meet mine. Watching his reaction, the very last shred of hope I had for him withered away. “Joshua used to adjust the settings on his computer in the study. You saw him do it, didn’t you?” I asked quietly. “In fact, those times the ‘system’ ordered me to stay away from you… it was because you complained to Joshua that I was being annoying, and he changed the program.” Stefan’s face drained of color. He bit his lip, staring at his knees for a long time. In the front, Joshua and Tabitha were still arguing over the dinner menu, completely oblivious to us. “Yes, I knew,” Stefan whispered. “But I didn’t mean any harm.” He looked at me, a defensive, almost victimized expression in his eyes. “Fiona, you have to understand Joshua. You were always so competitive, always trying to overshadow Tabitha. But she was an orphan, she had nothing but her pride. Joshua only used the system to help you learn some humility.” I stared at him, unable to comprehend his cruelty. “To teach me humility? So it was perfectly fine to shock my brain with electric currents? It was fine to force me to play the idiot while the entire school mocked me?” “It was just a mild current! Joshua swore it wouldn’t cause any permanent brain damage!” Stefan hissed desperately. “And honestly, even without the chip, do you really think you could have beaten Tabitha? She’s smarter than you, Fiona. The chip actually gave you an excuse. It let you blame your failures on ‘system missions’ instead of your own lack of talent. It saved your pride.” It saved my pride. I looked at the face of the boy I had loved for ten years, feeling a sudden, violent wave of nausea. He knew about the physical agony. He just believed Tabitha’s fragile ego was worth more than my entire life.

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1 “Do you really think getting pregnant is enough to buy your way into the Lyndon family? Plenty of women would kill to carry my child.” The sneer was still half-formed on my lips when my alcohol-addled brain suddenly snapped awake. Looking at the positive pregnancy test in my hand, then at the tear-stained, heartbroken face of the strange woman sitting across from me, I fell into a stunned silence. Where the hell am I? A crisp, electronic voice chimed inside my head: [Welcome to the Scumbag Reformation Program. You have been selected as the ultimate good guy. Your mission: Rescue your girlfriend, Jacquelynn, prevent her suicide, and give her a warm, loving home.] A flood of memories that did not belong to me rushed into my brain. I desperately needed to sort through this mental library and figure out what the hell was going on. Staring at the utterly defeated woman in front of me, my chest tightened. “Wait for me here. I need to use the restroom.” I turned and walked away. I did not even catch the light dying in her eyes behind me. Of course, she thought she was being abandoned again. She thought her boyfriend did not care about her or their baby. I rushed to the restroom. The face reflecting in the mirror was identical to my old one, with sharp brows and deep-set eyes, strikingly handsome, except there was a lingering trace of cruelty in this body’s expression. I had transmigrated into a system-maintained world. The female protagonist’s death had caused a temporal glitch, and I was chosen to patch the timeline. I took a deep breath. They picked the right guy. I could not stand hurting women. As I dug deeper into the host’s memories, I could not help but curse out loud. This guy was an absolute scumbag. The host was also named Tristan. He was a notorious trust-fund playboy in high-society circles, the only heir to the Lyndon empire. His father had never played around or had illegitimate kids, so Tristan’s inheritance was set in stone. To make matters worse, his mother had passed away years ago. His father, who had loved his late wife dearly, spoiled his only son rotten. Under such relentless indulgence, Tristan had grown into a textbook rich brat. He could get anything he wanted. But Jacquelynn, the campus sweetheart of Hudson University, was a rare, untouchable beauty. After his initial pursuits failed, his competitive streak kicked in. It took a year of relentless pursuit to finally win her over. The first year was pure bliss. But after Jacquelynn graduated, Tristan pressured her into giving up her dreams of graduate school. He wanted her kept like a pet, a caged songbird in his penthouse. From then on, Jacquelynn’s world shrunk until it only spun around him. Her gentle, introverted nature morphed into a fragile, timid insecurity. But instead of cherishing her, the scumbag grew bored of her compliance and started looking for cheap thrills elsewhere. Jacquelynn was an orphan. The massive wealth gap between them had already made her deeply insecure. Sensitive and quiet, she would only hide away and weep silently, never raising her voice at him. Meanwhile, Tristan stayed out all night, subjected her to emotional abuse and gaslighting, and let the tabloids run wild with his flings. Piece by piece, she fell into deep depression. Yet, she clung to the promise he once made, that he would give her a real home. Every time she fell into despair, she would remember that promise and hope again. Until today, when she showed him the positive pregnancy test. He had spat out the most venomous words imaginable. “Do you really think getting pregnant is enough to buy your way into the Lyndon family?” “Who even knows if it is mine? But hey, if you want to keep it, the Lyndon family can afford a bastard child.” Those cruel words broke her completely. After getting a quiet abortion, she returned to her dingy rented room, saw a headline about the Lyndon heir entering a hotel with some actress, and hanged herself. It was only after her death that the scumbag felt a shred of regret. Realizing she was the only one he ever loved, he drowned his sorrows in alcohol, found a waitress who looked like her as a substitute, and dragged himself through another toxic relationship before dying lonely amidst his cold mountain of cash. What an absolute psycho. Fortunately, I had arrived just in time to cut off the rest of those horrible words. But before I could even catch my breath, the system sounded an alarm. [Warning, Host! Jacquelynn is heading to the hospital right now for an abortion!] “Why is she being so reckless? What if she hurts herself?” I bolted out of the restroom. Guided by the system’s GPS tracker, I found Jacquelynn just as she was standing at the clinic’s billing counter. “Jacquelynn!” The familiar voice made her stiffen. She turned around slowly, her eyes wide with disbelief. She seemed to catch a glimpse of genuine panic and sorrow in my eyes. She must be imagining things. Why would I ever worry about her? I snatched the consent form from her trembling hands. Seeing the scheduled surgical abortion, my eyes stung with sudden heat. “Do you really care so little about our baby? Do you even care about me at all?” “Are you really this desperate to get rid of our child just so you can run off with your precious college mentor?” My sudden attack of reverse-psychology left Jacquelynn completely dazed. “What… what are you talking about?” “I give up,” I said, my voice cracking as I pulled her fragile frame into my arms, burying my face in the crook of her neck. A wave of raw emotion hit my throat. “I admit it. Every girl I brought around, every rumor… it was all an act. I just wanted to see if you actually cared. But you never said a word. You never asked. I wanted you to scream at me, to throw a tantrum, just so I’d know you still loved me!” I held her tighter, letting my voice tremble. “I surrender. Even if you do not love me, just stay with me. Let’s get married. Please.” The system could not help but chime in: [Damn, Host. You are a natural at gaslighting.] I did not have a choice. The host had crossed too many lines. Jacquelynn was the type to bottle up her pain, drowning in her own insecurities. Only a fierce, overwhelming confession could shatter her walls and give her a sense of security. A single tear slipped down her hair, dampening her collarbone. The warmth of it seemed to seep straight into her chest, filling her with a heavy, aching confusion. If what I said was true, then what were all those cold nights she endured? And what was this about her mentor? Before she could process any of it, I took her by the hand, led her out of the hospital, and buckled her into the passenger seat of my car. Jacquelynn finally blinked back her confusion. “Where are we going?” “To the courthouse. We are getting married.” The dam finally broke. Tears poured down her face, washing away weeks of silent agony. “Tristan, if you are only doing this because of the baby, I can still go back. You do not have to trap yourself.” The sudden hope was too beautiful. She was terrified that if she reached out to grab it, she would only fall from a higher cliff. “Go back? So you can run straight to that mentor of yours?” I let out a bitter, jealous laugh, keeping up the act. “Do you really love him that much?” This was the second time she had heard me mention her college mentor, Nolan. It was absurd, but a powerful intuition bloomed in her chest: there was a massive misunderstanding between us. A misunderstanding that had poisoned their entire relationship. She opened her mouth, but the words tangled in her throat. She did not even know where to begin.

