Chapter 1 Ethan Vance suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive punctuality disorder. When we got married, he set an absolute, non-negotiable rule: If any argument lasts longer than ten minutes, he will physically leave the room. He refuses to waste a single second more. But today, on our wedding anniversary, my morning sickness was so severe that I arrived at the boarding gate exactly three minutes late. When I looked up, Ethan had already ordered the flight crew to close the cabin doors. Sitting in my First Class seat was Chloe Thorne. This was the fourth time. Whenever I was even a step behind, he gave my place to Chloe. The first time: I was delayed at TSA security for two minutes. He flew to the Maldives with Chloe. The second time: My prenatal appointment ran five minutes over. He took Chloe to the luxury hot springs resort I had booked. The third time: I was vomiting so hard my legs gave out, making me ninety seconds late getting downstairs. His car sped off, taking Chloe with him. “You are always late. I can’t let a good seat go to waste.” Standing completely alone in the empty terminal, a sudden, tearing agony ripped through my abdomen. With trembling hands, I dialed Ethan’s number. Busy signal. I dialed again. Busy signal. The third time, the call finally connected. “Chloe is feeling a little airsick. I’m busy. Call 911 yourself.” I stared down at the blinding pool of red spreading across the floor between my feet. I set the phone down on the ground. Ethan, in your perfect, meticulously planned schedule, you could never spare a single minute to wait for me. So this time, it’s my turn to leave you behind. Forever. … By the time the ambulance arrived, I couldn’t form a complete sentence. The paramedics cut open my blood-soaked pants and lifted me onto the stretcher. A nurse gripped my wrist. “Where is your family? How many weeks pregnant are you? Any underlying conditions?” “Eleven weeks. My family is on a plane.” “What’s the father’s name? Can we reach him?” I closed my eyes. “Don’t bother. He’s busy.” My phone rang again. Ethan’s name flashed on the screen. I stared at it for two seconds before hitting ‘Answer.’ “Mia, did you actually call an ambulance?” His voice was hushed. In the background, I could hear Chloe’s delicate, fragile voice asking: “Ethan, is Mia okay? Should we turn the plane around? I can just tough it out.” Ethan’s tone was completely flat. “She just loves blowing minor inconveniences completely out of proportion. Just lie back down.” Then, he addressed me: “If the airport clinic can handle it, why do you insist on calling an ambulance? We’ve already taken off. We are not turning the plane around just for you.” Another violent spasm of pain ripped through my stomach. I bit my lip, waiting for the agony to subside. “The doctor said… I’m having a miscarriage.” The line went dead silent for two seconds. “Are you seriously using the baby to threaten me again?” “Mia, you are the one who was late. If I ruin my entire schedule for you every single time, eventually everyone is going to think my time is worthless.” In the past, terrified of inconveniencing him, I would have desperately tried to explain that I didn’t mean to be late, that my stomach really, truly hurt. But now, watching the nurse continuously swap out blood-soaked gauze… I suddenly lost the strength to speak. Chloe’s sickly-sweet voice drifted through the speaker. “Ethan, don’t be mad. Pregnant women are just emotionally fragile. She probably just wants you to coax her.” Ethan’s voice turned even colder. “I don’t have the time to deal with your petty, jealous games right now.” “If you get admitted to the hospital, just save the receipts and I’ll reimburse you when I get back. Stop calling me. Chloe is airsick and needs to rest.” The call disconnected. I checked the time. Exactly ten minutes. The nurse looked at me, wanting to say something but holding back. I pressed the phone screen against my palm. “Could you put it on silent, please?” Chapter 2 By the time the examinations were finished, it was completely dark outside. The doctor placed the chart in front of me. “Threatened miscarriage. There’s bleeding at the edge of the placenta. Moving forward, you must remain on strict bed rest. No travel, no stress, and absolutely no emotional trauma.” “Can you save the baby?” “There is still a fetal heartbeat, but no one can guarantee anything. Can your family come tonight?” I shook my head. The doctor frowned deeply. “It is highly unadvisable for you to be alone right now. If you experience heavy bleeding, you must press the call button immediately.” Right at that moment, the hospital room door pushed open. Ethan’s assistant walked in, dragging Ethan’s carry-on suitcase. He pulled a designer cashmere shawl out of the suitcase. “Ms. Thorne left this at the airport. Mr. Sterling was worried it might get chilly on their return flight, and since you live close to the airport, he asked if you could wash it and drop it off at the dry cleaners.” The doctor’s face turned thunderous. “She just almost lost her baby, and you people want her to run errands?!” The assistant looked incredibly awkward. “Mr. Sterling said his wife is used to handling these things. And it has to be dropped off before 9:00 AM tomorrow, so Ms. Thorne can use it on her way back.” Just then, the assistant’s phone rang. Ethan’s voice came through on speakerphone. “Did you drop it off?” “Yes, sir. But the doctor says your wife is on strict bed rest and can’t get out of bed.” “Then tell her to hire a courier. Mia, don’t drag your feet on purpose. Chloe needs this.” I handed the shawl back to the assistant. “Take it back. I am under no obligation to manage her belongings.” Ethan’s tone was indifferent. “What are you throwing a tantrum over now? It’s just a shawl.” I placed my hand over my still-aching abdomen. My voice was so quiet I could barely hear it myself. “You’re right. So if it gets thrown in the trash, it’s no big deal.” The assistant reached out to take the shawl back, but as he did, a medical booklet slipped out of the suitcase. It was a prenatal care record. The name on the cover was Chloe Thorne. At the very bottom of the page, stamped clearly in ink, were the words: 8 Weeks Pregnant. “Chloe is pregnant?” I flipped the booklet open. Tucked inside was a printed ultrasound scan. The assistant’s face drastically changed. He lunged forward to grab it. “Mrs. Sterling, that is Ms. Thorne’s private medical information.” “Why is her private medical information sitting inside my husband’s suitcase?” “Mr. Sterling simply accompanied her to the appointment.” The phone was still connected. Ethan spoke, his voice icy. “Chloe wasn’t feeling well a while ago, so I took her to the clinic. She isn’t married, and she doesn’t want people to know, so keep your mouth shut.” I stared at the date on the ultrasound scan. It was the exact same date as my very first prenatal appointment. That day, Ethan had promised to go with me. But when we arrived at the hospital entrance, he told me Chloe’s car had broken down, and told me to go inside by myself. I waited in line for four hours. By the time I walked out with my own ultrasound, his phone was turned off. It turned out that in the exact same hospital, he was busy accompanying another woman to her appointments. I asked, “Whose baby is it?” “That is none of your business.” “You are my husband.” Ethan’s patience was completely depleted. “Which is exactly why I’m telling you to drop it.” “Mia, you already have your own baby. There is absolutely no need to harbor so much hostility toward a woman who has no one else to rely on.” “I just asked whose baby it is.” Chloe suddenly sounded as if she had just woken up, her voice fragile. “Mia, please, don’t misunderstand. Ethan and I have absolutely nothing going on. It’s just that I didn’t want my family to know, so he’s keeping it a secret for me.” “Then who is the father?” She stayed silent for a moment before suddenly starting to sob quietly. Ethan immediately lowered his voice to coax her. “It’s okay. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” When he addressed the phone again, his tone was nothing but irritated. “Are you done interrogating her? She’s pregnant. She can’t handle the stress.” I looked down at the medical diagnosis chart sitting next to my hospital bed. We were both carrying children. But if Chloe so much as furrowed her brow, he was terrified she’d be too stressed. While I was lying in a hospital bed actively bleeding, and all he could remember was to order me to dry-clean her shawl. “Ethan. I can’t handle the stress either.” “You’re perfectly fine, aren’t you?” The moment the words slipped out of his mouth, both ends of the phone went dead silent. I didn’t argue anymore. For the very first time, I was the one who hung up. Chapter 3 Ethan didn’t return until the afternoon of the following day. He didn’t come straight to the hospital. He went home with Chloe first so she could rest. It wasn’t until 7:00 PM that he pushed open the door to my room, carrying a takeout bag of congee. “Chloe said you probably don’t have much of an appetite, so she told me to bring this for you.” I glanced at the packaging. It was Chloe’s favorite: seafood congee. I am deadly allergic to shellfish. “Put it down.” He sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze landing on my pale face. “What did the doctor say?” “Strict bed rest to save the pregnancy.” “Tomorrow night is the Sterling family’s annual gala. I was originally planning to officially announce your pregnancy, but since you’re incapacitated, I’ll have Chloe attend in your place.” I stared at him. “She’s going to attend as Mrs. Sterling in my place?” Ethan tucked the blanket around me, his tone unusually mild. “She’s just taking your seat. Focus on resting. Don’t be so petty over such a trivial matter.” The next second, he pulled a legal authorization form from his briefcase. “Sign this. Tomorrow night we are also announcing the ‘SkyLounge’ project. Since you can’t be there, we’ll list Chloe as the Lead Architect for now. We can change it back after the press conference.” My hands curled into tight fists, crushing the bedsheets. The SkyLounge cabin design was my late mother’s unfinished manuscript. It was a project I had poured two agonizing years of my life into completing. “Why can’t you just announce it under my name?” “If you are absent from the press conference, it will shake the investors’ confidence. Chloe is highly presentable, and she can actually show up on time. She’s a much better fit.” “That is my design.” “I know.” He pressed a high-end fountain pen into my hand, his thumb gently pressing down on the back of my hand. “You’re just lending her your name for a night. Stop being so difficult.” I pulled my hand away. “I’m not signing it.” The expression on Ethan’s face vanished. “Mia. The corporation is not your personal playground.” “You’ve already derailed my flight schedule because you were late. Chloe is graciously volunteering to clean up your mess, and you’re still throwing a tantrum?” He smoothed out the authorization form on the tray table. “Sign it by 9:00 PM. My assistant will come pick it up.” I stared at his retreating back. “And if I don’t sign it?” Ethan stopped at the door. “All the R&D files for the SkyLounge are the intellectual property of Sterling Corp. If you don’t sign it, I have the executive authority to decide who presents it.” He knew perfectly well how much blood, sweat, and tears I had poured into that project. My fingernails dug into my palms. I finally said the words. “Let’s get a divorce.” Ethan’s footsteps halted. When he looked back, his eyes were full of mockery. “Mia. There’s a limit to how much jealousy I will tolerate. Don’t push this to a point where you can’t back down.” He sounded so absolutely certain. Just like every other time we fought, he was certain I could never leave him. But this time. I was genuinely, utterly exhausted. As soon as he opened the door, a nurse rushed in holding a lab report. “Are you Mia Vance’s family member? Her vitals are dropping again. She requires 24-hour supervision.” Ethan glanced at his watch. “I promised to take Chloe to dinner at 8:00. I can’t be late.” I looked at him. For the absolute last time, my voice trembling, I said: “So she is more important than me.” “We are not as filthy and twisted as you think we are.” The last shred of patience vanished from Ethan’s face. His voice turned freezing cold. “Chloe is punctual. She is graceful. She understands the bigger picture. If her father hadn’t sacrificed his life to save mine, she wouldn’t be all alone in the world.” “When are you finally going to learn how to be as understanding as she is?” With that, he stepped around the nurse and strode out of the room. I had heard that exact speech countless times. Chloe’s father was a pilot for the Sterling family. Ten years ago, during a catastrophic mechanical failure, he suffered fatal injuries while protecting Ethan. From that day on, Ethan viewed taking care of Chloe as his life’s ultimate duty. If she wanted the passenger seat, he would make me get out of the car. If she wanted a plane ticket, he would leave me stranded at the airport. If she wanted my position, he would tell me it was just “compensation.” I used to understand him. But “understanding” shouldn’t be an all-access pass for someone to trample all over my life. Half an hour later, the nurses came in to process my room transfer. As I was wheeled from my private VIP suite to a crowded, six-person shared ward, the Sterling Corp press conference was broadcasting live on the hospital TV. Chapter 4 Chloe, wearing my custom gown, was standing in front of the cabin model I had designed. The host smiled and asked, “Ms. Thorne, I heard this design is a gift for your soon-to-be-born child?” Chloe gently touched her stomach, smiling shyly. “You could say that. Ethan and I revised it together countless times. He said our baby deserves to have the safest sky in the world.” The crowd erupted into cheers and whistling. Someone asked if wedding bells were in their near future. Ethan didn’t clarify. He simply adjusted the microphone for Chloe and said flatly, “The fact that she is standing here today is the best answer I can give.” Applause filled the room. The other patients in my shared ward turned to look at me. “Isn’t that your husband?” “The woman next to him must be his real wife. Look, she’s pregnant.” I reached out to turn off the TV, but my hands were shaking so badly I missed the button on the remote several times. The older woman in the bed next to mine reached over and turned it off for me. She whispered, “Sweetheart, don’t watch.” My phone immediately buzzed with a text from Ethan. [The launch was a huge success. If you had just cooperated, things wouldn’t have gotten so ugly.] Attached to the text was a digital authorization form. The signature line already had my name forged on it. I dialed his number. “Who signed that for me? This is forgery.” “The corporate timeline cannot be stalled just because of you. Chloe just signed it on your behalf. Once you calm down and your emotions are stable, I’ll have the legal team draft the proper retroactive paperwork.” A sharp, seizing cramp ripped through my abdomen. “Stop the press conference right now and issue a public correction.” “Do you have any idea how much money Sterling Corp will lose if I halt this launch right now?” “That is my mother’s manuscript.” “Which is exactly why I’m maximizing its value.” He paused, his tone softening slightly. “Stop throwing a tantrum. I’ll come stay with you tonight. Text my assistant whatever you want to eat.” A bitter taste filled my mouth. He was always like this. He always assumed that throwing me a tiny scrap of fabricated gentleness was enough to erase all my suffering. Suddenly, a gasp from Chloe echoed through the phone. “Ethan! I think I just felt the baby kick!” Ethan’s voice instantly turned deadly serious. “You’re only eight weeks along, the baby can’t kick yet. Are you in pain? I’m taking you to the hospital right now.” He was so panicked he didn’t even hang up the phone. I listened to the frantic sound of his footsteps rushing away, and slowly placed my phone back on the nightstand. A nurse rushed into the room holding a chart. “Mia Vance! Your contractions are escalating rapidly! We need a family member to sign the surgical consent forms immediately!” Through the phone line, I heard the heavy thud of a car door closing. Ethan murmured something comforting to Chloe. Then, he ended the call. I stared at the black screen. My voice was perfectly calm. “Change the procedure. I want an abortion.” “If we can’t reach your family, you’ll have to sign the forms yourself.” The attending physician handed me the surgical consent clipboard. “The hemorrhaging is increasing rapidly. Our priority is to protect the mother, but I have to warn you about the worst-case scenarios.” I was in so much agony I couldn’t grip the pen. The nurse steadied my wrist. “Do you have any other relatives we can call?” My parents passed away years ago, and after I got married, I quit my job to focus on the studio. My social circle had shrunk to almost nothing. I scrolled through my entire contacts list, and finally dialed Julian’s number. He was the initial angel investor for the SkyLounge project, and the man Ethan had aggressively pushed out of the project team three years ago. He answered on the first ring. “Mia?” “Julian. Could you please come to the hospital?” He didn’t ask a single question. “Text me the address. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” By the time Julian arrived, I had already been moved to the pre-op observation room. He stood on the other side of the privacy curtain. “Where is Ethan?” “Accompanying Chloe to a prenatal appointment.” “You’re lying here pregnant too, and he just left you alone?” The doctor pushed the curtain aside. “Family members, please don’t agitate the patient. We urgently need a specific imported medication. The hospital pharmacy is completely out of stock, but the satellite clinic nearby has the last two vials. We need someone to go retrieve them immediately.” Julian snatched the requisition form and ran. Laying in the hospital bed, I listened as the nurse dialed Ethan’s number one more time. “Mr. Sterling, your wife is in critical condition. You must come to the hospital immediately.” “I am at the hospital.” The nurse froze. “Then what department are you in?” “OB/GYN, third floor.” “Ms. Vance is in the fifth-floor Emergency Observation ward.” The line went silent for a moment. Chloe’s tearful voice drifted over. “Ethan, you should go. I can wait for the ultrasound by myself. Even though the doctor said my near-fall earlier might affect the baby… Mia’s situation is more important.” Ethan immediately replied: “Don’t move.” He then spoke to the nurse: “Just follow standard medical protocol. If you need any signatures, email the forms to me, I can e-sign them.” “Mr. Sterling, certain medical decisions require face-to-face consultation.” “I’ll be up there before 10:00 AM.” “She might not make it to 10:00 AM.” Ethan’s voice turned icy. “Is this how your hospital operates? Fear-mongering? She had the energy to scream at me over a project this morning, and now she’s suddenly ‘critical’? The timing is a bit too convenient.” The nurse was so furious she slammed the phone down.