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1 Eight years studying manipulative victim-players left my dissertation stalled, missing a prime subject. So when my wealthy biological parents arrived with DNA proof, I saw opportunity. Father announced Beth, my frail younger sister, demanding I accommodate her. Perfect data. I entered their car without packing. Back at the estate, Beth offered homemade soup with a sweet smile. As I reached, she dropped the bowl. Porcelain shattered. She sobbed instantly, claiming I struck it away. Mother cradled her, citing burns. Brother Mark kicked shards, ordering me gone. Father demanded an apology. Beth wept dramatically over a faint red mark. I opened my research journal, pen ready. Smiling, I asked Beth for her contact details. I wished to credit her properly in my dissertation acknowledgments. … “Are you out of your mind? Contact info?” Mark slapped the journal out of my hand. It flipped through the air and landed right next to the broken porcelain. I looked at Mark’s face, flushed red with anger. He was panting like a rabid bulldog. “Beth’s hand is scalded, and you’re here making snide remarks?” He pointed a finger at my face. “Do you have any humanity left in you?” I ignored him, bent down to avoid the glass, picked up my journal, and dusted it off. Then I looked at Beth. “Scalded how badly?” I asked with genuine academic curiosity. “Are we talking dermal damage or subcutaneous tissue necrosis?” Beatrice’s eyes were filled with tears of anger. She blew on Beth’s hand while glaring at me. “How did I give birth to such a cold-blooded monster!” Beatrice hissed. “Growing up in the sticks for twenty years has turned you into a bitter, venomous creature. You aren’t worth a single hair on your sister’s head!” Beth snuggled closer to Beatrice, her shoulders trembling. “Mom, don’t blame Gwen. It was my fault. I didn’t hold it tightly. I’m just clumsy.” She wept, but her eyes darted toward me with unmistakable smugness. I shook my head, opening my journal. “Don’t sell yourself short.” I uncapped my pen. “According to basic physics, the bowl was exactly twelve inches above the table. The moment you released your grip, your wrist made a highly deliberate outward twist. This ensured the soup splashed entirely away from you and perfectly targeted my trousers.” I looked up, locking eyes with Beth, whose face instantly froze. “That’s not clumsiness, Beth. That’s precise parabolic calculation. You must have aced high school physics, right?” Beth’s crying stopped abruptly. The living room fell dead silent. Mark froze, then exploded. “What kind of garbage logic is that? Beth has always been terrified of hot things! She would never burn herself!” He kicked a nearby coffee table. “You’re not just cruel, you’re a liar! You’re not welcome in this house!” Richard, who had been silently drinking tea, slammed his cup down. “Enough.” His voice was heavy with authority. “You’ve barely stepped through the door and you’ve already turned this house upside down. It seems your unrefined upbringing is hard to wash away.” He dusted off his expensive suit. “Since you don’t know the rules, I’ll teach you.” Richard signaled the butler, who stepped forward with a thick document. “Miss Caldwell, this is a voluntary waiver for the family trust fund.” I looked at it, keeping my hands to myself. Richard leaned back. “Your sister is fragile and has a weak heart. She needs medical security. Now that you’re back with the Caldwells, we will provide for your basic needs. But you will sign this trust fund over to Beth. Consider it an apology for the soup.” A power play combined with financial exploitation. A classic wealthy family tactic for breaking in an unruly pet. Beatrice sneers. “Don’t think sharing our blood gives you free rein here. Beth is worth ten of you. I’d rather the money go to someone who deserves it.” Beth quickly struggled to stand up, pale and waving her hands. “Dad, Mom, please don’t. This belongs to Gwen. I can’t take it.” She shrank back, looking terrified, tears rolling down her cheeks. I watched her seamless performance with absolute delight. Beautiful. This “retreating to advance” maneuver was a textbook display of manipulative behavior. I snatched the document from the butler. “Beth, don’t be afraid.” I smiled. “Your performance is brilliant. You’ve earned this appearance fee.” I signed my name on the last page. Gwen. I slide the document back across the table. “Signed.” I looked at the stunned Richard. “Think of this fund as my research budget for observing Subject Number One.” I closed my journal. “Please keep up this high-purity favoritism and stupidity. Don’t disappoint me.” Silence. Richard’s face turned from red to purple. Beatrice gapes. Mark looked at me like I was insane. “Are you brain-damaged?” I grabbed my canvas duffel bag. “No need to thank me. Where is my room? Lead the way.” The butler, snapping out of his daze, wiped cold sweat from his forehead and quickly guided me upstairs. Behind me, Beatrice’s shrill screams and Beth’s quiet sniffling echoed. I pulled out my phone and logged the first entry: Day one. Subject is highly active. Excellent long-term observational value. 2 The butler took me to a room at the very end of the second-floor hallway. Cold, damp, and smelling of long-term neglect. It faced north, and the view was just a blank gray brick wall. Inside, there was only a single bed and an empty wardrobe. Not even a desk. The butler avoided my eyes. “We have guests staying over, so the proper guest rooms are occupied. Please bear with this for tonight. I’ll arrange for furniture tomorrow.” “It’s perfect. A natural quarantine zone.” I genuinely liked it. Isolated, few variables, great for data processing. The butler blinked, nodded quickly, and retreated. I drew the curtains, pulled out three micro-infrared cameras, and deployed them in the corners of the room within ten minutes. Prevention is key in academic research. At dinner time, a maid knocked to invite me down. I headed down with my notebook. The long mahogany dining table was laden with gourmet dishes. Richard sat at the head, Beatrice and Mark on the left, Beth beside Beatrice. On the right, there was a single empty seat. I pulled out the chair and sat down. I noticed a fascinating detail: the four of them had gold-rimmed bone china settings. In front of me sat a cheap stainless steel cafeteria tray and a pair of cheap, splintering disposable wooden chopsticks. Mark snickers. “What are you staring at? Be glad you’re even getting fed.” Beth stood up, carefully carrying a bowl of soup to me. “Don’t mind it, Gwen. Since you just came from the countryside, I was worried your stomach couldn’t handle the family’s regular dishes. We wouldn’t want any H. pylori or stomach bacteria spreading to Mom and Dad.” She placed the soup next to my metal tray. “I asked the kitchen to prepare this especially for you. It’s clean.” Beatrice nodded. “Beth is always so thoughtful. You should thank your sister.” I looked at the splintered chopsticks. Instead of picking them up, I pulled a clear plastic folder from my bag and dropped it onto the middle of the table. “Since we are being so hygienic, let’s follow scientific protocol.” I pointed to the folder. “This is a full-body medical report I got yesterday from Boston General Hospital. It covers blood work, metabolic panels, infectious diseases, and a C14 breath test for H. pylori. Negative across the board. Perfect health.” I leaned back, looking at Beth. “Now, your turn. Show me your medical report. Since you’ve been sickly since childhood, who knows what latent infections you’re carrying? For Mom and Dad’s safety, I suggest you switch to a disposable tray as well.” The air froze. Mark slammed the table. “Gwen! Are you trying to pick a fight? Beth was trying to help you, and you bring out some stupid medical report to show off? If you don’t want to eat, get the hell out!” I looked at him. Violent tendencies, high irritability, classic low-intelligence protective syndrome. I jotted it down. Beatrice