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On the day I felt our baby kick for the very first time, I was so thrilled I recorded a five-second video and sent it to my husband, Ethan. But by sheer, cruel luck, the video was seen by his childhood best friend, Chloe—a woman suffering from a severe phobia of pregnancy. That very night, overwhelmed by a panic attack triggered by my video, she attempted suicide by slitting her wrists. In a blind rage, Ethan marched into my mother’s hospital room and yanked her oxygen mask off for exactly five seconds. “I warned you over and over again! Why the hell did you send me that video?!” “You love recording the baby kicking so much, huh?” “Fine. Let’s see how much you love it now!” For five agonizing seconds, my mother’s face turned deathly pale. The monitor flatlined into a horrific, steady scream. Tears streaming down my face, I dropped to my knees, begging him, promising over and over that I would never send another video. Ethan rejected me with ice in his eyes. He forced me to wear a 24-hour fetal movement monitor strapped to my chest. “From now on, for every second your baby moves, I will have someone pull your mother’s oxygen mask off for the exact same amount of time.” “This continues until Chloe wakes up from her coma!” For an entire month, I walked on eggshells, desperately trying to control my own body. But you cannot stop a baby from moving. After watching my mother’s oxygen ripped away for the sixth time, my tears completely dried up. I didn’t try to stop Ethan anymore. I simply took out my phone and booked an appointment for an abortion. If he wanted the kicking to stop permanently… getting rid of the baby was the only way, wasn’t it? BEEP… BEEEEEEP…! In the ICU room, my mother’s oxygen mask was removed for the sixth time. This time, it lasted exactly seventeen seconds. Watching the jagged peaks on the heart monitor slowly flatten out into a straight line, my mind was consumed by pure, suffocating terror. “Enough!” “Ethan, time is up!” “The baby only moved for seventeen seconds last night!” Tears blurring my vision, I scrambled forward desperately to put the oxygen mask back on my mother’s face. But Ethan’s expression was as cold as a glacier. “Twenty-five seconds!” “Mia, you secretly took the monitor off for eight seconds last night.” Spitting the words out like venom, Ethan began tapping his finger against his luxury watch. Tick. Tick. Tick. Until, an agonizing eight seconds later. He finally signaled his guards to let me go. “Mia, I don’t ever want to see you sneaking that monitor off again.” “This is your absolute final warning.” My ears were ringing violently. With trembling fingers, I strapped the oxygen mask back onto my mother’s face. My eyes were glued to the heart monitor. One second… Five seconds… The heart rhythm slowly, painfully, returned to normal. My entire body went limp. I carefully leaned against the wall just to keep myself from collapsing. Over the past month, I had tried a million different, agonizing ways to force my baby to stay still. But it still happened six times. And my mother’s oxygen mask had been ripped off six times. Every single time the mask was finally put back on, I was terrified I had lost her forever. My heart had been shredded and glued back together over and over again. I was physically and spiritually broken. This time, it was twenty-five seconds. What about next time? With a deafening buzz in my head, I opened my phone to a forum post I had made earlier. [How can I stop my baby from moving in the womb?] Below it, a random user had left a mocking comment: [You want to be pregnant but you don’t want the baby to move?] [Then why the hell are you having a kid?] [Just get an abortion, then it’ll never move again!] Yeah. If I just got an abortion, the kicking would stop forever, wouldn’t it? My hand gently rested on my swollen belly. In a daze, I remembered the day Ethan found out I was pregnant. He had hugged my stomach so tightly, his eyes shining with tears and absolute joy as he asked me over and over again. “Mia, I’m going to be a dad?” “I’m really going to be a dad?!” That day, he bought a mountain of parenting books and subscribed to dozens of pregnancy health blogs. He even created a group chat just for us called: [Mia’s Pregnancy Journey]. In his phone, cluttered with endless corporate chats and executive emails, that group was always pinned to the very top. Every single time I sent a message about the baby. He would reply instantly. Chapter 2 Time and time again, his love had slowly erased the terrifying anxiety I felt about pregnancy. Until his childhood best friend, Chloe, returned to the States. The moment she saw my slightly swollen belly, she started trembling violently, convulsing in a full-blown panic attack. Without a second thought, Ethan ripped off his suit jacket and threw it directly over my stomach. “Cover it up!” That “cover-up” lasted for three agonizing months. Whenever Chloe was around, I was forced to hide in corners where she couldn’t see me. I questioned him. I screamed at him. The only response I ever got was the same cold, dismissive sentence from Ethan. “She suffers from severe tokophobia (fear of pregnancy). Why are you being so petty and fighting with her?” “Her condition is a lifelong illness. You’re only pregnant for a few months.” The words I wanted to scream back were forced down my throat. The pain and the suffocating injustice wrapped around me like a spiderweb, tightening day by day. “Mia. Did you hear a word I just said?” Ethan’s freezing voice snapped me back to reality. I took out my phone and confirmed the abortion appointment. “Ethan, the baby will never kick again.” “What did you just say?” I put my phone down and looked up. Ethan was staring at me, his brow furrowed in annoyance. “If you’re done throwing a tantrum, go home.” “I have to stay and help the doctors with Chloe’s therapy.” He spat the words out like ice and turned on his heel, striding away without looking back. I moved my feet slowly, dragging myself down the long, sterile hospital corridor to the OB/GYN ward. Two hours later, the surgery was over. I was resistant to the anesthesia, so I was fully conscious as the nurse wheeled me into the recovery room. “Ms. Vance, if the pain gets to be too much, please take these painkillers immediately.” “Otherwise, your body might go into shock from the pain.” The nurse handed me a small paper cup of warm water and left. Enduring the horrific, tearing agony in my abdomen, I forced my mouth open and swallowed the pills. Before the pain even began to subside, my phone buzzed violently. [Hey Mia, want to see exactly how Ethan is ‘helping’ Chloe with her therapy?] A random, anonymous text. I frowned, just about to lock my screen. Suddenly, one of Ethan’s frat brothers flooded my phone with dozens of photos and videos. Blindingly explicit, half-naked photos assaulted my eyes. My entire body turned to stone. [Mia, Ethan’s ‘therapy’ is just one step away from finishing the job!] [The doctors said this is the fastest way to wake Chloe up from her coma.] [Don’t go blaming Ethan for this. After all, you brought this on yourself!] My mind went completely blank. It felt like a rusty saw was violently hacking at the raw flesh inside my stomach. Trembling fingers clutching the phone, tears burning my eyes, I stared at the endless stream of photos and videos. I always knew Ethan was assisting the doctors with Chloe’s therapy. But I never imagined it would be this utterly repulsive. My finger stopped on one specific photo. Ethan was leaning down, gently and intimately kissing Chloe’s neck. My vision went black. When it finally cleared… [Mia’s Pregnancy Journey] Those words flashed through my mind. That group chat had remained pinned to the very top of my messages app. But Ethan had unpinned it months ago. The group he had created with so much joy had long since been buried under an avalanche of his work chats. His new pinned chat was [Chloe’s Recovery Team]. I pulled up the camera app and snapped a photo of my abortion discharge papers. I sent it directly into our pregnancy group chat. Exactly as I expected, it sank like a stone in the ocean. No reply. I unpinned the chat, stood up, and walked out of the recovery room. When I got back to our house, Ethan wasn’t there. I lay down in our bedroom and fell into the deepest, most peaceful sleep I had had in months. I didn’t have to worry about the baby kicking anymore. I didn’t have to worry about accidentally bumping the heart monitor. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that Ethan finally came home, trailing two massive bodyguards behind him. His expression was as cold and detached as ever. “Mia. It’s time to check yesterday’s fetal movement logs.” He didn’t waste a single breath on small talk. He just gestured for the private doctor to step forward. Chapter 3 The fetal movement monitor was unstrapped from my chest, and the doctor plugged it into a tablet to extract the data. I stared at Ethan’s icy face and opened my mouth. “Ethan, what exactly is this ‘therapy’ you’re doing for Chloe?” “What kind of medical treatment requires you to perform it on her alone, behind closed doors?” My voice was dry and raspy. I waited quietly for his answer. Ethan frowned, just opening his mouth to speak. Suddenly, the doctor gasped in shock. “Mr. Sterling! Your wife’s log shows… nine fetal movements yesterday?!” Nine times? I froze. The baby was aborted first thing yesterday morning. How could there be any movement? “The data has to be wrong…” I blurted out anxiously. But before I could finish, Ethan’s brow furrowed tightly. “Mia, you did this to yourself, now you take the punishment!” “We agreed: however many times the baby kicked, that’s how many times we pull your mother’s oxygen.” “Nine times. A total of two minutes and twenty-three seconds.” “Do you want it pulled all at once, or broken up into sessions?” He was as cold and indifferent as a block of ice. I stared at him in utter disbelief. His phone suddenly rang. “Ethan! Chloe’s condition just crashed! You need to get to the hospital right now!” The panicked voice on the other end echoed through the room. Ethan’s face darkened instantly, his voice laced with fury as he barked an order at his guards. “Supervise my wife. Make sure the punishment is carried out in full. Record a video and send it to me!” Spitting out every word, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the house. The shock hadn’t even faded from my eyes. I scrambled forward, grabbing his sleeve desperately. “Ethan, our baby is already a—” “Mia, stop making excuses!” “You are absolutely disgusting to me right now!” The words died in my throat, cut off by the intense, overwhelming loathing and disappointment in Ethan’s eyes. My brain buzzed violently for several seconds. My fingers twitched uncontrollably. It felt like my nose and mouth were drowning in the freezing depths of the ocean. I literally couldn’t breathe. Outside the mansion, the roar of his sports car tearing out of the driveway echoed through the walls. My legs completely gave out, and I collapsed onto the hardwood floor. “Ma’am. It’s time to go to the hospital.” The bodyguard’s robotic voice sounded above me. They hauled me up by my arms and dragged me to the car. Standing in that ICU room once again, my eyes were dead and hollow. The person lying in that bed was supposed to be me. In the critical millisecond of the car crash, my mother used every ounce of her strength to shield my body with hers. Covered in blood, her final words before slipping into a coma were: “Thank god my Mia is okay…” Ethan used to hold me while I cried, swearing on his life, over and over, that he would spare no expense to save her. And now… it hadn’t even been a year… Tears fell silently, pooling on the linoleum floor. With trembling fingers, I pulled out my phone and texted Ethan. [I’m begging you, please don’t pull my mom’s oxygen mask again.] [Ethan, it’s all my fault. I never should have sent you that video of the baby kicking.] [Punish me however you want, do whatever you want to me…] [I’m begging you. My mom is all I have left…] I sent dozens of texts. Every single one vanished into the void. I stared at the screen over and over again. No reply from Ethan. “Ma’am, we are initiating the protocol.” The bodyguard hit ‘record’ on his phone, reached out, and ripped the oxygen mask off my mother’s face. I threw myself forward with everything I had to stop him. But I was brutally pinned to the floor by the other guard. Once. Twice. … Seven times. My mother’s oxygen mask was violently removed seven times. Each duration longer than the last. My tears had completely dried up. My throat was raw and bleeding from screaming. Two minutes and twenty-three seconds. It was finally over. The bodyguard let me go. I scrambled desperately to my mother’s side and strapped the oxygen mask back on. My eyes were glued to the EKG monitor. One second. Three seconds. Ten seconds. The green line on the monitor remained completely, horrifyingly flat. Chapter 4 “Doctor!” “Please save my mom!” “I’m begging you, please save my mom…” The heavy, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I grabbed the doctor’s coat, begging in sheer terror. The defibrillator shocked my mother’s chest again. And again. And again. The line on the monitor remained a flat, unwavering green. “Ma’am. We did everything we could…” “I am so sorry for your loss.” The doctor’s words buzzed in my ears like a swarm of hornets. I stared blankly at my mother’s lifeless face. My brain completely refused to process reality. Right at that moment, brilliant, deafening fireworks exploded outside the hospital window. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The sky lit up with dazzling colors. I looked up and saw massive, glowing letters spelling out a message in the night sky. [CELEBRATING CHLOE WAKING UP!] Chloe was awake? My paralyzed brain slowly began to turn. I pulled out my phone. Five minutes ago, Chloe had posted an update on her Instagram. [In a coma for a month. So incredibly blessed to have had someone by my side the entire time!] In the photo, Ethan was kneeling on one knee, his head bowed, gently putting a pair of socks on her feet. The absolute tenderness in his eyes was so foreign to me it made my head spin. So, his gentleness was still there. It was just reserved for Chloe. So, Chloe had woken up a long time ago. He just intentionally ignored my desperate texts begging for my mother’s life. The final string holding my sanity together snapped violently. I put my phone in my pocket and walked, step by slow step, down the hallway to Chloe’s VIP suite. “Ethan, thank you so much for this past month.” “I heard everything… I heard that to help wake me up, you performed that special ‘therapy’…” Chloe’s voice drifted through the door, sounding shy and demure. My hand, resting on the doorknob, froze. “Don’t worry, I’m not saying this because I expect you to take responsibility for me.” “I’m just afraid that my being here will cause misunderstandings between you and Mia.” “Now that I’m awake, I’m planning to move back to the States…” Before Chloe could finish her tearful, disappointed speech. Ethan’s voice abruptly cut her off. “Why do you have to leave?” “Mia’s baby is due in five months.” “After she has this baby, I’m getting a vasectomy.” Through the crack in the door, I heard Ethan making that promise, pronouncing every single syllable clearly. The man who had once promised me we would have a boy and a girl. To appease Chloe, he was going to get a vasectomy. A hollow, mocking smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. I shoved the door wide open. “Ethan, you don’t need a vasectomy.” “Because our baby is already a—” Before I could finish my sentence. Ethan shot up from his chair, snatched a pile of dirty clothes off the nearby armchair, and hurled them directly at my stomach. “Mia!” “Are you trying to make Chloe pass out again by flaunting your pregnant belly?!” “Cover it up right now!” My body went completely rigid. I stopped walking for a few seconds. Then, stepping directly onto the dirty clothes he threw at me, I walked closer, step by step. “Mia!” “I said, cover your damn stomach right now!” “This is your final warning!” Standing protectively in front of Chloe, Ethan’s face was terrifyingly cold. Seeing that I didn’t stop, his brow furrowed heavily. His eyes were filled with exhaustion and profound disappointment. “Mia, stop throwing these irrational tantrums.” “Chloe and I have always been completely platonic.” “The bond we share isn’t the filthy, romantic garbage you have in your head!” Spitting the words out like ice, Ethan pulled out his phone, ready to call his security guards. I spoke, my voice raw and raspy. “Ethan. Let’s get a divorce.” “Divorce?!” “Mia, say that one more time!” His jaw clenched so hard a muscle feathered in his cheek. Ethan stood completely stunned. His eyes were wide with utter disbelief. “You’re the one who completely crossed the line, and you’re demanding a divorce from ME?!” The words were practically roared out of his lungs. Furious and agitated, Ethan took a massive stride toward me.