trembled. “Richard, look at her! How are we supposed to eat?” Richard sneers. “Put those papers away. You don’t set the rules at this table.” Beth’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t blame Gwen, Mom. It’s my fault. I’ll go get a disposable tray for myself.” She turned toward the kitchen, looking incredibly fragile. Mark grabbed her arm. “You’re not changing anything! She’s the one who needs to get out!” He glared at me. “You don’t deserve this food!” With a loud crash, Mark swept my metal tray and its contents straight into the trash can. The maids shrunk back in terror. I watched the mess. No anger, no sadness. Just excitement. “Excellent stress response.” I stood up, sliding my medical report back into my bag. “Subject Number Two has a remarkably low emotional threshold, making him extremely easy to manipulate. You make a perfect control group.” I walked toward the stairs. At the landing, I stopped and look back. “By the way, a quick tip. That plate of drunken crab on the table? It was made with dead crabs. The histamine levels are off the charts. Eat up, if you don’t mind a night of severe food poisoning.” Mark yelled at my back, “Shut up! These are premium crabs flown in this morning!” I shrugged and went to my room, where I ordered delivery on my phone. Two hours later, chaos erupted downstairs. Sirens wailed. Mark was wheeled into an ambulance, clutching his stomach and screaming in agony. Standing behind my curtain, I recorded the flashing blue lights of the ambulance. Beautiful data collection. 3 The next morning, the tension in the Caldwell mansion was suffocating. Mark spent the night on an IV at the hospital. Beatrice, with bloodshot eyes, sat on the sofa sighing. When I walked downstairs, she glared at me. “You jinxed him! Ever since you came back, there hasn’t been a single day of peace!” I grabbed a glass of warm water. “I warned him about the dead crabs. If a dog insists on eating garbage, you can’t blame me for the diarrhea.” “You!” Beatrice threw a throw pillow at me. I tilted my head slightly, and it hit the water dispenser, falling to the floor. Beth came downstairs and immediately comforted Beatrice. “Mom, don’t get upset. It’s not worth ruining your health.” She looked at me with a sorrowful expression. “Gwen, even if Mark was rude to you, you shouldn’t have cursed him.” I pulled out my notebook. Concept switching, logical inversion. Distorting a factual warning into a malicious curse—a classic manipulative tactic to shift narrative focus. Richard walked in, scowling. “What’s all this noise?” He looked at me with disgust. “Tomorrow night, we are hosting a gala to officially introduce you to society. Beatrice, take them to buy some proper clothes today. I don’t want people thinking the Caldwells neglect our own.” Beatrice gave a reluctant nod. In the afternoon, the family driver dropped us off at Copley Place, Boston’s premier luxury shopping mall. Beatrice held Beth’s hand, completely ignoring me as I walked behind like a stray shadow. We entered a high-end designer boutique. The associate greeted them warmly. “Mrs. Caldwell, Miss Caldwell, we’ve reserved the latest seasonal arrivals for you.” Beth pointed to a rack of haute couture. “Mom, that starry-night gown is beautiful. I want to try it.” Beatrice beamed. “Try it, sweetheart. You look gorgeous in everything.” I walked to the other side and picked up a minimalist black evening gown. No flashy ornaments, but the cut and fabric were top-tier. As I prepared to ask for my size, a pale hand reached out and grabbed the fabric. “Gwen, this dress suits you so well,” Beth said, appearing beside me. Her eyes betrayed a flash of envy. “But it’s a bit dark. It might make you look a little too mature. Store associate, please pack this one for me instead. I think it would look better on me.” The associate looked between us, hesitant. Beatrice walked over. “If Beth wants it, let her have it! Why are you fighting over a plain black dress anyway?” She sneers at me. “Associate, find Gwen something cheaper. Just make sure she’s covered.” I let go of the fabric. “Sure.” I looked at Beth. “This dress is priced at thirty-eight thousand dollars. Since you love it so much, you can pay for it.” Beth froze. “Gwen… Mom is paying for this.” I smiled. “I signed the trust fund waiver last night. Technically, I’m just a penniless girl from the countryside. Since you’re the one snatching the dress I chose, you can’t expect me or the family trust to pay for you, an outsider. After all, that trust is for your medical care, not your wardrobe.” Beth’s face flushed crimson. The associate, being a seasoned professional in luxury retail, immediately read between the lines. Beatrice’s face darkened. “Gwen, stop causing trouble! The Caldwells can easily afford a dress!” I pulled out my phone and tapped the voice recorder. “Mrs. Caldwell, please confirm this. Are you currently diverting family funds allocated for Beth’s heart condition to purchase a thirty-eight thousand dollar luxury gown? If so, I will forward this audio recording directly to the Caldwell Group’s board of trustees.” Beatrice pulled her hand back as if she had touched hot iron. The auditing standards for family medical trusts were incredibly strict. Any violation would force her to face a grilling from the board. “You… you shameless brat!” Beatrice hisses. I tucked my phone away. “Complying with the law is hardly shameless. Associate, ring it up on Miss Beth’s personal credit card.” Beth bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, as she reluctantly pulled out her black card. She looked at the dress as if it were a burning coal. Ignoring them, I walked next door to an independent designer boutique, used my own card, and purchased a sharp, structured white pantsuit. The welcome gala was about to begin, and the real show was just getting started. 4 The gala was held at the grand ballroom of the Grand Regent Hotel, owned by the Caldwell Group. As the evening began, Boston’s elite filled the room, a sea of diamonds and designer wear. I sat in a quiet corner of the lounge in my white pantsuit, sipping club soda and observing the room with cool detachment. Beth was the star of the night. Wearing her thirty-eight thousand dollar starry-night gown, she looked like a delicate porcelain doll, surrounded by a circle of wealthy socialites. “Beth, you’re far too kind. That wild girl from the country treats you so terribly, yet you’re still defending her,” a girl in a red dress said, raising her voice deliberately. Several disdainful glances shot in my direction. Beth looked down, playing the martyr. “Don’t say that. Gwen had a hard life before she came back. It’s only natural she has a difficult personality.” I open my phone’s notepad: Using group consensus to isolate the target. A textbook social bullying opening. Midway through the evening, Richard stood on the stage, delivering a hypocritical speech about finding his long-lost daughter. Amidst the polite applause, Beth approached me with a glass of red wine, blocking the overhead spotlight. “Gwen, everyone is looking at you. Aren’t you going to offer a toast?” Her smile was sweet, but her eyes were pure venom. “I’m not thirsty,” I said without looking up. Beth leaned in close, her voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear. “Do you really think coming back means you can steal my life? In this family, I am the only one they love. Even if you share their blood, you’re nothing but a stray dog.” I stopped swirling my glass. “Heart rate 120, adrenaline spiking.” I looked at her slightly trembling shoulders. “Looks like you’re about to make your big move. Let’s get on with it, I’m on a schedule.” Beth froze for a fraction of a second. The next instant, she grabbed the lapel of my suit jacket. Simultaneously, her other hand ripped the ten-million-dollar emerald necklace from her own neck. The silver chain snapped, scattering emerald beads across the floor. Beth threw herself backward, letting out a blood-curdling shriek. “Ah! Gwen, what are you doing!” She crashed to the floor, her wrist scraping against the marble, drawing a thin line of blood. The entire ballroom fell dead silent. Every eye turned to our corner. Beatrice screamed, rushing over and pushing me aside. “Beth! Oh my god, Beth, are you alright?” Mark, who had just arrived from the hospital, saw this and went red with rage. He lunged forward, grabbing my collar. “You vicious bitch! You tried to steal Beth’s family heirloom!” Richard strode over, his face dark enough to summon a thunderstorm. “What happened here?” he bellows. The girl in the red dress steps forward to testify. “Mr. Caldwell, I saw it! Gwen tried to rip the necklace off Beth’s neck. When Beth wouldn’t let her, Gwen shoved her to the ground!” “Exactly! Some people just can’t shake their gutter habits!” whispers rippled through the crowd. Beth wept in Beatrice’s arms, gasping for breath. “Dad, don’t blame Gwen… maybe she just liked the necklace… I would have given it to her… why did she have to push me…” Richard’s chest heaved with fury. He pointed a shaking finger at my face. “Gwen! You have humiliated this family!” he roared. “Kneel down! Apologize to your sister right now, or I swear I will break your legs!” Mark pressed down on my shoulders, trying to force me to my knees. I stood firm, brushing his hands off my shoulders. I adjusted my collar. “There’s no need to kneel.” I looked at the self-righteous crowd. “Why don’t we all look up first?” I pulled a small remote from my pocket and pressed the red button. With a hum, the massive LED screen on the main stage flickered to life. The video quality was crystal clear, complete with crisp audio. The camera angle was a wide-angle view captured directly from the lapel of my suit. It showed everything.

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1 I kept my eyes locked on the tie clip resting on my husband’s collar. Even though the color and cut were nearly identical, I knew in a heartbeat. It wasn’t the one he put on this morning. “That clip is a limited edition. George won the only one in New York at that auction just for you!” Brooke stirred her coffee with agonizing slowness, completely brushing off my concerns. “You are just so madly in love with the guy that you’re getting paranoid.” I shook my head slightly. “It just feels different.” “Look, princess, everyone knows George worships the ground you walk on. That clip was an anniversary gift. The man literally has your socks custom-made. He would never let someone else own the exact same thing as you.” Brooke rolled her eyes, a hint of playful jealousy in her expression. “Honestly, I think you’re just rubbing your perfect marriage in my perpetually single face.” I froze for a second, then let out a sudden, genuine laugh at her dramatic pout. “I am not.” Right on cue, my phone began to ring. “Sweetheart, is your coffee date over yet?” George’s deep, velvety voice drifted through the speaker. “Not yet,” I replied softly. Just hearing the gentle cadence of his voice made my eyes unconsciously soften. “Well, give me a call right before you wrap up. I’ll come pick you up. Traffic is a nightmare right now, and I hate the idea of you driving alone.” Every word was wrapped in heavy, undeniable devotion. Brooke shook her head across the table, muttering under her breath. “Lord. You are the only woman on earth who gets to see the ruthless George Kensington act like a golden retriever.” She wasn’t wrong. In the corporate world, George was cold ice. He was decisive, aggressive, and entirely merciless. I was the only person who got to see this fiercely attentive side of him. He knew every microscopic detail of my existence, as if I were carved into his very bones. He knew my favorite bakery, the niche designers I adored, the subtle twitch in my brow when I was upset, and the way I tapped my fingers when I was happy. He knew I loved the smell of wet grass right before a thunderstorm, and how I loved watching the sun shatter across the surface of a lake. He remembered things about me that I didn’t even notice myself. A few years ago, we took a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. A massive storm hit, trapping us on a winding mountain pass. Lightning struck close, and the earth gave way. A tidal wave of mud and crushed rock came hurtling down the ridge straight toward our car. In that split second between life and death, George threw his entire body over mine. He took the full force of the shattered windshield, wrapping me in his arms and burying my head against his chest as the car was swept off the road. He didn’t let go. Not once. When the rescue teams finally dug us out of the freezing mud, George only allowed his eyes to close after he saw me securely lifted onto the ambulance stretcher. He collapsed from pure exhaustion, his back torn open by glass and jagged rock, leaving a permanent, jagged scar down his spine. When he finally woke up in the hospital, he looked at my red, swollen eyes and offered a faint, exhausted smile. “It’s just proof that George Kensington would die for Hazel.” Because of that day, I never questioned his love. I loved him just as fiercely. But it was exactly because I loved him so deeply that a single, minuscule flaw in a tie clip was enough to trigger alarms in my head. It was an exclusive piece, bought at a high-end charity auction just last week. Maybe Brooke was right. Maybe there wasn’t a second one in the entire city, and I was just losing my mind. But then why did my stomach feel like it was full of crushed glass? After agonizing over it for another ten minutes, I decided to go to Kensington Holdings. I needed to look him in the eye and clear my head. Sitting in the back of an Uber, I watched the city blur past the window, my mind a tangled mess. What was I even going to say when I saw him? Would throwing a baseless accusation in his face break his heart? We were one block away. I called Nina to let her know I was coming. When the car pulled up to the glass skyscraper, she was already waiting by the revolving doors. Seeing her bright, welcoming smile eased the knot in my chest. Nina used to be the janitor at my yoga studio. Once, I accidentally left my phone in the locker room, and she literally tripped down a flight of concrete stairs trying to run after me to return it. After learning she was struggling to support her family, I pulled some strings and got her a cushy front-desk job at George’s company. Dressed in a sharp, tailored skirt suit, Nina practically bounded over to me. “Hazel! You’re finally here!” I offered a polite smile. “Is something wrong? Did something happen at the office?” Nina leaned in, her eyes wide with dramatic secrecy. “Huge news. Absolutely massive.” My heart stopped. “What happened?” Was George hurt? Seeing the sheer panic on my face, Nina giggled and bumped my shoulder. “Mr. Kensington misses his wife so much he’s taking it out on us corporate drones. The negative energy is suffocating. I’d call that a massive crisis, wouldn’t you?” I let out a long, shaky breath and shot her a playful glare. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Nina laughed, escorting me to the private executive elevator and swiping her keycard for the penthouse floor. When the metal doors slid open, I was met with the sight of several stunningly gorgeous young women clustered in the corridor. I couldn’t help the intrusive thought that clawed at my brain. Was George involved with one of them? The moment the thought materialized, I felt physically sick. How could I even think that? When George became the youngest billionaire in Manhattan, endless parades of supermodels and heiresses threw themselves at his feet, and he never gave them a second glance. He wouldn’t throw our life away for a random temp. Seeing me frowning and biting my lip, Nina quickly clarified the situation. “Those are the new hires for the PR department. Mr. Kensington specifically ordered HR to handle the final interviews so he wouldn’t have to stay late and miss dinner with you.” She playfully poked my waist. “Don’t tell me the CEO’s wife is actually getting jealous?” I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Yeah, yeah. You caught me.” Nina dropped me off in front of George’s double oak doors and headed back downstairs. I looked inside. The massive office was entirely empty. A cup of black coffee was still steaming on his desk. He couldn’t have gone far. I sat on the plush leather sofa for twenty minutes, but he never showed up. Restless, I stepped back out into the hallway and pushed open the door to the secretary’s office. The heavy blackout blinds were completely drawn, leaving only thin slivers of gray light slicing through the dark room. A woman was sitting behind the massive mahogany desk, her head bowed, entirely oblivious to me standing in the doorway. I knocked twice on the glass pane. The woman jumped, her head snapping up. When our eyes met, I froze dead in my tracks. Daisy. I remembered the day perfectly. I was sitting on the living room sofa, mindlessly flipping through a fashion magazine. The front door clicked open, and I looked up to see George walk in, his face looking like a thunderstorm. The sheer darkness rolling off his shoulders made my pulse spike. I walked over, gently running my fingers through his damp hair. “What’s wrong, baby?” He didn’t say a word. He just buried his face in my neck, holding me so tight it hurt. After a suffocating silence, his voice cracked. “I saw Daisy today.” My hand froze in his hair. The darkest, bloodiest memory I possessed came rushing back, drowning me. Years ago, George and I were expecting our first child. I was six months pregnant. He was driving me to a routine ultrasound, and he pulled the car over to run into a pharmacy for some bottled water. I was sitting in the passenger seat, resting my hand on my swollen belly, watching him walk through the glass doors. The next second, a massive commercial delivery truck smashed into the back of our sedan at highway speeds. The truck driver died on impact. I was crushed into the mangled metal of the dashboard, barely breathing, watching a river of my own blood pool around my legs. We lost the baby. I spent a week in a coma in the ICU before I even woke up. Daisy was the truck driver’s daughter. She was fourteen at the time. I could still remember her standing behind a police officer in the hospital hallway, her face stained with tears, looking like a terrified animal. George never personally handled low-level hires. So when he ran into Daisy at Kensington Holdings, she was already a fully contracted employee. Standing in our living room that night, George’s eyes were entirely bloodshot. He wiped a tear from my cheek, his face twisting in genuine agony. He held me fiercely. “I know, sweetheart. I know. It’s in the past. I’m going to fire her tomorrow. I promise you will never have to look at her face.” George grew up in a broken home. I knew better than anyone how desperately he wanted that baby. When I first opened my eyes in the hospital, he was on his knees beside my bed, pale as a ghost, weeping like a lost child. His grief was just as deep, just as violent as mine. A few weeks after he told me about Daisy, I asked him if she was gone. He hesitated, his eyes flashing with deep guilt. “She… she’s pregnant. Labor laws state we can’t terminate her contract until her maternity period ends.” He panicked, quickly grabbing my hands. “But I transferred her to the logistics warehouse on the edge of the city. I swear to god, she will never cross your path!” He hadn’t lied. The few times I visited the company after that, I never saw her. Until today. Sitting directly in the executive secretary’s office. I stared at her, my voice dropping to a freezing temperature. “Why are you here?” A highly unnatural flush painted Daisy’s pale cheeks. She scrambled out of the leather chair, bowing her head nervously. “Sarah is on a business trip, so the logistics staff are rotating to cover her desk. It was my turn this week.” She was petite, almost frail, with thick bangs hiding her eyes. Her heavily pregnant stomach protruded sharply against her frame. Logic screamed at me that she was an innocent girl paying for her father’s sins. But looking at her pregnant belly, the phantom pain of my dead child twisted a knife into my ribs. I swallowed the bile in my throat. “Where is George?” “The city just released a batch of project funds. Mr. Kensington took the finance director downstairs to sign the clearance papers.” She gestured toward the door. “You can wait in his office. He should be back at any moment.” Before she even finished her sentence, her entire body gave a violent, uncontrollable shudder. I frowned, taking a step forward. “Are you okay?” Daisy took a ragged breath and forced a painfully tight smile. “I just stood up too fast. A little dizzy, that’s all. Thank you for asking.” I walked back to George’s office and sat in his chair. The entire surface of his desk was covered in framed photos of me. He had handwritten the exact time, date, and location on the back of every single one. I leaned back, a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe Brooke was right. Maybe I really was a paranoid lunatic. A man who loved me this loudly, this shamelessly, would never betray me. Just as I let out a sigh, George walked in. He leaned gracefully against the doorframe, his eyes curving into half-moons, a soft, teasing smile playing on his lips. “Miss me?” I stood up, crossing the room to wrap my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest. “Are you mad I crashed your day?” George let out a low chuckle. He tilted my chin up with two fingers and leaned down, pressing a deep, lingering kiss to my lips. “I am thrilled. You made my whole week.” His embrace was warm, solid. But something felt incredibly wrong. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. Looking closer, there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. And beneath the sharp scent of his cologne, there was a faint, sour smell. I opened my mouth to ask if he was feeling sick, but the digital calendar on the wall screen flashed red. An automated message from the secretary’s desk popped up. Meeting with the Sinclair Group in five minutes. George subtly shifted his weight, his eyes darkening as he read the notification. “Sweetheart, can you hang out here for a bit?” I pushed gently out of his arms. “No, it’s fine. I don’t want to distract you. I’ll wait for you at home.” I stood on my toes, kissed his forehead, and walked out the door. As the elevator doors slid shut, the frantic, pounding rhythm of George’s heart echoed in my ears. I couldn’t shake it. Something was horribly wrong. I pressed the button for the penthouse floor again. When I stepped back into the hallway, the door to the secretary’s office was cracked open. Through the narrow slit, I saw Daisy slumped back in the leather chair. Her knuckles were bone-white as she gripped the armrests, taking deep, desperate gasps of air. I told myself it was just pregnancy complications. Back in my third trimester, I used to get dizzy spells and shortness of breath out of nowhere. I didn’t want to invade her privacy, so I turned around and headed for the stairs. But as I walked past George’s office, the door was wide open. It was completely empty. When did he leave? Where did he go? And then it hit me like a physical blow. The desk in the secretary’s office. It was massive. Easily large enough to comfortably conceal a fully grown man underneath it. After work hours, I sat in my car and watched Daisy walk down the block. I tailed her on foot until she pushed through the gold-trimmed revolving doors of the Plaza Hotel. She walked quickly, never once looking over her shoulder. I watched the digital numbers above the elevator stop dead on the 37th floor. A chill crawled up my spine. This was the most exclusive, hyper-luxurious hotel in the city. Any floor above the 36th was reserved exclusively for long-term residential VIP suites. One suite per floor. How in the hell could a warehouse temp afford to live here? I sat in a velvet chair in the lobby lounge, my brain short-circuiting. What was I doing? Why was I stalking this pregnant girl? Because she looked a little flushed? Because my husband’s heart was beating fast? A wave of crushing humiliation washed over me. This was pathetic. I was the wife of a billionaire, hiding behind a potted plant because of a completely fabricated delusion. I grabbed my purse, ready to go home and apologize to George. But just as I stood up, a familiar figure walked through the front doors. George.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “524643”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