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Picking up my son from school, a Porsche sent my son flying twenty-five feet through the air. Little Leo was covered in blood, his tiny hand still clutching a newly bought superhero action figure. I held him, kneeling on the asphalt and begging strangers to call 911, but the woman who caused the crash didn’t even get out of her car. She leaned against the driver’s seat to touch up her lipstick, then dialed a phone, her voice sickeningly sweet and soft: “Mr. Sterling, I messed up and I’m so scared. Please come save me…” Three minutes later, two black town cars blocked off the intersection. Six bodyguards in black suits surrounded me and Leo. I screamed that my child was coughing up blood and would die if he didn’t get to a hospital. The lead bodyguard expressionlessly blocked even the approaching ambulance. “My boss gave instructions. Nobody leaves the scene until liability is determined, including the injured.” I lunged forward like a madwoman, but my arms were pinned back by guards on either side. The woman finally stepped out of the car, clicking over in her stilettos, and crouched down to glance at Leo. “The kid doesn’t even look that badly hurt.” She tilted her phone away and whined into it: “Mr. Sterling, the other party is trying to run a scam. You have to back me up.” “Don’t be afraid.” A familiar voice came through the other end of the line, terrifyingly calm. “I’ll handle it. Stay in the car.” Leo’s lips were already turning purple. Grabbing onto the last thread of hope, I cried out that name at the top of my lungs. “Victor Sterling! The one who was hit is Leo!” …… The other end of the line fell silent for a second. The woman sneered and abruptly hung up the call. The flat beep-beep-beep tone sounded deafeningly harsh on the noisy street. She shoved her phone into her designer bag and looked down at me from above. “What are you screaming about?” “Don’t think that overhearing Mr. Sterling’s name means you can cozy up to him.” “Mr. Sterling is a very busy man. When would he have time to know a ghetto scammer like you?” My eyes split wide with fury as I stared at her. “He is Victor Sterling’s biological son!” “You hit him, and Victor will never let you get away with this!” The woman acted like she had just heard the most ridiculous joke, covering her mouth and giggling. “Oh, what a great story.” “Before you try to pull a shakedown, you should check who you’re dealing with. Is Mr. Sterling someone you can just spread rumors about?” Hanging up the phone, Victor felt a twinge of doubt. He dialed the family nanny’s number to check on things at home. “Martha, have my wife and the young master come home yet?” Martha had been playing mahjong all afternoon and was on a winning streak, refusing to quit, so she wasn’t home yet. She lied without missing a beat: “The missus and the young master are watering flowers in the greenhouse.” She had no idea that this single lie would become a death sentence for the young master. Victor breathed a sigh of relief and tossed his phone aside. He felt even more annoyed by the frantic voice at the end of that call earlier, muttering a curse under his breath about common gossips. “Let me go!” I mustered every ounce of strength to break free from the bodyguard’s grip, throwing myself over Leo. Blood kept surging from Leo’s nose, staining the white button-down shirt on his chest. He struggled to open his eyes, his tiny hand trembling. “Mommy… it hurts…” My heart felt like it was trapped in a meat grinder. “Leo, don’t be scared, Mommy is here. The ambulance is right outside.” I looked up, screaming at the top of my lungs at the bodyguard. “Move! The ambulance is right behind you!” “A human life is on the line! Weren’t you raised by parents too? Do you have no hearts?!” The lead bodyguard stood like an unfeeling wall of stone. He looked at me coldly. “Mr. Sterling’s orders. Ms. Vance was startled. Until Mr. Sterling’s private attorney arrives, nobody is allowed to disturb the scene.” “The ambulance can wait. Ms. Vance’s rights cannot be compromised.” The surrounding crowd couldn’t take it anymore. Several young men rushed forward, pointing at the bodyguard and cursing furiously. “Have you lost your humanity?!” “You hit someone and won’t help, and you’re blocking the road? This is murder!” “Let’s all push through, clear the road, saving the kid comes first!” The crowd started shoving the bodyguards. The lead bodyguard’s eyes chilled as he unclipped a collapsible baton from his belt. A dull, heavy thud. The guy in the front took a strike to the shoulder, screaming as he stumbled backward. The bodyguards smoothly drew their batons, forming a single file line. “Sterling Enterprises is conducting business. Bystanders, back off.” “Anyone who takes another step is inciting a riot.” The terrifying display stunned the crowd, forcing them backward. Tiffany leaned against the Porsche door, casually admiring her fresh manicure. “Exactly. A bunch of broke nobodies, playing the hero.” “If you get hurt, Mr. Sterling can afford the payout. Can you afford the hospital bills?” She walked over to me, using the tip of her stiletto to kick the Spider-Man toy Leo had dropped on the ground. “This toy looks like it came from a dollar store. What, ten bucks?” “Tell you what. How much money will it take for you to shut up?” “A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?” With trembling hands, I picked up the action figure and clutched it tight in my palm. Leo’s breathing grew weaker, the rise and fall of his chest barely perceptible. I looked up, my eyes red-rimmed as I stared at Tiffany. “I don’t want your money.” “I’m begging you, tell them to move. Let the paramedics in.” “As long as you let me save my child, I’ll do anything you want.” Tiffany raised an eyebrow, seemingly satisfied with my total surrender. “Anything?” I nodded desperately. “Fine.” She pointed at her stiletto heel. “I got a little dust on my shoe when I got out of the car.” “Get on your knees and lick it clean.” “If I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll show some mercy and let the ambulance through.” An angry roar erupted from the crowd. “Is this woman insane?!” “She’s pure evil!” I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood, staring at my dying son in my arms. I hesitated for zero seconds. My knees buckled, and I dropped straight to the asphalt right in front of Tiffany. Chapter 2 Thud. My knees crashed hard against the paved road. The surroundings fell dead silent. Everyone stared at me in absolute disbelief. Even the cold-faced bodyguard furrowed his brow slightly. Tiffany froze for a second before letting out a piercing, shrill laugh. “Oh wow, she actually kneeled.” “Guess this little bastard is pretty important to you.” She deliberately thrust her foot forward, her shoe tip nearly pressing against my chin. “Lick it.” “Make sure it’s clean. These shoes were custom-made for me in Paris by Mr. Sterling himself. If you ruin them, you can’t afford the replacement.” I lowered my head, staring at the dust-covered red stiletto. Dignity was worth absolutely nothing in this moment. As long as it saved Leo, I would gladly die. I closed my eyes and leaned slowly forward. Just as my lips were about to brush the leather— Tiffany suddenly kicked upward. The sharp heel slammed viciously into my shoulder. Before I could react, I was knocked backward, hitting the ground hard. “Hahahaha!” Tiffany laughed uncontrollably, holding up her phone to record me. “Now that’s a good dog.” “Chat, you guys won’t believe this. Ran into a scammer today, willing to throw away all her dignity just to extort cash.” Ignoring the searing pain in my shoulder, I scrambled up and knelt down once more. “I did it. Can the ambulance come through now?” Tiffany tucked her phone away and pouted. “Sorry, I changed my mind. I don’t want you to lick it anymore.” “It’s too disgusting.” “You can just keep waiting for the lawyers.” I completely lost my mind. “You monster!” I lunged upward, throwing myself at her like a mother lion protecting her cub. I locked my hands around her neck, pinning her against the hood of the Porsche. “Let them in! Save my son!” Tiffany shrieked in absolute terror. “Murder! Help!” Two bodyguards rushed forward instantly, grabbing my arms in a vice grip. With a violent heave, they hoisted me completely into the air. “Let me go! You murderers!” I kicked my legs out wildly. The lead bodyguard stepped up, his gaze glacial. “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” He raised a hard leather-soled shoe and brought it down with crushing force onto my right knee. A crisp crack echoed. Agony instantly shattered my nervous system. I let out a shriek, collapsing onto the ground like a broken doll. My right leg bent at a sickening, unnatural angle. Cold sweat soaked through my clothes instantly. Tiffany rubbed her neck, stalked over, and slapped me hard across the face. “Bitch! Don’t you dare touch me!” “Beat her! Beat her to death, I’ll take the blame!” Right then, a violent commotion erupted at the edge of the crowd. “Ram them! Damn it, I’ll take responsibility if anything happens!” A heavy-duty cargo truck suddenly roared to life, plowing straight into the black town cars blocking the street. Crash! The massive impact blasted a wide gap through the blockade. The burly truck driver leaped out of the cab, brandishing a massive wrench. “Even if I go to prison today, I won’t watch you animals kill a kid!” The crowd completely erupted. Dozens of pedestrians swarmed forward, using their bodies to break the bodyguards’ line. “Hurry! Get the medics in!” Paramedics sprinted in with their emergency kits. They slapped an oxygen mask onto Leo and loaded him onto a gurney. “The boy has lost too much blood, his pupils are starting to dilate! He needs surgery immediately!” Dragging my broken leg, I dragged myself across the pavement, clutching the edge of the gurney. “Doctor, save him… please…” The paramedic, with red eyes, helped me climb into the ambulance. The moment the doors slammed shut, I saw Tiffany furiously dialing her phone in a rage. “Mr. Sterling! They beat me up! And they took that little bastard to St. Jude Medical Center!” “You have to get revenge for me!” The deep, ruthless voice of Victor Sterling came through the speakerphone, ringing clearly in my ears. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” “St. Jude Medical Center is wholly owned by Sterling Enterprises.” “I promise you, no doctor in that city will dare lift a scalpel today.” Chapter 3 The ambulance tore wildly through the evening rush hour. The piercing sirens couldn’t drown out the frantic hammering of my heart. Leo lay on the stretcher, his face as white as a sheet of paper. The lines on the cardiac monitor grew flatter and flatter, the alarm sounding like a death knell. “Blood pressure is still dropping!” “We need a transfusion right now! Call the St. Jude blood bank, prep O-negative blood!” the paramedic roared into his radio. I gripped Leo’s freezing little hand tightly, my tears splashing against the back of his fingers. “Leo, just hold on a little longer, we’re almost at the hospital.” “Didn’t you want to watch the superhero fight monsters? Mommy will take you tomorrow.” Leo’s eyelashes flickered faintly, but he lacked the strength to open his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, the ambulance barreled through the front gates of St. Jude Medical Center. The emergency doors were thrown wide open, but not a single nurse with a gurney came out to meet us. A suffocating dead silence permeated the massive ER lobby. The paramedic froze, then jumped out of the vehicle and yelled, “Where is the trauma team?! Bring a gurney!” No answer. Just a few young nurses hiding behind the front desk, keeping their heads down, terrified to look at us. Dropping a curse, the paramedic dragged a gurney out himself. Together, we wheeled Leo toward the trauma rooms. Right as we reached the entrance, a middle-aged man in a white coat blocked our path. It was the Chief Administrator of St. Jude. He was sweating profusely, his eyes darting away nervously. “Stop. You can’t enter the trauma rooms.” The paramedic grabbed the administrator by the collar. “Are you out of your mind?! This child has internal bleeding, he will die if he doesn’t have surgery right now!” The administrator forcefully broke the doctor’s grip, lowering his voice. “This is a direct order from the top!” “Mr. Sterling personally called and instructed that until liability is determined, all medical resources at St. Jude are completely locked down.” “The blood bank is chained shut, and every surgical chief has been ordered into an emergency meeting.” “I have a family to feed! I can’t defy Mr. Sterling’s orders!” I felt like I had been struck by lightning. Victor, are you truly this heartless? To vent your anger on your little mistress, you’re willing to cut off an innocent child’s lifeline! Dragging my broken leg, I dropped heavily to my knees in front of the administrator. “Director, please, I’m begging you, save him!” “He’s only five years old!” “If you save him, I’ll be your slave for the rest of my life!” The administrator turned his head away, refusing to meet my eyes. “Ma’am, please don’t make this difficult for me.” “In this city, crossing Mr. Sterling means death.” “You better take your kid to another hospital. Maybe you still have time.” Another hospital? Getting to the nearest major trauma center from here would take at least half an hour without traffic. Leo didn’t even have five minutes left! Desperate, I pulled out my phone, my fingers shaking violently as I dialed Victor’s number. First ring: Declined. Second ring: Declined. I kept redialing like a madwoman. Finally, the call connected. “Victor Sterling! Get your people out of the way! Let the doctors operate on Leo!” I screamed into the phone at the top of my lungs. A sweet, pretentious female voice came through the line. “Oh my, why is it this crazy woman again?” It was Tiffany. She giggled. “Mr. Sterling is currently checking the scrape on my knee, he’s so worried about me.” “He said that scammer kid has nothing to do with him, and told you to stop bothering us.” “Oh, and Mr. Sterling also said if you dare make a scene at St. Jude, he has a hundred ways to make sure your whole family cannot survive in this city.” All the blood in my body froze solid. “Put him on the phone! Let me talk to him!” “I am Clara! The child in the accident is his biological son!” Chapter 4 Tiffany gave an impatient tsk. “Are you ever going to stop? Still playing games?” “Mr. Sterling’s wife’s name is Clara, sure, but right now she’s probably at the mansion watching cartoons with the young master.” “Go peddle your cheap trash scams somewhere else.” With that, she hung up right in my face. I collapsed onto the floor, my phone shattering into pieces. Despair consumed me like a black hole. Right then, the monitor by the trauma room door let out a sharp, continuous beep. Beep—— It was a blindingly straight, flat line. The paramedic froze in place. He turned around slowly, looked at the flat green line on the screen, and closed his eyes in agony. “Resuscitation failed…” He couldn’t even state the time of death. Because the child never even got a chance to be saved. I knelt on the floor, completely motionless. The surrounding world seemed to lose all sound instantly. I couldn’t hear the nurses sobbing, couldn’t hear the paramedic cursing. My eyes were fixed entirely on the tiny body lying on the gurney. Leo’s face had turned an ashen gray. The white shirt on his chest was soaked through with blood, dried into a deep maroon. The tiny hand that had been clutching the Spider-Man toy now hung limply off the side of the stretcher. The toy had fallen to the floor with a crisp clatter. Dragging my broken leg, I crawled forward, inch by inch. I picked up the Spider-Man action figure and stuffed it back into his hand. “Leo, hold your toy.” “Didn’t you say Spider-Man would protect Mommy?” I pressed my face against his icy little cheek, my tears completely dried up, leaving only a dull, burning sting. …”Why aren’t you protecting Mommy anymore…” “Wake up, open your eyes and look at Mommy…” No one answered me. The entire hallway fell into a graveyard silence. Just then, the crisp sound of high heels echoed down the corridor. Accompanied by a woman’s spoiled complaints. “The disinfectant smell in this dumpy hospital is so gross.” “Victor, I told you I’m fine, why did you have to drag me here for a full-body check?” “The skin on my knee is practically healed already.” Hearing that familiar voice, my spine instantly stiffened. I turned my head slowly. Victor Sterling wore a bespoke black suit, looking tall and imposing. He had one arm wrapped around Tiffany’s waist, his face carrying a look of indulgence and mild annoyance I had never seen before. “You were hit by a car. No matter whose fault it is, checking in is the smart thing to do.” “Just to make sure there are no lingering issues.” His voice was dripping with gentle warmth. Tiffany leaned against his chest, letting out a spoiled, smug huff. “It’s all that scammer woman’s fault, she scared me half to death.” “You can’t let her off easy.” Victor raised his head, his gaze sweeping lazily toward the emergency room. “Don’t worry. Nobody crosses my people and gets away with it.” He strode forward, bodyguards clearing the path ahead of him. “Move.” The guards roughly shoved the nurses and doctors aside. Victor stopped about six feet away from me. He didn’t look down at me on the floor, focusing instead on the paramedic. His voice dropped to freezing temperatures. “Are you the ones causing trouble in my hospital?” “Call security and throw them out.” The paramedic was shaking with rage, pointing right at Victor as he cursed: “You absolute monster!” “Because of a single word from you, a five-year-old child was dragged out and left to die!” “Aren’t you afraid of ghosts knocking on your door at night?!” Victor frowned, looking genuinely baffled by the accusation. “Just a scammer. Good riddance.” He finally lowered his noble head, his gaze sweeping over the gurney. In that exact instant. Victor’s body locked up completely.

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My fiancé’s childhood best friend, Hailey, always claimed to be a psychic and a spiritual healer. On the day of my wedding, the moment I stepped out of the bridal limo, she suddenly lunged out of the crowd and threw a bucket of stinking, black animal blood all over my pristine white gown. “I told you all!” she shrieked. “Chloe is cursed with dark energy! It’s bad luck for her to marry today, but you refused to listen to me!” “Look at her! The dark energy is literally oozing out of her now!” The crowd of wedding guests gasped in horror and instinctively took several steps back. Even my fiancé, Liam, backed away a good ten feet. Before I could even wipe my eyes, Liam’s mother shrieked in realization. “I always wondered why a girl would still be unmarried at 28! Turns out she’s just damaged goods waiting for my son to bail her out!” My fingernails dug violently into my palms. Liam’s family knew exactly why I was still unmarried at 28. The first year we got engaged, Hailey had kicked the banquet hall doors open right in the middle of our engagement party. “I read his astrological chart!” she screamed. “Liam is destined for a late marriage! If he gets married now, they’ll just divorce anyway. You can’t go through with this!” Without a second thought, Liam canceled the engagement party. I waited three years. We planned another wedding, but Hailey claimed it was a “widow’s year” in the zodiac and absolutely terrible for tying the knot. Liam obeyed her again. And now, this year, with the entire wedding already paid for and the guests waiting, she suddenly claimed I was cursed with “dark energy.” I wiped the foul-smelling black blood off my face, my eyes burning red with fury. “Are you seriously just going to stand there and let her do this?” I demanded, glaring at Liam. Liam was busy wiping a stray drop of blood off Hailey’s finger with a silk handkerchief. He didn’t even look up. “Hailey is a professional. She’s just looking out for us, Chloe. Stop causing a scene.” I ripped off my blood-stained veil and turned back toward the limo. “If we’ve been dating for seven years and our ‘energies’ still don’t match, then there’s absolutely no point in getting married.” …… I reached out to pull the limo door shut. But Hailey immediately barked an order like a commander on a battlefield. “Grab her! Don’t let her get away!” “The dark energy on her is contagious! Anyone who looks at her will be infected! Tie her up immediately!” “We have to throw her in the river to cleanse the evil spirits!” Hearing her unhinged commands, Liam was actually the first person to step toward me. The rest of his family quickly followed. I slammed the car door shut, and my driver, Mr. Lee, instantly locked all the doors. Outside, Liam’s relatives had already grabbed shovels and garden hoes from the landscaping crew and started smashing the car windows. My maid of honor, Mia, was sitting next to me. She threw her arms around me, trembling in terror. I shielded her with my body, my heart hammering in my chest. Liam pushed his way to the front of the mob and stood outside my window. “Chloe, be a good girl and open the door, okay?” “You’ll be fine. We just have to dunk you in the river for a bit to cleanse you.” “Don’t be scared. I’ll be standing right there supervising. Nothing bad will happen.” I didn’t answer him. I just desperately yelled at Mr. Lee to step on the gas and get us out of there. But right at that moment, Mia suddenly spoke up. “Chloe… just stop fighting.” “Just do what Hailey says. She spent a whole month preparing the spiritual rituals for your wedding. She’s exhausted.” “It’s just getting dunked in the river. It’s not going to kill you.” I froze, staring at my best friend in absolute disbelief. Before I could process her betrayal, Mia reached over and hit the master unlock button on my door panel. All four doors unlocked simultaneously. Liam’s father lunged forward, dragged Mr. Lee out of the driver’s seat by his collar, and threw him onto the pavement. Mia’s terrified expression vanished instantly. She shoved me hard, right out the open door. I stumbled and fell hard onto the concrete. Looking up, I saw Mia and Hailey standing side-by-side, holding hands. I opened my mouth to scream, but someone immediately shoved a filthy rag into it. A dozen pairs of hands pinned me to the ground. They tied me up with thick, rough rope like a farm animal and began dragging me toward a rusted iron cage they used for trapping wild hogs. The cage was caked with dried blood and rust, and a heavy iron anvil was tied to the bottom to act as a sinker weight. I fought with everything I had, gripping the metal bars so tightly my knuckles turned white, refusing to be shoved inside. Mr. Lee scrambled up from the pavement and threw himself over me to protect me. “Liam, are you crazy?! Chloe almost drowned when she was a little kid! She’s terrified of water! If you throw her in the river, she’ll have a panic attack and die!” Liam stared at my bloodshot, terrified eyes. His tone remained perfectly flat. “Chloe, I checked the ropes. They’re very secure.” “I will protect you. Just close your eyes, and it will be over soon.” His relatives violently dragged Mr. Lee away. I was brutally shoved into the rusty cage. The sharp iron edges sliced open my forehead, blood pouring down my face. I bit down on the rag, curling into a tight ball as the cage was hoisted up and thrown into the deep, murky estate pond. As I thrashed in the freezing water, Hailey spoke up from the shoreline. “Leave the cage submerged at the bottom of the pond for three minutes. Then pull her up.” Someone in the crowd gasped. “Three minutes? Isn’t that way too long? A normal person drowning only has about two minutes before they pass out. Anything over three minutes causes irreversible brain damage… even if we revive her, she’ll probably be a vegetable…” Liam’s gaze lingered on the blood seeping from my forehead for exactly two seconds. His voice brokered no argument. “Do exactly as Hailey says.” “When the time is up, pull the rope up quickly. Chloe hates being cold, I don’t want her freezing.” I squeezed my eyes shut under the murky water, refusing to look at his hypocritical face for one more second. The water swallowed me whole. The oxygen in my lungs began to compress painfully. The blood from my forehead blurred my vision. As the darkness closed in, a memory from a few weeks ago flashed through my mind. My grandfather had suffered a sudden heart attack. In a sheer panic, I called Liam for help. I called him dozens of times. He never picked up. In the end, it was Mr. Lee who helped me get my grandfather to the emergency room. After getting my grandfather settled in the ICU, I spotted someone who looked exactly like Liam walking down the hallway. I followed him. He walked straight into the Obstetrics and Gynecology wing. Through the half-open door of a private room, I heard a very familiar male voice. “Hailey, can you please not torture Chloe for the next wedding? I’m genuinely worried she might actually refuse to marry me this time.” Hailey was snuggled tightly into Liam’s chest, her tone spoiled and arrogant. “Your astrological charts clash violently! I’m just trying to help you both. Why don’t you just find a different bride?” Liam chuckled. “And who would I replace her with? You?” Hailey giggled coquettishly. “We’ve rolled around in the sheets so many times I’ve lost count. You were so aggressive this last time you actually made me miscarry.” “I would never marry a brute like you!” The sound of wet kissing echoed from the room. My mind had gone entirely blank. Chapter 2 That time, Liam had completely disappeared for three whole days. It wasn’t until the day after I brought my grandfather home from the hospital that he finally showed up at my house. I asked him where he had been. He looked perfectly calm. “The company sent me out of state on a sudden business trip. I didn’t even realize my phone was dead.” Watching him expertly massage my grandfather’s legs to help his circulation, the angry accusations died in my throat. I kept trying to convince myself. What if I just saw someone who looked like him? What if he’s telling the truth? Liam didn’t stay long before a phone call summoned him away. After he hung up, his eyes were incredibly soft. “Hailey says that for a month before the wedding, the bride and groom aren’t allowed to see each other. It disturbs the marital energy fields and brings bad luck to the marriage.” “I’ll see you at the altar, Chloe.” Before I could even reach out to stop him, he was already out the door. Everyone always said that Hailey had been madly in love with Liam since they were eight years old. Growing up, she had written him over a hundred love letters. But he had ruthlessly rejected every single one. It turns out, in this endless game of cat-and-mouse, Liam had fallen for her a long time ago. I closed my eyes. The freezing pond water engulfed me, and my consciousness was finally swallowed entirely by the dark abyss. When I woke up again, half an hour had passed. I had been dragged onto the grassy bank. Liam’s suit jacket was draped over my shivering body. Mr. Lee was sitting next to me, weeping. When he saw me open my eyes, he furiously wiped his tears. “Miss Chloe! If something happened to you, how could I ever face your father?!” “It was supposed to be a beautiful wedding, and these animals ruined it!” “That psychopath Hailey said that since you just got pulled out of the river, you’re covered in ‘dark energy,’ and she won’t even let you step foot inside the bridal suite!” It was only then that I realized I was lying under a large oak tree, far away from the main entrance of Liam’s estate. The bridal suite was less than thirty feet away, but I wasn’t even allowed to go inside to get warm. Someone must have told him I was awake, because Liam quickly hurried over. He looked me up and down. “Are you feeling sick anywhere?” I threw his jacket off my body with a look of pure ice. “I want to go home.” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he ultimately swallowed whatever words of comfort he had prepared. “Hailey says the dark energy hasn’t been fully cleansed from your aura yet. We can’t go through with the wedding today.” Seeing the mocking sneer form on my lips, he quickly promised: “Chloe, I swear, next time… the wedding will definitely happen next time.” I was so sick of hearing that sentence. As for the wedding, I hadn’t wanted it for a long time anyway. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm. “Chloe, before you leave, you need to swap this out.” “What?” I stared at the necklace he was holding out to me. It smelled like rotting meat and dried blood. The thought of the cage in the river made my stomach heave violently. “It’s a necklace made of wild boar teeth.” “Hailey blessed it.” “She said if you wear this, your dark energy won’t infect anyone else. It wards off evil.” My hands shook. A freezing chill spread through my veins. “Liam. Are you intentionally trying to humiliate me?” “First you let her throw dog blood on me, then you let them drown me in a cage, and now you want me to wear this disgusting garbage?” His tone remained eerily calm. “It’s not a gift. It’s a trade.” “Hailey said it’s an equivalent exchange. You have to trade that wooden serenity bracelet on your wrist for the boar teeth. That’s the only way the magic works.” I almost laughed out of sheer fury. My entire body began to shake uncontrollably. I was born sickly and frail. My parents had flown across the world and practically begged a renowned spiritual master for that serenity bracelet to protect my health. When my grandfather entrusted me to Liam, he explicitly warned him: “My granddaughter has a weak constitution. This bracelet keeps her safe. She must never take it off.” Just yesterday, Liam had sworn to my grandfather that he would protect me with his life, and that the bracelet would never leave my wrist. But today, he was breaking that vow just to steal it from me. “This is my property! On what grounds does she get to take it?!” “If Hailey wants a trade, she can go to hell!” I suppressed the blazing fury in my chest and turned to walk away. But Liam grabbed my wrist and forcefully yanked me back. “Chloe, how much longer are you going to throw this tantrum?!” “Divining energy drains Hailey’s life force! If it gets serious, it literally shortens her lifespan. How can you be so selfish and cold-blooded?” “The boar tooth necklace is a sacred relic that will suppress the evil inside you! That cheap wooden bracelet isn’t worth anything! You’re getting the better end of the deal!” As he spoke, his fingers dug into the wooden bracelet, trying to forcibly rip it off my wrist. I stared at him, letting out a dark, mocking laugh. So in Liam’s mind, anything belonging to Hailey was a priceless, sacred treasure. It wasn’t the wooden bracelet that was worthless. It was me. Seeing that I wouldn’t yield, he yanked on it violently. The forceful shove sent me stumbling backward. I clutched my chest, gasping for air. The aftereffects of nearly drowning hadn’t faded. Every breath I took felt like broken glass in my lungs. The wound on my forehead, aggravated by my spiked heart rate, began bleeding profusely again. Liam’s movements froze. He furrowed his brow tightly. “Chloe, don’t try to scare me.” He reached out to catch my collapsing body. Right at that moment, Mia came sprinting out of the bridal suite. “Liam, did you get the bracelet?! Hailey started coughing up blood again!” In a fraction of a second, the pity in Liam’s eyes vanished entirely. His grip on my wrist tightened like a vice. This time, there was absolutely no hesitation. He brutally ripped the wooden bracelet off my wrist, scraping my skin raw, and callously threw the rotting boar tooth necklace onto my chest. The overpowering stench of blood and rot made me gag violently. I reached out to snatch my bracelet back, but he shoved me away so hard I hit the pavement. My already scraped knees burst open, fresh blood pooling on the asphalt. Before I could even reach down to wipe it away, my phone rang in my purse. “Miss Chloe, come quick! Your grandfather just collapsed!” Chapter 3 When I rushed back to my grandfather’s house, he was lying in bed, his face as white as a sheet. Seeing my wedding dress covered in mud, blood, and filth, he broke down into loud, heartbroken sobs. He slapped himself hard across the face. “Chloe, I am so sorry! It’s all my fault you suffered like this!” “If I hadn’t pushed you two together, you never would have met a monster like Liam!” “It’s all my fault! It’s all my fault!” Through his tears, my grandfather slapped his own cheeks until they were bright red. Panicking, I grabbed his hands to stop him. “Grandpa, it’s not your fault! He’s just an incredible actor.” “Don’t worry, the wedding is permanently off.” “We’re packing up and leaving this house. We’re going back to the city!” My grandfather wiped his tears. “Whatever my little girl wants.”