To save the girl he had been mentoring, the man I loved handed me over to my worst enemy. “If you just spend one night with Sebastian, Ruby will be saved.” Everyone in New York knew Sebastian hated my guts. During the years I was studying abroad, he turned the entire city upside down just to find me. Yet Hugo still pushed me directly into his territory. “Is your dignity really more important than her life?” Inside the dark, sprawling mansion. Sebastian lit a cigarette, the ember glowing faintly in the pitch black room. “You finally came back to me.” But. Who was the hunter, and who was the prey. Who could really tell. 1 Hugo was the boy I grew up with. After my mother passed away, Hugo was the one who paid for my tuition abroad. He pulled me out of my darkest depression and walked beside me every step of the way until we reached where we are today. We founded a company together. We fought for our careers together. He was the only light in my life, and falling in love with him felt like the most natural thing in the world. Even though we never had an official proposal or a public announcement, everyone in our circle knew we were together. He promised me that the second our company went public, he would put a ring on my finger. He would tell the whole world that I was the love of his life. He used to hold my hands and make promises to me. “Shelly, we are the closest people in the world to each other.” “We can never abandon each other.” But in the end, he was the first one to let go. It was almost laughable. When I found out Ruby had made a catastrophic mistake at work, my first instinct was to find Hugo. I wanted to discuss how we could minimize the fallout for the company and figure out a way to give Ruby a second chance. Instead, I stood frozen outside his office door, listening to him use his softest, most gentle tone to comfort her. “This is not your fault.” “You just graduated. Shelly should never have dumped so much responsibility on you. At the end of the day, this is her management error.” “Don’t be scared. No matter how angry she gets, I will protect you.” A massive wave of agony hit me like a sledgehammer. In that split second, my entire reality shattered. I shoved the door open and stared at the two of them standing intimately close together. “Hugo, what the hell is this?” 2 Ruby, whose face was stained with beautiful, delicate tears, had been leaning against Hugo’s chest. My sudden entrance made her tremble like a frightened bird. Hugo instinctively reached out to soothe her, gently rubbing her shoulder. The sight of his hand on her burned my eyes. I fought desperately to hold back my tears, but my vision still blurred. Ruby was a junior from my high school. Ever since she joined our university, she had followed me around like a shadow, always calling me her beloved senior. Back then, people used to whisper that I was just a brainless, arrogant rich kid who only knew how to throw tantrums and spend money. Ruby was the only one who stood up and defended me. She came from a completely average family but worked incredibly hard. Remembering our old friendship, I hired her the second she graduated. To help her build her career quickly, I personally guided her through several of our biggest accounts. Hugo used to joke about it. “Your little protege is a shark. Even our most difficult clients absolutely adore her.” At the time, I thought Hugo was just being a little cynical. If the clients loved her, it just meant her professional skills were solid. I never expected her to be so skilled that she would make Hugo fall for her too. But this time, the ever clever Ruby had leaked highly classified company documents, completely enraging our biggest investor. I forced my emotions down. I forced myself to look away from the sickening pity on Hugo’s face. “Ruby, leaking a project proposal is a massive breach. The fallout is severe.” “We are all adults here. You cannot run away from the consequences of your actions.” “I will go with you to apologize to the investors.” Ruby stood up nervously. She looked at Hugo, then looked at me. “Shelly… the representative from Apex Capital said they will only speak to you…” Apex Capital had invested in our startup two years ago. Back then, we were just getting off the ground. Every single investment firm in the city laughed us out of their offices. To our absolute shock, the biggest venture capital firm in the country reached out to us directly, injecting a massive amount of funding into our accounts. Because of that money, our company skyrocketed in just two years. But I could not fathom how Hugo could possibly believe that Ruby’s catastrophic failure should fall on my shoulders. I stared at his face, suddenly realizing how incredibly foreign this man looked to me. Was he always this shameless? “Take the fall for me? Do you think I own this company by myself?” Hugo remained completely indifferent to my anger. “You were the one who secured the Apex investment. It is naturally your responsibility to handle them.” Ruby dropped to her knees right in front of me, shaking violently, looking up at me like a pathetic, abandoned puppy. Her eyes were filled with tears. “Shelly, I swear I didn’t mean to do it. Please, just save me this one time…” Hugo grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly to her feet, glaring at me with pure frustration. “Shelly! Ruby offended the investors while working on your project! You should be the one going there to beg for forgiveness!” “You are the one who should be on your knees.” “Do you really not know? The man behind Apex Capital is Sebastian. He specifically demanded that you go see him.” Hugo’s words hit me so hard the room began to spin. Sebastian? The sole heir to the most powerful family in New York. The untouchable prince of the city. But Hugo wasn’t finished. He had something far more cruel waiting for me. “Sebastian said that if you just spend one night with him, he will let the company off the hook.” The last thread of my sanity snapped. It felt like my heart had been ripped in half and thrown bleeding onto the floor. “Hugo, what exactly am I to you?” Hugo furrowed his brows, looking at me like I was an unreasonable child throwing a tantrum. “It is literally just one night.” Did he really not understand what one night meant? No. He was just playing stupid because he was a coward trying to escape reality. When I didn’t speak, Hugo finally lost his temper. “Is your pride really worth more than Ruby’s entire future?” “If you don’t fix this, Ruby will be blacklisted. She will never be able to work in this city again!” I was entirely sick of his voice. I grabbed the door handle and dropped my words like ice. “Then you can both go straight to hell.” 3 I severely underestimated how utterly disgusting Ruby could be. When I refused to go see Sebastian, she resorted to playing dirty. When I finally opened my eyes, I was lying on a plush sofa in a completely unfamiliar mansion. My head was splitting open. My entire body felt weak and numb. The last memory I had was Ruby’s twisted face and the ropes in her hands. I pushed myself up from the leather cushions, clutching my pounding head, looking completely disheveled. The sound of a heavy door unlocking echoed through the room. A shadow I had not seen in years stepped into the entryway. Sebastian walked in wearing a dark tailored suit. He brought the cold night air in with him. He barely even glanced in my direction. He shrugged off