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In other parts of the world, when two wedding cars cross paths on the road, the brides exchange their bouquets for good luck. But in Ethan Vance’s hometown, the tradition is to exchange the brides. When our wedding cars met face-to-face, Chloe Thorne leaned out of her window, kissed my fiancé on the cheek right in front of all our family and friends, and laughed. “I’ll be borrowing your groom for a little while.” The crowd immediately erupted into cheers and whistling. “Chloe! Why don’t you just take over the wedding night too?!” “Seriously, everyone knows you and Ethan grew up together. If he was in bed with anyone else tonight, he probably wouldn’t even be able to sleep!” Everyone was laughing. I sat in the back of my wedding car, looking through the window at Ethan, waiting for him to say something. I thought that, even if it was just for today, he would stand by my side. Just this once. But he simply reached over and squeezed my hand, coaxing me exactly the same way he always did: “Mia, it’s tradition. We can’t mess with tradition.” In that exact moment, I suddenly lost all desire to fight. In the past, I would have caused a scene. I would have screamed. But this time, I just quietly pulled my hand out of his grip, turned around, and linked arms with the groom sitting in the other car, Julian Hayes. To the absolute shock of everyone present, I spoke softly: “Let’s go, fiancé.” Since they all insisted this was just tradition. Then this time, I’ll give him exactly what he wants. … Right before we drove off, Ethan called out to me. “Wait a second.” I turned my head, thinking he had finally remembered that I was the bride today. Instead, he reached right past my face and grabbed the boutonnière resting on the seat next to me. “Chloe’s side is short one flower,” he said. With that, he stepped out of the car without looking back. The light turned green, and the two wedding cars drove off in opposite directions. I leaned against the window, looking down. Resting on the seat next to me was a bottle of sparkling grape juice. The bottle was still cold, like it had just been bought. I froze for a second. It turns out someone actually remembered that I hate bitter drinks, and I don’t drink iced coffee. Yet for three years, the only thing Ethan ever brought me was an iced Americano. I told him I hated it countless times. He always nodded and promised to remember. And the next time, it was exactly the same. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Ethan. [Don’t overthink it. Exchanging brides is just a local tradition.] [You know me. It’s impossible for anything to actually happen between me and her.] I stared at that line of text. I suddenly remembered years ago, when Chloe had casually mentioned she liked a certain tech company. The high-paying corporate job I had already secured miraculously turned into an “opportunity” that I had to give up for her. Ethan told me the exact same thing back then. “She needs it more than you do right now.” Later, it was the same story with the engagement ring. As long as Chloe asked for it, I was expected to step aside. My phone buzzed again. This time it was from Chloe. She sent a photo. She was sitting in the back of the wedding car wearing her bridal gown, her head tilted slightly, resting intimately on Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan didn’t pull away. She attached a single, short sentence: [It’s just tradition. You don’t mind, do you?] I stared at that photo for a few seconds. I suddenly felt incredibly peaceful. Before I could even reply, Ethan sent another text. [It’s Chloe’s first time getting married, so she’s a little nervous. Don’t be petty about this.] [During the ceremony, keep your distance from Julian. No vows, no exchanging rings, and absolutely no kissing.] [If you can’t handle it, just hide in the bridal suite and wait until the ceremony is over.] I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth and replied: [And what about you?] He replied almost instantly: [There are too many people at the reception. I can’t just embarrass her in front of everyone.] [You’ve always been the understanding one. Just endure it for a little while.] Understanding. I’ve heard that word applied to me for years. I didn’t reply to him again. I just locked my screen. But Chloe’s final few messages still stabbed my eyes like needles. [When Ethan was helping me adjust my veil earlier, he almost knocked my earring off.] [He’s just as clumsy as he was when we were kids.] It was as if she was terrified I might forget how much history they shared. I lowered my eyes, and blocked her number too. The world was finally quiet. When the car stopped, I looked up and saw the wedding welcome sign standing at the entrance of the country club. The photo on the sign wasn’t of me and Ethan. It was the engagement photoshoot I had taken with Julian. I was stunned for a second, but then it made perfect sense. According to the “traditions” of Ethan’s hometown, the wedding photos were supposed to be swapped too. I had fought so hard against it back then that they begrudgingly agreed to let us do separate photoshoots. I never expected that, after all the arguing, this would be the photo displayed in the end. I looked down and pulled off the engagement ring that was two sizes too big for my finger. It was the ring Chloe had rejected. Now, it was time to give it back. I pushed the car door open and stepped out. Julian was standing next to me. He didn’t rush me, and he didn’t ask if I regretted my decision. I just held my hand out to him and said softly: “Let’s go inside.” “We shouldn’t miss the ceremony.” As I stepped out of the car, a sharp pain shot through my foot. I nearly lost my balance. The wedding heels I was wearing were a size 6. But I wear a size 8. The original wedding heels were custom-made by Ethan based on my exact preferences. He had spent an entire year preparing them. But in the end, because Chloe said she liked them, he gave them directly to her. What he left me with was this pair of shoes that squeezed my feet until they bled. Afterward, he had even tried to comfort me: “Chloe gave you her wedding heels in exchange.” “Stop being so calculating over a single pair of shoes.” “I’ll buy you as many shoes as you want after we’re married.” Looking down at the shoes on my feet, I suddenly found the whole situation hilarious. A loud commotion broke out near the entrance of the venue. I walked to the window and saw several moving vans pulled up outside. The welcome sign, the floral arrangements, the red carpet, the bouquets—everything was being loaded into the trucks, piece by piece. “Mr. Sterling said the reception here is canceled. Everything is being moved to the other venue.” “The wedding dress, the veil, the jewelry—pack it all up.” “Go tell the bride to take the dress off.” Someone standing nearby couldn’t stand it anymore: “Isn’t this going way too far? You’re completely humiliating her.” The foreman didn’t even blink: “If we’re swapping brides, we have to swap everything completely.” “Those were Mr. Sterling’s exact words.” My phone rang at that exact moment. I answered it. Ethan didn’t even say hello, he just started barking orders: “Mia, I need you to come over here right now.” “Chloe really loves your veil.” “Bring the jewelry I bought you too. We have to swap all of it.” “Hurry up, don’t miss the start of the ceremony.” I watched the men hauling everything away outside the window and asked him: “Does my ceremony not matter?” He paused, then quickly said: “Stop throwing a tantrum.” “It’s a special circumstance today. Just step aside and let her have this.” One of his groomsmen chimed in over the speakerphone: “You’ve got half an hour. If you don’t bring the stuff over, don’t even think about Ethan signing that marriage license with you.” I gripped my phone tightly: “Ethan, I am a bride today too.” He was silent for two seconds, but his tone remained dripping with entitlement: “If you deliver it personally, it makes everyone look good.” “Besides, you and Julian don’t actually need to have a ceremony.” “When I’m done here, I’ll come back and we can go sign the papers.” Right then, a text from Chloe popped up: [Mia, I am so in love with your veil.] [When Ethan went with me to pick it out, I fell in love with it at first sight.] [Be careful when you bring it over, don’t rip it.] I stared at that message, hung up the phone directly, and blocked both of their numbers. Then, I took off the veil. I took off the jewelry and the ring. I even unzipped the wedding dress and stepped out of it. If they wanted it, they could have it back. The commotion outside the venue escalated again. Someone dragged a massive projector screen onto the lawn, yelling up toward the bridal suite: “Ms. Vance! Mr. Sterling was worried you wouldn’t make it in time, so he specifically told us to live-stream the ceremony for you!” “He said he wants you to witness his wedding with your own eyes!” When the screen lit up, I recognized everything instantly. Every single detail of that wedding, I had planned myself. They had just been here tearing down my venue, yet the other location was already perfectly decorated and set up. Watching everyone moving seamlessly, knowing exactly what to do. I stood there and actually laughed out loud. The so-called “last-minute bride swap”… they had planned this all along. They swapped my groom. They swapped everything that belonged to me. Including the fact that I was supposed to be the bride. On the red carpet, Ethan was staring deeply and passionately into Chloe’s eyes. I suddenly remembered the day of our wedding rehearsal. The exact same red carpet, the exact same spot. I had walked a little too slowly, and he frowned, rushing me: “Hurry up, it’s just a rehearsal.” But now, he was perfectly willing to stand there and wait for a different bride. While I was lost in thought, they had already started exchanging rings. That ring… I had only ever seen it once. Before Ethan took it away. “I’ll hold onto the ring for now. I’ll bring it out when we actually have the ceremony.” Back then, I thought he was just afraid I would lose it. I thought he cared about our wedding. It turns out he didn’t care at all. Because that ring was always meant to end up on someone else’s finger. Their venue was chaotic and loud. The guests were all cheering and whistling. “Kiss her! Kiss her!” Chloe lowered her head, blushing perfectly. Ethan reached out, tilted her chin up, and kissed her. I watched silently. I didn’t shed a single tear. I picked up my phone and called Julian. “Push the ceremony back by five minutes.” “Come to my room right now.” He only replied with one word: “Okay.” Julian walked in carrying a brand-new wedding dress and a new pair of heels. It was the gown I had originally fallen in love with. On the day of my fitting, I explicitly chose that dress. But Ethan said it was “too flashy” and forced me to change into the incredibly basic, plain white gown I had just taken off. After everything, the dress I actually wanted still found its way to me. I stood up and took the gown from him: “Let’s begin.” Meanwhile, at the other venue. Ethan was absentmindedly making his rounds, toasting the guests. He kept looking down at his phone, realizing he had been blocked. His brow was deeply furrowed, his eye twitching erratically. It wasn’t until Chloe called his name that he snapped out of it. “Ethan, what are you spacing out for?” “My aunt has been calling your name for a minute.” Chloe’s aunt laughed playfully. “Ethan must be overwhelmed! He finally got to marry the girl of his dreams!” She then casually added: “We honestly all thought he was in love with Mia.” “Ethan is so good at hiding his feelings!” Chloe looked incredibly smug, leaning sweetly against Ethan’s shoulder. “I guess Ethan really does love me that much.” Ethan’s subconscious screamed that things weren’t supposed to happen this way. But the overwhelming, celebratory atmosphere of the room quickly drowned out that thought. He laughed and shook his head, poking her forehead affectionately. “How could I trust anyone else to take care of you? Of course I had to do it myself.” Chloe smiled mischievously up at him. “Do you think when Mia brings the veil over and sees that we’re already married, she’s going to be super heartbroken?” “I bet she’ll be devastated. Everyone knows how desperately in love with you she is.” Ethan grabbed Chloe’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry about her. Today is your wedding, everything is about you.” At that exact moment, I was walking down the aisle toward Julian. The officiant’s voice echoed in my ears. “Mia Vance, do you take Julian Hayes to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health…” In that moment, the entire world went quiet. I saw everyone waiting for my answer. I smiled radiantly, my lips parting softly. “I do.” Soon after, Ethan’s ceremony had officially concluded. The guests had mostly cleared out, but he still hadn’t received the items I was supposed to deliver. He called the foreman he had sent to my venue. “Why hasn’t the bride from that side arrived yet?” The foreman answered respectfully: “Sir, we followed your orders exactly and cleared out everything from that venue.” “The bride should be changing out of her wedding gown now. We’ll bring everything over as soon as she’s done.” Ethan suddenly asked an inexplicable question: “Did she throw a tantrum?” The foreman replied: “No, sir. She was incredibly cooperative.” Even though this was exactly the answer he wanted, he couldn’t bring himself to feel happy. Seeing Ethan’s deep frown, Chloe tried to comfort him. “Ethan, don’t worry.” “Mia will definitely bring the stuff over.” “But what if…” Ethan pressed: “What if what?” Chloe cautiously tried to gauge his reaction. “What if Mia actually goes through with the wedding ceremony with Julian? What do we do then?” Ethan dismissed the idea completely, his tone absolute. “Impossible! There is zero emotional connection between them.” “Even if they stand at the altar, it’s just because they’re being forced by tradition.” “Mia only wants to marry me.” Chloe hid a triumphant smirk where he couldn’t see, and then asked delicately: “But what if she saw the livestream of our ceremony? Will she be mad?” Ethan gently stroked her hair. “Stop overthinking.” “I’ll just coax her a little bit later, and she won’t be mad at you anymore.”

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In other places, when two wedding motorcades meet on the road, the brides exchange their bouquets for good luck. But in Arthur Vance’s hometown, they exchange the brides. When our wedding cars crossed paths, Chloe leaned out, kissed my fiancé on the cheek right in front of all our friends and family, and smiled. “I’ll be taking your groom now.” The crowd immediately erupted in cheers and catcalls. “Chloe! Might as well take over his duties in the honeymoon suite tonight, too!” “Seriously! Everyone knows you and Arthur grew up together. If it were anyone else, he probably wouldn’t even be able to perform!” Everyone was laughing. Sitting in the wedding car, I looked through the window at Arthur, waiting for him to say something. I thought that, even if it were just for today, he would stand by my side. Just this once. Instead, he reached through the window, grabbed my hand, and gently patted it, exactly like he always did when he was coaxing me into submission. “Serena, we can’t mess with tradition.” In that exact moment, the fight completely drained out of me. If this were the past, I would have thrown a massive fit. But this time, I just quietly pulled my hand away, turned around, and hooked my arm through the window of the other groom’s car, linking elbows with Julian’s brother, Liam. Amidst the stunned silence of the crowd, I spoke softly: “Let’s go, fiancé.” Since everyone insisted it was tradition. This time, I’d give him exactly what he wanted. …… Just before the cars pulled away, Arthur called out to me. “Wait a second.” I turned my head, thinking he had finally remembered that I was actually his bride. But he just reached past me and grabbed the boutonnière resting on the seat beside me. “Chloe’s side is missing one.” With that, he turned and walked away without looking back. The light turned green, and the two wedding motorcades drove off in opposite directions. Leaning against the window, I looked down and noticed a bottle of grape juice sitting on the seat next to me. The bottle was still slightly warm, like it had just been bought. I froze. So there really was someone who remembered that I couldn’t drink anything bitter, and that I hated cold drinks. Meanwhile, for the past three years, the only thing Arthur had ever brought me was iced Americanos. I had told him so many times, and every time he would nod and say he understood. But the next time, it would be an iced Americano again. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Arthur. “Don’t overthink it. Exchanging brides is just a traditional custom.” “You know there’s absolutely nothing going on between me and her.” Staring at those words, I suddenly remembered something from years ago. Chloe had casually mentioned that she liked the sound of a job I had just secured after months of grueling interviews. That high-paying position I had already negotiated instantly became “an opportunity” I was expected to hand over to her. Arthur had said the exact same thing to me back then. “She needs it more than you do right now.” Later, the same thing happened with my engagement ring. As long as Chloe asked for it, I was expected to step aside. My phone buzzed again. This time, it was from Chloe. She sent a photo. She was sitting in the back seat of Arthur’s car, wearing her wedding dress, her head tilted slightly, resting intimately on Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur didn’t pull away. She added a short, passive-aggressive caption: “It’s just a tradition. You wouldn’t actually be mad about it, right?” I stared at the photo for a few seconds, feeling a strange, profound sense of peace. Before I could even reply, another message from Arthur came through. “This is Chloe’s first time getting married, it’s normal for her to be nervous. Don’t be so petty and hold it against her.” “During the ceremony, keep your distance from Liam. Don’t say any vows, don’t exchange rings, and absolutely do not kiss him.” “If it gets too awkward, just hide in the back until the ceremony is over.” I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth and replied: “And what about you?” He replied instantly: “There are so many guests here. I can’t just embarrass her in front of everyone.” “You’ve always been the sensible one. Just endure it for a little while.” Sensible. I’ve been hearing that word for years. I didn’t reply again. I just locked my screen. But Chloe’s final few messages still pierced my eyes. “When Arthur was helping me adjust my veil just now, he almost knocked my earring off.” “He’s exactly the same as when we were kids. Always so clumsy.” It was as if she was terrified I might forget how much history they shared. I lowered my eyes and blocked her number, too. The world was finally quiet. When the car stopped, I looked up and saw the massive welcome sign outside the venue. The photo displayed wasn’t my engagement shoot with Arthur. It was the shoot I had done with Liam. I froze for a second, but quickly understood. According to the “tradition” of Arthur’s hometown, the wedding photos were supposed to be swapped as well. Back then, I had thrown such a massive tantrum over it that they reluctantly agreed to shoot two separate sets. I never expected that, after all the fighting, this was the photo that would be displayed anyway. I looked down and pulled the ill-fitting engagement ring off my finger. It was the design Chloe had rejected. Now, it was time to give it back. I opened the door and stepped out of the car. Liam stood to the side. He didn’t rush me, and he didn’t ask if I regretted it. I simply held my hand out to him and spoke softly: “Let’s go inside.” “We shouldn’t miss the auspicious timing.” As I stepped down, a sharp pain shot through my foot, nearly making me lose my balance. The wedding shoes were a size 5. But I clearly wore a size 7. The original pair of wedding shoes had been custom-made by Arthur according to my exact preferences. He had planned them for a year, but in the end, because Chloe said she liked them, he gave them to her. What he left me with was this pair of agonizingly tight shoes. Afterward, he had even tried to comfort me: “Chloe gave you her wedding shoes too.” “Stop being so calculating. It’s just a pair of shoes.” “I’ll buy you as many pairs as you want in the future.” Looking down at the shoes crushing my feet, I suddenly found the whole situation hilarious. A loud commotion broke out outside. I walked over to the window and saw several trucks pulling up to the venue. The welcome sign, the floral arrangements, the red carpet, the bouquets—everything was being aggressively loaded into the trucks. “Mr. Vance said the banquet here is canceled. Everything is being moved to the other venue.” “Pack up the wedding dress, the veil, and the bridal jewelry too.” “Go tell the bride to take the dress off.” Someone downstairs couldn’t take it anymore: “Isn’t this going way too far? You’re completely humiliating her!” But the man barking orders didn’t even blink: “Since they swapped brides, it needs to be a complete swap.” “Those were Mr. Vance’s exact words.” My phone rang at that exact moment. I picked it up, and Arthur’s voice came through immediately: “Serena, I need you to come over here.” “Chloe really likes your veil.” “Bring the jewelry I bought you, too. All of it needs to be swapped.” “Hurry up, don’t miss the auspicious timing.” Watching the men clearing out my venue below, I asked him: “Does my auspicious timing not matter?” He paused, then quickly said: “Stop throwing a tantrum.” “Today is a special circumstance. Just be the bigger person and yield.” Someone next to him chimed in loudly over the phone: “You have half an hour! If you don’t bring the stuff over, don’t even think about getting the marriage license with Arthur!” My grip on the phone tightened: “Arthur, I am a bride today too.” He was silent for two seconds, but his tone remained dripping with entitlement: “If you bring it over personally, it looks better for everyone.” “Besides, there’s no reason for you and Liam to actually hold a ceremony.” “Once I’m done over here, I’ll come back and we can go get the marriage license.” At that moment, a text popped up from Chloe: “Serena, I really love your veil.” “When Arthur was helping me pick things out, I fell in love with it immediately.” “Be careful when you bring it over, don’t rip it.” Staring at that message, I hung up the phone and blocked them both. Then, I pulled the veil off my head, took off the jewelry and the ring. I unzipped the wedding dress and stepped out of it. If they wanted it, I’d give it all back. The chaos downstairs flared up again. Someone dragged a massive monitor into the venue and shouted up at me: “Ms. Serena! Mr. Vance was worried you wouldn’t make it in time, so he specifically ordered us to live-stream the ceremony for you!” “He said he wants you to witness his wedding with your own eyes.” When the screen lit up, I recognized it instantly. Every single detail of that wedding had been meticulously planned by me. While they were busy stripping my venue bare, the other venue was already perfectly arranged. Watching the staff move with such practiced efficiency, I stood there and actually laughed out loud. This so-called “impromptu” bride swap… they had planned it all along. They swapped my groom. They swapped everything that belonged to me. Including my role as the bride. On the red carpet, Arthur looked at Chloe with profound, deep affection. I suddenly remembered our wedding rehearsal. On the exact same red carpet, in the exact same spot. When I walked just a little too slowly, he frowned and snapped at me: “Hurry up, it’s just a rehearsal.” But now, he was perfectly willing to stand there patiently and wait for a different bride. While I was lost in thought, they began exchanging rings. That ring… I had only been allowed to look at it once. Then Arthur took it away. “I’ll keep the ring safe for now. I’ll bring it out for the actual ceremony.” I thought he was just worried I’d lose it, that he was taking our wedding seriously. Turns out, he wasn’t taking our wedding seriously at all. He just needed to make sure that ring ended up on someone else’s finger. Their venue was loud and chaotic, the guests cheering and catcalling. “Kiss her! Kiss her!” Chloe bashfully lowered her head. Arthur reached out, tilted her chin up, and kissed her. I watched silently. I didn’t even shed a single tear. I picked up my phone and dialed Liam’s number. “Delay the ceremony for a few minutes.” “Come to my room right now.” He replied with a single word: “Okay.” Liam walked in carrying a brand new wedding dress and a pair of flat, comfortable shoes. It was the dress I had originally fallen in love with. When I went dress shopping, I had clearly chosen this one. But Arthur had complained it was too “flashy” and “attention-seeking,” and forced me to change into the plain, generic white gown they had just taken away. After all that, it had still found its way back to me. I stood up and took the dress from him: “Let’s begin.” Meanwhile, at the other venue. Arthur was distractedly toasting the guests. He stared at his phone, realizing his calls to me were being automatically rejected. His brow furrowed deeply, his eyelid twitching with anxiety. It wasn’t until Chloe called his name that he snapped out of it. “Arthur, what are you spacing out for?” “My aunt has been calling you.” Her aunt laughed teasingly. “Arthur is just overwhelmed with joy! He finally got to marry you!” Then, she casually dropped another comment. “We honestly all thought he was going to end up with Serena.” “Arthur, you really hid your feelings well.” Chloe looked incredibly smug, leaning sweetly against Arthur’s shoulder. “I didn’t realize Arthur loved me this much.” Arthur instinctively felt that things shouldn’t have escalated to this point. But the joyful, celebratory atmosphere surrounding him quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. He smiled, shook his head, and playfully poked her forehead. “How could I ever trust anyone else to take care of you? Of course I had to do it myself.” Chloe smiled mischievously up at him. “Do you think when Serena brings the veil over and sees we already had the ceremony, she’ll be super sad?” “I bet she’ll be devastated. Everyone knows how desperately in love with you she is.” Arthur grabbed Chloe’s hand and said confidently. “Don’t worry about her. Today is all about you.” By this time, I had already walked down the aisle and was standing in front of Liam. The officiant’s voice echoed in my ears. “Serena, do you take Liam to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health…” In that moment, the entire world went quiet. I saw everyone waiting for my answer. I smiled warmly, my lips parting. “I do.” Soon enough, Arthur’s wedding ceremony also concluded. Most of the guests had left, but I still hadn’t arrived to deliver the items. He called the staff members he had sent over to my venue. “Why isn’t the bride here yet?” The staff member replied nervously. “We already followed your orders and packed everything up.” “The bride should be changing out of her dress. We’ll bring the items over as soon as she’s done.” Arthur suddenly asked an unexpected question. “She didn’t throw a fit?” The staff member replied. “No, she was very cooperative.” Even though this was exactly the answer he wanted, he couldn’t bring himself to feel happy. Seeing Arthur frowning, Chloe tried to comfort him. “Arthur, don’t worry.” “Serena will definitely bring the stuff over.” “But what if…” Arthur pressed her. “What if what?” Chloe hesitantly voiced her concern, wanting to test Arthur’s reaction. “What if Serena actually goes through with the wedding ceremony with Liam?” Arthur dismissed the idea entirely, his tone absolute. “Impossible! They have zero feelings for each other.” “Even if they did hold a ceremony, it would just be to satisfy the tradition.” “Serena only wants to marry me.” Chloe hid a triumphant smirk where he couldn’t see, then asked delicately: “But if she saw the live stream of us… do you think she’ll be mad?” Arthur gently stroked her hair. “Stop overthinking.” “I’ll coax her later, she won’t stay mad at you.” As they were talking, a figure approached from the distance. Before the person even got close, Arthur started scolding them. “Why did it take you so long to deliver this?!” “This is a wedding! Can you take it seriously for once?!” When the person got closer, Arthur stared in shock. “Where is she?”