his heavy wool trench coat and handed it to a man standing behind him. The man took the coat and immediately melted back into the shadows of the hallway, vanishing completely. Highly trained. Sebastian slowly unbuckled his luxury watch. The rolled up sleeves of his dress shirt revealed faint, intricate tattoos wrapping around his forearms. I couldn’t make out the design. As soon as he noticed me staring, he casually rolled his sleeves down, hiding the ink. He looked entirely uninterested in acknowledging my existence. The mansion fell into a suffocating, dead silence. I knew exactly how pathetic I looked right now. Sweat was dripping down my neck. My hair was a tangled mess. The collar of my silk blouse had been violently ripped open. I had no idea how Ruby managed to get me delivered here. I knew Sebastian hated me. After all, I was the reason his life fell apart back then. When I fled New York, Sebastian put a terrifying bounty on my head. He told the underground that whoever found me could name their price. His hatred for me was probably far deeper and far more toxic than I could ever imagine. But right now, if I wanted to survive. I had to play nice. An unnatural, scorching heat began rolling through my veins, wave after wave, melting my rational thoughts away. It only took a second for me to realize exactly what Ruby had done to me. She was utterly ruthless. I dug my nails fiercely into my own thigh, using the sharp pain to force myself awake. I stood up from the sofa and walked slowly toward Sebastian. The man actually froze. His thin lips pressed into a hard line before his emotionless voice finally broke the silence. “What are you doing…” Before he could finish his sentence, I shut him up. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips directly against the corner of his mouth. His scent completely enveloped me. There was no alcohol on his breath. He smelled incredible, far better than I remembered. I could see his Adam’s apple bob slightly, but he did not speak. “Isn’t this exactly what you wanted…” My hot breath brushed against his skin. It seemed to burn right through his dark eyes, igniting a dangerous, heavy lust. I thought he would pull me into his arms, but instead, he let out a dark, mocking laugh. “Shelly, what gives you the confidence to think I would ever take you back?” The drug was turning my brain to absolute mush. Like a person dying of thirst in the desert, I completely abandoned my pride, desperately seeking anything cool to the touch. I pressed my burning cheek against his jaw. “I promise I’ll be a good girl this time, Oliver…” That name triggered something violent inside him. His freezing fingers suddenly grabbed my jaw in a bruising grip. “You really have a death wish, don’t you.” My arms draped weakly over his broad shoulders. My eyes were completely glazed over. “If you really don’t want me, then push me away.” Those words worked like magic. A second later, he crashed his lips into mine, devouring me completely. 4 I had no idea how much time passed. My consciousness had completely fractured. I could not tell if I was living in the real world or trapped in a fever dream. My body felt like it was sinking into a bed of warm, heavy feathers. I felt entirely weightless. Somewhere in the background, a phone began to ring, only to be instantly silenced by a heavy hand. “She is with me.” “Let them deal with the fallout themselves.” “Keep the company intact. I still have a use for it.” The mattress dipped beside me. A scorching heat enveloped my body. A soft touch pressed against my forehead, sounding somewhere between a sigh and a desperate whisper. “You finally came back to me.” 5 I couldn’t stop dreaming. My head was incredibly heavy as I plummeted into an endless, bottomless nightmare. I saw myself sitting in my childhood living room. My mother was telling me that she and my father had gone to an orphanage and adopted an older brother for me. Standing right behind her was a twelve year old boy. Back then, he was introduced to me as Oliver. Silent and cold. That was my very first impression of him. Rumor had it he was found wandering the streets. He had lost all of his memories. He didn’t know his real name, and he had no idea where his home was. After spending six months in the orphanage, my mother brought him home. I had been a sickly child since the day I was born. When I turned ten, some spiritual advisor told my parents that they needed to adopt a perfectly healthy child to absorb my bad luck and keep me safe. And just like that, there was a stranger living in my house. My mother told me my new brother would play with me and keep me company. But I absolutely despised him. I hated how smart he was. I hated how perfect he was. I hated how mature he acted. And most of all, I hated how he completely ignored me every time I tried to bully him. “Shelly, you need to play nice with your brother.” My mother said those exact words to me constantly. “No! Now that he’s here, you guys are going to stop loving me!” I screamed at her and locked myself in my bedroom. But secretly, I sat on my bed waiting for them to come upstairs and comfort me. It was the only way I could prove they still loved me. I needed them to indulge my tantrums. At first, my parents would come upstairs and coax me out. But as time went on, they realized I was just insecure and completely unwilling to accept Oliver. So eventually, the person sent to comfort me changed. My parents thought sending Oliver to my room would help us bond. They had no idea that every time Oliver walked into my bedroom, he would simply sit in the corner chair and read a book. He completely ignored my existence. He wasn’t afraid of me complaining to my parents at all. I only dared to throw tantrums at my parents because I knew they cared about me. But when I was trapped in a room alone with Oliver, I couldn’t even raise my voice. He carried a natural, suffocating aura of authority that terrified me. But when I was sixteen, after another massive fight with my mother, I ran to my room and finally snapped. His invasion of my personal space had become entirely too aggressive. “Hey! What gives you the right to just sit in my room?! Get out!” I screamed at him, my face still wet with angry tears. Oliver slowly lifted his eyes from his book. He gave me a cold, dead stare. He closed the book and walked directly toward me. His overwhelming presence made me instantly regret my outburst. I cowardly shrank back against my pillows. He leaned down over my bed, resting his hands on his knees, bringing his face dangerously close to mine. His cool breath brushed across my skin. His freezing finger reached out and tapped a teardrop resting on my cheek. “Dirty little kitten.” 6 When I woke up, I was completely alone in the massive bed. The balcony doors were cracked open. The sea breeze caught the sheer curtains, revealing a tall silhouette standing outside. I could hear fragments of a low, aggressive conversation. He was on the phone. “You all know damn well I am the one running this family now.” “No one on this earth can stop me from getting what I want.” “If you can’t even handle a mess this simple, you have absolutely no reason to stay in my company.” The dark, menacing voice suddenly stopped. The man on the balcony had noticed me trying to silently sneak out of the bedroom. Sebastian hung up the phone instantly and walked toward me. I backed away in panic, but he cornered me against the wall. His eyes dragged slowly down my body. A dark possessiveness flashed in his gaze. He grabbed my wrist violently and yanked me flush against his chest. “Where do you think you’re going?” “Are you trying to abandon me again?” “Shelly, do you honestly believe I will ever let you walk away from me again?” Faced with his sudden, erratic explosion of emotion, I tried desperately to break his grip, feeling entirely helpless. “You have to at least let me go wash my face!” Sebastian’s brow furrowed even deeper. His deep, intense eyes locked onto my face, as if he was trying to dissect my soul to see if I was lying to him again. After all, the old me used to lie to him constantly. And back then, he swallowed every single lie willingly, completely blinded by his obsession with me. I was currently wearing a men’s bathrobe I had found on the floor. It hung loosely off my shoulders, doing absolutely nothing to hide the violent red marks covering my collarbones. Under his aggressive, predatory stare, my face burned bright red. He finally let go of my wrist. “Do not even think about playing games with me.” He dropped the warning like a heavy stone and shoved me toward the master bathroom. “Wash up and come downstairs. Breakfast is ready.” 