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It had been nineteen years since my divorce and expulsion from the Sterling family of New York, when my son suddenly called to invite me home for Christmas Eve dinner. I held a delicate, double-sided embroidered lantern I had just finished crafting, didn’t even glance at the caller ID, and let out a soft laugh. “Isn’t it lively enough with your beautiful Aunt Chloe keeping you company?” The line went silent for a few seconds. The young man’s voice was crisp and clear, but carried a deliberate, distancing politeness: “Grandmother said the family should be together for the holidays.” The family. Hearing those two words come out of his mouth felt colder than the freezing, 15-degree wind howling outside my window. Nineteen years. When I was thrown out of the Sterling estate, he was a one-month-old infant. In nineteen years, he had never once reached out to me on his own. Now, making this call, every other word out of his mouth was “Grandmother said.” My existence was nothing more than a tool for him to fulfill his familial duty. “No, thank you. Enjoy your holiday.” I hung up, walked out into the courtyard, and hung the lantern up. Christmas Eve in this quiet, snowy Vermont town was peaceful. The occasional sound of a snowplow echoed in the distance. I pulled my heavy parka tighter, preparing to go back inside and heat up some soup for myself. And then I heard it. A massive, oppressive roar, like something plummeting from the sky. Looking up, a pitch-black helicopter was hovering directly above my tiny, 500-square-foot courtyard. The downdraft was violently whipping the lantern I had just hung. The cabin door slid open. Over a dozen armed private security contractors rappelled down, instantly securing the perimeter of my yard. The last person to descend wore a sharply tailored overcoat, his posture as rigid as a steel blade. His leather shoes clicked heavily against the cobblestone path I had laid myself. Ethan Sterling. My ex-husband of nineteen years. The undisputed patriarch of the Sterling family empire. He stood in front of me, looking down with the exact same arrogant superiority he had nineteen years ago. “Maya, Julian invited you home. Did you not understand?” Chapter 2 I stared at his face. Nineteen years later, and it had barely changed. Time is exceptionally forgiving to the wealthy and powerful. “Mr. Sterling,” I began. “My ties to the Sterling family were severed nineteen years ago. Is your memory failing, or did you just input the wrong coordinates?” His brow twitched slightly. “My time is limited.” “Then you are free to leave.” The security contractors around us hadn’t lowered their weapons. I stood in my own courtyard, wearing an old parka, facing down a fully armed private military detail. The scene was so absurd it was comical. “Maya.” He took a step forward. “Julian is waiting for you. It’s Christmas Eve. I don’t want him to be upset.” Again, for his son. Nineteen years ago, when he forced me out of my postpartum recovery bed, he wore this exact same expression. Cold, decisive, never explaining, only issuing orders. “Whether he’s upset or not has absolutely nothing to do with me,” I said, taking a half-step back. “He has you. He has Chloe. He has the entire Sterling empire. What am I? A discarded woman that your family branded as malicious and toxic. Going back wouldn’t bring him joy; it would only be a buzzkill for you.” His expression shifted. “Who said you were malicious?” “Nineteen years ago, you said it yourself.” I looked him dead in the eye. “You said I harmed the man who saved your life. You said I wasn’t worthy of being a Sterling. Word for word, I remember it much clearer than you do.” The air went dead silent for a few seconds. In the distance, the faint crackle of fireworks broke the quiet. He didn’t deny it. “Let the past stay in the past.” “You can choose to leave it there,” I said. “But I will never forget.” Silence. Then, he tilted his head, giving a subtle nod to the men behind him. The two largest contractors immediately began walking toward me. I took another step back. “Are you planning to kidnap me?” He didn’t answer. But his silence was the answer. Nineteen years later, Ethan Sterling was still Ethan Sterling. He didn’t need reason. He didn’t need consent. Whatever he wanted to do, no one could stop him. Chapter 3 The two men closed in from both sides. I had nowhere left to back up. I closed my eyes, then opened them. “Tell them to stand down.” My voice was surprisingly calm. “I’ll walk.” Ethan raised a hand. The two men stopped instantly. I looked at him: “I’m not going back because you’re forcing me. I’m going back because there are certain things I need to settle face-to-face.” He studied me for a few seconds. “Interpret it however you like. Get on the chopper.” The helicopter’s rotors were still spinning, the downdraft whipping my hair into a frenzy. As I climbed the rope ladder, I looked back at the small courtyard I had so meticulously curated—the delicate, handmade lanterns thrashing violently in the wind. Nineteen years. In this small town, I had transformed from a penniless, discarded woman into someone else entirely. The Sterling family didn’t know. Ethan Sterling didn’t know. Chloe Thorne didn’t know. They thought I was still that naïve, helpless young woman from nineteen years ago, the one who couldn’t defend herself when they crushed her. As the helicopter took off, I leaned back against the leather seat and patted the inner pocket of my coat. A safety deposit box inventory manifest. A digital voice recorder. I had waited nineteen years to use these two items. The cabin was deafeningly loud. Ethan sat across from me, not saying a word. I had no intention of speaking either. Whatever needed to be said would be said at the Sterling estate. Chapter 4 Two hours later, the helicopter touched down on the private helipad of the Sterling estate in the Hamptons. Looking through the window, the sprawling mansion was brilliantly lit, heavily decorated for the holidays. I stepped off the chopper, the biting, dry winter wind of New York hitting my face. A butler in a black uniform hurried over. “Mr. Sterling, Ma—” He saw me and visibly froze. “Ms. Quinn.” Even his form of address was carefully distant. Nineteen years ago, these people called me Mrs. Sterling. I followed Ethan through the front courtyard and the central atrium, heading toward the main house. The staff we passed reacted with a mix of shock, blatant staring, and hushed whispers. When we pushed open the heavy mahogany doors to the formal dining room, a blast of warm air carrying the rich scent of a holiday feast washed over us. A long banquet table was covered in an extravagant dinner spread. Six or seven people were seated around it. The first person to catch my eye was sitting at the head of the table. Eleanor Sterling. My former mother-in-law. She had aged significantly in nineteen years, but the intimidating aura she projected was completely undiminished. Her silver hair was styled immaculately, her emerald earrings catching the light. Seeing me walk in, she put down her silverware. “You’re back.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. As if I had never been thrown out at all. “Was it cold on the way? Sit.” She pointed to an empty chair on the left. I didn’t move. “You’re too polite, Mrs. Sterling. Nineteen years later, and you’re still a master of empty pleasantries.” Someone at the table audibly gasped. Eleanor Sterling’s face darkened significantly. But my gaze had already shifted to the woman sitting next to her. She looked to be in her late thirties, impeccably maintained, wearing a custom-tailored silk dress, looking every bit the elegant, dignified lady of the house. Chloe Thorne. She looked at me, a warm smile spreading across her face, and was the first to speak: “Maya, it’s been so long. The trip must have been exhausting.” Maya. She was two years younger than me, but she addressed me with such forced, casual intimacy. As if she hadn’t destroyed my life. Chapter 5 I ignored her completely. My gaze bypassed Chloe entirely, landing on the young man sitting at the far end of the table. Tall, lean, his facial structure carrying echoes of a young Ethan, though his eyes were slightly softer. Julian Sterling. My son. He looked at me. He didn’t call me ‘Mom.’ He didn’t stand up to greet me. He just stared. Like he was looking at an unfamiliar, distant relative. “Sit down,” Ethan said, walking past me and heading straight for the seat next to the head of the table. I stood exactly where I was, scanning everyone in the room. Eleanor Sterling. Chloe Thorne. Julian Sterling. Ethan Sterling. And two or three extended family members I barely recognized. I was the only outsider in the room. I laughed. “Fine. I’ll sit.” I walked over to the empty chair and pulled it out. Chloe immediately, eagerly handed me a cup of hot tea: “Here, Maya, have something warm to drink.” I took the teacup, set it firmly on the table, and didn’t take a sip. “You don’t need to play the gracious hostess, Chloe,” I said. “I’m just here for dinner. When I’m done eating, I’m leaving.” “What kind of talk is that?” Eleanor Sterling finally spoke up. “It’s Christmas Eve. The family is all sitting together, why talk about leaving?” The family again. “Mrs. Sterling.” I looked directly at her. “My ties to your family were severed nineteen years ago. I am sitting here today because Julian made a phone call. I can eat the food, but let’s skip the fake family bonding.” Eleanor Sterling’s expression turned frigid. Chloe smoothly stepped in to play peacemaker: “Maya, don’t misunderstand. We just thought that since it’s the holidays, it would be nice to have everyone together—” “Chloe.” I cut her off. “I am not comfortable with this forced familiarity. You can call me Ms. Quinn. Or, what was the title you preferred back then… ‘that woman’?” Chloe’s smile froze for a fraction of a second. Every single fork at the table stopped moving.

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I worked seven consecutive days of overtime during the Thanksgiving holidays, and my resentment was thicker than a graveyard fog. On the first day back at the office, the boss’s wife stormed in in her designer stilettos, her eyes bloodshot as she screamed: “Where is the homewrecker?!” “I’m looking for the cheap tramp in this office who seduced my husband and kept him from coming home for Thanksgiving!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and instantly pulled out their phones to record. In my past life, my coworker, Lily, had shakily pointed her finger at me: “I think Chloe was the only one working overtime with Mr. Vance over the break…” I had barely lifted my head, sporting massive dark circles, when a vicious slap struck across my face. The boss’s wife grabbed me by the hair, cursing me out in front of everyone, calling me a shameless slut who used “overtime” as an excuse to sleep with her boss. My boss, Richard, immediately played the loyal husband, claiming I had been obsessing over him and harassing him. He fired me on the spot to prove his innocence. I lost my job, my holiday pay was gone, and I was plastered all over the internet as a homewrecker. On my way home, the boss’s wife, still blinded by rage, intentionally ran me over with her SUV. When my parents came to the city to demand justice for me, they were so sleep-deprived and devastated that they got into a fatal car crash on the highway. Their deaths were horrific. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the exact moment the boss’s wife barged into the office. Before she could even open her mouth, I slammed my hands on my desk and stood up. “Tara, you’re looking for the mistress?!” “God damn it, I want to know who the mistress is too!” 01 Tara was visibly stunned that someone had stolen her opening line. Then, her face darkened instantly. “I knew Richard had a side piece in this office!” She was a tall, imposing woman, standing nearly 5’10”. One slap from her looked like it could knock someone into next week. “He told me he had to work through the holidays, but he was out screwing around!” “Which one of you is it?! I’ll rip that tramp’s face off!” Nobody in the office was working anymore. They were taking pictures, recording videos, and crowding around for the drama. Lily stood in the middle of the crowd, wearing a soft pink cardigan. She bit her lip, looking incredibly hesitant and troubled. “Over the Thanksgiving break?” “I think Chloe was the only one in constant contact with Mr. Vance.” As soon as the words dropped, my coworkers’ expressions shifted. “She’s right, Chloe was tagging Mr. Vance in the work group chat the whole break.” “Mr. Vance also said he was at the office overseeing the project.” “Wow, she really tried to play the victim to cover her tracks…” Tara narrowed her eyes, looking me up and down. Her hand twitched, clearly itching to slap me. “Chloe? It’s you.” “Jumping up to help me find the mistress because you’ve got a guilty conscience?” I pointed a finger at myself. “A guilty conscience?” “Tara, look at me! Look at this absolute disaster of a human being!” I pointed to the dark bags sagging to my cheekbones and yanked at my greasy, unwashed hair. Then, I slapped my hand against the mountain of empty Red Bull and coffee cans stacked on my desk. “Tara, look at me. Over the last seven days, I practically worked myself into an early grave!” “We agreed to oversee the project together, but it turns out your husband was out screwing around and dumped all the actual work on me!” The more I spoke, the more my rage boiled over. I was speaking through clenched teeth. “I want to find that mistress more than you do! She owes me my Thanksgiving break!” The entire office fell dead silent for two seconds. A coworker recording on his phone couldn’t help but whisper, “Holy shit.” Tara was visibly thrown off by my outburst. Her hand, which had been raised to strike, slowly lowered. I gritted my teeth and continued: “Tara, tell me what clues you have. Give them to me, and I will drag her out into the light right now!” Tara nodded slowly. She pulled a crumpled receipt from her designer bag and slammed it onto my desk. “For the seven days of the break, Richard booked a luxury honeymoon suite at the boutique hotel right next to the office.” She shot a venomous glare at all the female employees in the room. “Which one of you cheap tramps was it? Step forward right now!” The moment the words “honeymoon suite” came out. Lily suddenly covered her mouth. She looked at me with panicked, innocent eyes. “Chloe, didn’t you post on Instagram complaining about having to work through the holidays and staying at a hotel near the office?” “I remember… it was that exact same hotel, wasn’t it?” 02 The office practically exploded. “No way, they stayed at the same hotel?!” “No wonder she was the only one working overtime.” “Who would’ve thought Chloe was hooking up with the boss…” More phones were raised, pointing directly at me. Tara took slow, heavy steps toward me. Her heels cracked against the floorboards, each step sounding like a gunshot. “You stayed at the same hotel?” “What a coincidence.” I saw the veins bulging on the back of her hand. The memory of that ear-ringing slap from my past life seemed to burn against my cheek again. “If you can’t explain this right now, you aren’t walking out of this room in one piece!” I stared at the numbers printed on the receipt. And suddenly, I started laughing. I was laughing out of pure, unadulterated fury. “A luxury honeymoon suite for $1,200 a night!” I pointed at the receipt, raising my voice to the ceiling: “I WISH I was staying in a $1,200 suite! Do I look like I deserve that?! Does the pathetic salary your husband pays me cover even a two-night stay?!” “I stayed in a cramped, $80-a-night budget motel down the block!” “And my expense report for it STILL hasn’t been approved!” I held up my phone, waving it around so every single camera could see the booking confirmation. The room number, the total amount, and the room type were crystal clear. The whispering in the room halted. Tara frowned. But Lily’s eyes welled up with tears, her voice trembling: “You can book a cheap room and still sneak into the suite… It’s not like you’re chained to your motel bed.” I smiled. “You’re right. I wasn’t chained to my motel bed.” “In fact, I barely slept there at all.” My coworkers started whispering again. “Wait, is Chloe just straight up confessing?” “I’ve never seen a mistress this bold.” Tara glared at me, her brow furrowing deeper. “What exactly does that mean?” I let out a bitter, exhausted laugh. “Because I was at my desk working on the proposal until 3 AM every single night!” “I booked a room for seven days and barely slept in it for a few hours total! It was a complete waste of money!” “Pull the security footage right now! Let everyone see if I was having a steamy affair, or if I was fighting for my life!” Tears of absolute frustration threatened to spill from my eyes. Tara gave a sharp nod to the IT guy. Kevin from IT, trembling, quickly pulled up the office security cameras. On the massive screen, for seven days straight, the footage showed me slumped at my desk in the dead of night, my posture growing increasingly mangled day by day. One night, I had literally fallen asleep using my keyboard as a pillow. The gossiping coworkers fell entirely silent. Looking at myself on the screen, my nose stung fiercely. In my past life, nobody bothered to look at this footage. Everyone just wanted drama. They just wanted to watch the “mistress” get