7 The massive, sunlit dining room was entirely silent, save for the faint clinking of silverware against porcelain. I kept my head down, focusing entirely on the food on my plate. I didn’t even need to look up to feel Sebastian’s burning, obsessive stare drilling into the side of my head. The exact second I finished a piece of food, he would smoothly and accurately place another piece of whatever I was craving directly onto my plate. It was like he could read my mind. “I’m full.” As soon as the words left my mouth, Sebastian picked up a linen napkin and naturally reached over to wipe the corner of my mouth. I turned my head sharply, dodging his hand. “I can do it myself.” But when I reached for the napkin, the man refused to let go. A freezing smile locked onto his lips. His eyes cut into me like blades, carrying a faint, terrifying undercurrent of hatred. “Weren’t you crying in my bed last night, promising you would be a good girl for me…” My face instantly caught fire again. After a few years apart, his mouth had become absolutely toxic. He always knew exactly how to humiliate me. Seeing that I had no response, Sebastian’s long, elegant fingers pressed the napkin firmly against the corner of my lips. The scorching heat of his palm bled through the fabric, burning my skin. “If you actually behave, I might consider going easy on that pathetic boyfriend of yours.” The whispered threat brushed against my ear like a lover’s sweet confession. Dark, sticky, and completely suffocating. But we were not lovers. And we could never be lovers. 8 When I was sixteen, I was brilliant, beautiful, and the center of attention. I was a little princess worshipped by everyone around me. My parents spoiled me rotten. The entire world revolved around me. They never raised their voices at me, let alone yelled at me. But one day, my elegant, rational mother turned into a complete stranger. She stormed into my bedroom, grabbed my backpack, and violently dumped everything onto the floor. Textbooks, pens, and a few light envelopes scattered across the carpet. She snatched up the envelopes. I had absolutely no idea when they were slipped into my bag. Her face twisted into a mask of pure rage as she screamed at me. “You are a child! Why are you entertaining love letters?! Why can’t you be mature and responsible like Oliver?! You spend two hours in the mirror every morning trying to seduce boys! If I ever catch you acting like a cheap tramp again, I will throw you out of this house!” Slam. My bedroom door was violently shut. The wind from the door hit my face like a physical slap. Tears instantly spilled from my eyes. A terrifying, indescribable sense of terror and injustice crushed my chest. I could not understand why my mother had suddenly turned into a monster. I cried alone in my room until the sun completely set. Normally, my mother would have knocked on my door hours ago, using her softest voice to coax me down for dinner. But that night, she never came. Instead, Oliver walked into my room carrying a dinner tray. “Go wash your face, then eat your food.” His tone was completely flat and calm. He acted as if I wasn’t sitting on my bed sobbing hysterically. He acted as if I was just quietly doing my homework. “Get out!” I screamed at him with zero hesitation. Crying for hours had completely ruined my voice. It sounded like sandpaper. The boy walked over to my desk, picked up a glass pitcher, poured a cup of warm water, and held it out to me. “Drink this. It will soothe your throat. Otherwise, you won’t be able to speak tomorrow.” Crash. I slapped the glass out of his hand. It shattered into a hundred pieces across the hardwood floor. “I don’t need your fake pity!” I glared at him with absolute venom. Ever since he moved into our house, my perfect, happy family had been slowly falling apart. “You’re the one who told on me, aren’t you?!” Who else could it be? We went to the same high school. Even though we were in different classes, he always knew exactly what I was doing, exactly who I was talking to. Sometimes I genuinely wondered if he had planted a tracking device on my clothes. “You need to focus entirely on your studies right now.” He neither confirmed nor denied my accusation. He just sat on the edge of my bed, looking down at me from above. The room was lit only by a dim floor lamp. The weak light traced the outline of his tall, lean, athletic body. He wasn’t just a genius. He was a machine. He kept the highest grades in the entire school while simultaneously breaking the scoring records for the varsity team. Compared to him, my intelligence was honestly a joke. But so what! I was the only biological daughter of this family! That alone meant I had already won! I pushed myself up on the bed, glaring at him with swollen red eyes. “Don’t get cocky! My mom only yelled at me tonight because she’s stressed! I am their only real child!” “I have never, ever considered you my brother!” Faced with my vicious insults and fury, Oliver remained just as cold and apathetic as always. “Good.” His pale eyelids lifted. His amber eyes locked onto mine, filled with an endless, dangerous darkness. “I don’t want to be your brother either.” 9 Oliver and I had a massive falling out that night. Even though I never saw him as family, hearing him actually say it out loud infuriated me. What an ungrateful bastard! My family gave him everything. I had the right to reject him, but he was obligated to be grateful to us! What gave him the right to reject me?! That was how completely unreasonable and arrogant I was at sixteen. I wanted to find a chance to tell my mother what he said, hoping she would stop caring about him so much and spend more time with me. But after that night, my mother became incredibly busy. I barely ever saw her at the house. And she grew colder and colder toward me. When I tried to act cute and seek her attention, she no longer looked at me with that gentle, loving gaze. She didn’t hug me or pinch my cheeks to make me laugh. Instead, she looked at me with pure exhaustion and impatience. “Shelly, you are almost seventeen years old. Start acting like it.” “Look at Oliver. He is the exact same age as you, but he is incredibly mature and reliable.” Not only that, her blatant favoritism toward Oliver became impossible to ignore. She was constantly checking on his health. The private chefs were ordered to cook strictly according to Oliver’s dietary preferences. Whenever the luxury brands sent their seasonal catalogs to the house, Oliver was given the books first to pick out whatever he wanted. Even our family vacations were planned entirely around what Oliver enjoyed doing. During parent teacher conferences, my mother would go to Oliver’s classroom first, and then eventually make her way to mine. “Well, he is a boy. Boys are just more reliable. Unlike Shelly. She is almost seventeen and all she cares about is partying and wasting time.” I stood holding my notebooks outside the teacher’s office, listening to my own mother say those exact words to Oliver’s homeroom teacher. He is a boy. So my mother believed that because I wasn’t a boy, I was completely useless compared to him? I squeezed the notebooks in my hands so hard the sharp cardboard edges cut into my palms, leaving deep red lines. I absolutely refused to lose to Oliver. I refused to let him steal the love that belonged exclusively to me.

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