slapped. This time, I was going to force them to open their eyes. I was going to make them see whether I was having an affair, or being milked dry! I dropped to the floor and threw my arms around Tara’s legs. “Tara—!” I wailed, my cries shaking the very foundation of the building. Tara froze stiff. “What are you doing?!” I poured every ounce of my genuine, unadulterated trauma into my sobbing. “You spent your Thanksgiving as a neglected wife, and I spent mine as a corporate slave! Your husband doesn’t come home, and my boss doesn’t do his job! Why are our lives so miserable?!” “No overtime pay, my expenses haven’t been reimbursed, the proposal was rejected and revised eight times, and the damn mistress’s sins are being pinned on me—I swear to God, I want to kill her!” Tara was completely paralyzed. That massive hand, the one that had sent me flying in my past life, twitched. She awkwardly tried to pull me up. “You… you stand up first…” Lily’s face shifted nervously. “But Chloe, you were on the phone with Mr. Vance until the middle of the night all the time.” “Those couldn’t possibly all be work calls, right?” Hearing this, I was fully locked and loaded. I let go of Tara and stood up. “Come here.” I connected my phone to the office’s Bluetooth speaker. “Let the whole company hear the ‘passionate midnight romance’ between me and Mr. Vance.” I hit play on my call recordings. Richard’s voice blasted through the speaker, dripping with extreme impatience. “Chloe! It’s 3 AM, why isn’t the revised proposal in my inbox?!” “Chloe, why isn’t this done? The client said it doesn’t look premium enough.” “Make the title bigger! Don’t ask me how big, make it so big it smacks them in the face!” “You better stay on top of the vendors, they need to be on-site by 9 AM sharp. You young people complain too much about sleep, getting the project done is all that matters!” The boss’s abrasive, grating voice echoed through the entire bullpen. I listened to the voice that had tortured me countless times, tears gleaming in my eyes. “Listen to this!” “I ask you, what kind of mistress spends her 3 AM booty calls discussing how BIG to make a font size?!” “If I was actually the mistress, at least I’d be getting some perks! What did I get?! A mountain of work and the blame for his affair!” Someone couldn’t hold it in and let out a snort of laughter. The looks they gave me were now filled with profound pity. Lily bit her lip, looking incredibly uneasy. I violently snapped my head toward her. “But speaking of that—how exactly did you know how long I was on the phone with Mr. Vance over the holidays?” Lily’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. 03 Just at that moment, the elevator doors chimed open. Richard had arrived. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit, his hair slicked back immaculately. But when he saw Tara standing there looking like a thunderstorm, his collected demeanor vanished. The whole company knew Richard had built his career using his father-in-law’s money. If Tara really wanted to flip the table, she could easily toss him right out of his CEO chair. He practically jogged over, bowing slightly in submission. “Honey, what are you doing here? You didn’t even call ahead, it’s freezing outside…” Tara slammed the hotel receipt directly into his chest. “Why do you think?” Richard glanced at it, his face twitching, but he quickly plastered on a smile. “Honey, it’s a misunderstanding. A massive misunderstanding. Look at all these people watching, let’s go home and talk about it, okay?” “Home?” Tara glared at him, her eyes wide. “You spent seven days in a $1,200-a-night romantic suite for Thanksgiving, but you couldn’t figure out how to go home?” Richard’s smile completely froze. Then, he turned to look at me. I knew that look all too well. In my past life, he had looked at me exactly like that. Like I was a disposable pawn on a chessboard. He let out a heavy sigh, his tone dripping with fake heartbreak. “Chloe, I know we made a mistake, but I’ve turned over a new leaf and ended things between us.” “But you can’t just blow things out of proportion just because I rejected you.” “Now you’ve made my wife misunderstand.” The office fell into absolute silence. I stood rooted to the spot, my fingertips trembling slightly. In my past life, those exact three sentences had destroyed my entire existence. Lily blinked her innocent eyes at me. “Chloe, I never thought you’d actually be with Mr. Vance…” “Making a mistake isn’t terrible, what’s terrible is refusing to admit it.” Richard looked at me and waved his hand. “Come, let’s go to the conference room. We’ll clear this up.” Tara frowned fiercely. “Why go to the conference room? We’re clearing it up right here…” I looked up and shot her a very quick, deliberate wink. She froze, closing her mouth. The conference room door clicked shut. The remorseful expression on Richard’s face vanished instantly, replaced by cold calculation. “Chloe, I know you’re a hard worker.” “If you take the fall right now, I’ll make sure you still have a career here.” I tilted my head, tapping my fingers lightly on my phone in my pocket. “Mr. Vance, I think the overtime damaged my brain. I don’t quite understand.” “Take the fall for what?” Richard gave a slight, arrogant smile. “It’s very simple.” “When we walk out of here, you drop to your knees in front of my wife, cry, and say you were obsessed with me. Say you booked the hotel, you upgraded to the suite, and you even brought the romantic lingerie.” “Tell her you were unrequitedly infatuated with me, and when I rejected you, you caused this scene out of spite.” I let out a cold laugh. “So you want to dump the entire bucket of dirty water on my head?” Richard reached out, trying to patronizingly pat my hand. “Just take a bullet for me this once. I’ll remember the favor.” “Besides, for a girl like you, your ‘reputation’ isn’t really worth much anyway.” I dodged his hand. He smiled helplessly. “Chloe, your parents still live in that small rural town, right?” My fingers clenched into tight fists. “What do you mean by that?” He spread his hands casually. “If word gets back to a small town that their daughter is a home-wrecking mistress, wouldn’t they be humiliated for the rest of their lives?” “If you don’t play smart…” “I can’t guarantee what might happen to them.” A deafening buzz filled my brain. In my past life, I died. My father stood outside this very office building, his hair turning completely white overnight. My mother clutched my death certificate, crying until she passed out. Because she was delirious with grief, she didn’t see the oncoming semi-truck. I ground my back teeth together. “And if I refuse?” Richard stood up straight, offering a deeply smug smile. “Refuse? It won’t do you any good.” “You’ve been screaming about catching the mistress—but can you?” “You don’t even know who she is.” “So if I say it’s you, who’s going to prove otherwise?” The suffocating resentment of seven days of overtime, the hatred from my tragic past death, and the pure disgust I felt for Richard all rushed to my head. Suddenly, the fragmented pieces of my two lives clicked together perfectly in my mind. It all made sense! I abruptly stood up from my chair. “Richard, I am so fucking done with you!” Richard was still smiling. “Chloe, don’t be a stubborn bitch.” I violently spun around and threw the conference room doors wide open. Everyone outside turned their heads to look. I sprinted into the lobby, shoving past dozens of recording smartphones. I threw myself toward Tara and screamed at the top of my lungs: “Tara—! I know who the mistress is!” 04 The moment the words hit the floor, the entire office went dead silent. Even the people secretly whispering clamped their mouths shut. Dozens of phones were pointed directly at me. Lily, standing at the back of the crowd, went pale very quickly, but she desperately tried to maintain her innocent facade. Richard followed me out of the conference room. The smug smile hadn’t completely faded from his face. He looked absolutely certain that I was just thrashing around in my death throes. Tara locked her eyes onto me. “Who is it?” I caught my breath. But I didn’t point a finger immediately. In my past life, I was too anxious. The more I tried to explain, the more it sounded like I was making excuses. This time, I couldn’t just throw out a name without proof. I took a step forward and smiled. “If I just say the name, people might not believe me.” “So let’s let the facts speak for themselves.” Tara frowned. “What facts?” I raised my hand, gesturing to the crowd of onlookers. “Everyone, please think about it.” “Who was the very first person to bring up my holiday overtime?” “Who was so strangely obsessed with the exact hotel I was staying at?” “And who knew exactly how many hours I was on the phone with Mr. Vance in the middle of the night?” I paused, emphasizing every word: “Isn’t somebody’s mask slipping a little too much?” The office was quiet for a few seconds. Then, several pairs of eyes slowly shifted toward Lily. Lily’s eyes instantly turned red. “Chloe, what do you mean by that?” “I just stated what I knew, why are you targeting me?” As she spoke, fat tears rolled down her chin. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you, I was actually worried about you, I was afraid you were making a terrible mistake.” I laughed out loud. “Worried about me?” “I was working so hard I was practically coughing up blood every day. Who has the energy to worry about someone else?” “You knew where I was staying, you knew exactly what time I was making calls, and you knew exactly what I was discussing with Richard.” I took a step closer to her. “My own mother doesn’t pay that much attention to my schedule.” “Lily, are you secretly in love with me, or are you trying to set me up?” Someone in the crowd gasped. Lily bit her lip, tears clinging to her chin, making her look incredibly pitiful. “Chloe, I know you’re scared right now, but you can’t just drag me down with you.” “I’m not like you, I’m not good at twisting words.” “But you can’t just frame me!” What a pristine white lotus. Richard immediately intervened. “Enough, Chloe.” His voice turned cold, playing the authoritative CEO perfectly. “Lily is just a young girl, don’t project your own issues onto her.” I aggressively whipped my head to look at him. “Just a young girl?” “When the entire company was putting me on trial two minutes ago, why didn’t you mention that I’m also a young girl?” “Why does your heart bleed so much the second it comes to Lily?” Tara turned her head to stare at Richard. Richard’s face stiffened for a second. Acting like she had been pushed to her absolute limit, Lily suddenly pulled out her phone. “Chloe, since you’re forcing my hand, I have no choice but to show the evidence.” Crying, she opened her photo gallery. “Tara, I really didn’t want to hurt her.” “But she refuses to confess, and I can’t stand to watch her lie to you.” She held up the phone screen. Several chat screenshots were clearly displayed. The profile picture was my official company ID photo. The contact name was [Chloe]. In the chat, “I” had sent Richard the following messages: [I’m waiting for you at the hotel.] [Tara won’t find out, right?] [I got the room key.] The colleagues who had been silently watching the drama instantly erupted. “Wow, that’s the final nail in the coffin.” “They were literally talking about the room key, how do you explain that?” “Was her crying about overtime earlier just a massive act?” Tara’s breathing grew visibly heavier. Richard sighed, putting on a better performance than Lily. “Chloe, I’ve already ended things with you.” “Why do you insist on dragging everyone else down with you?” I stared at the screenshots. And suddenly, I smiled. My smile grew wider and louder. “Okay.” Lily’s sobbing paused. I turned to Tara. “The screenshots say I got the room key. Let’s check the hotel’s keycard logs.” “The screenshots say I was waiting at the hotel. Let’s pull the hotel’s hallway security footage.” “The screenshots say I sent those messages. Confiscate my phone, confiscate Richard’s phone, and let’s check them right here, right now.” The color drained from both of their faces. They clearly hadn’t expected me to pursue this so relentlessly. I slammed my phone down hard onto a desk. “I’m the one being falsely accused, and I’m perfectly willing to hand over my phone.” “You two are supposedly innocent—what are you afraid of?”

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On the day we went to get our marriage license, we were just one signature away from being husband and wife. But right at the finish line, my boyfriend stood by and watched as his “tomboy” best friend tore our ID documents and the application form to shreds right in front of the county clerk. Before I could even process what was happening, his groomsmen were already howling with laughter. “Damn, Mia, are you really that desperate to marry Ethan?” “We took bets on whether you’d actually manage to tie the knot today. Look at you now, you don’t even have the paperwork!” “Did you seriously think that locking Ethan down would turn you into some high-society princess overnight?!” Ethan affectionately ruffled my hair, offering a light, completely unbothered smile. “Chloe is right. You’ve been way too jealous lately. If I don’t teach you a little lesson now, how are you going to act once we’re actually married?” “The Cross family isn’t that easy to marry into.” Amidst the blatant, unrestrained mockery of his friends, the county clerk awkwardly tapped her desk. “Ma’am, we close in five minutes. If you don’t have the proper identification, we cannot process your license today.” Chloe’s smile grew even more triumphant. “Hear that? Even if you pull a new number, you can’t get the license without your IDs!” “You better hurry up and take Ethan to the DMV to get replacement IDs!” I turned around coldly and immediately dialed the number of his biggest rival. “I accept the arranged marriage. If you can make it to the county clerk’s office in five minutes, I will marry you right now.” … After hanging up, I walked to the farthest corner of the waiting area and sat down. Seeing me isolate myself, Ethan strolled over leisurely and reached out to grab my hand. “Mia, stop throwing a tantrum.” “If we can’t do it today, we’ll do it another day. Do you really have to embarrass me in front of all these people?” I snatched my hand back. For the very first time, I raised my voice at him in public. “I’m throwing a tantrum?” “Who kept it a secret from me, and orchestrated destroying our IDs right at the most critical moment?” “You guys planned this whole thing behind my back, and now you have the audacity to accuse me of throwing a tantrum?” It was the first time I had ever completely lost my temper in public. The group went dead silent for a few seconds. I kept going. “Last month, who hid my corporate partnership proposal in a locker at the club, making me search the entire building for three hours?” “Who changed the reservations for our anniversary dinner into a frat party, leaving me to wait alone with a cold cake until midnight?” “Over the holidays, who deliberately gave me the wrong flight number, making me stand at the airport terminal from the afternoon until the early hours of the morning?” “You play these sick jokes on me over and over again. You love watching me look pathetic, don’t you?” Ethan’s brow furrowed heavily. “It was just a joke among friends. Do you really need to interrogate me like a criminal and dig up the past?” “Chloe and the guys took time off work specifically to be here for us today, and you insist on making everyone miserable?” I ripped my arm out of his grasp and let out a cold, sharp laugh. “They took time off to be here for us? Are they here to watch us get married, or are they here to watch me be humiliated?” “You know the answer better than anyone.” Ethan’s face darkened, and the group finally stopped laughing. But the silence only lasted a few seconds before they all started chiming in at once. “Come on, Mia, at the end of the day, you still love Ethan!” “We didn’t mean any harm, we were just having some fun. Why are you getting so defensive?” “Ethan was just testing you! Who told you to be so insanely jealous all the time? We just wanted to play a little prank!” Chloe leaned close to Ethan, blinking innocently and whispering loudly: “Ethan, Mia’s temper is seriously out of control.” I stared dead at Ethan. “Did you tell them to rip up the IDs?” He gave a nonchalant nod. “I did.” “You’ve been nagging me about getting this marriage license every single day lately. It’s suffocating.” “I just wanted to make you understand that even after we’re married, you can’t make your entire life revolve around me. It’s exhausting for both of us.” A bitter smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. I suddenly felt like my entire life for the past three years had been a pathetic joke. “Don’t worry. My life won’t revolve around you ever again.” Hearing that, Ethan’s brow twitched. Chloe and the others immediately swarmed in to back him up. “Seriously, Mia. You literally confirmed the flavors of the wedding favors like five times. You’re trying way too hard.” “Ethan was just messing with you. You’re being incredibly petty.” Ethan nodded in agreement, that lazy, arrogant smirk returning to his lips. “You really do need to change your attitude. If your reactions weren’t so entertaining, we wouldn’t mess with you so much.” I lowered my eyes. For the past three years, every time they played a sick prank on me, Ethan would pull me into a hug and coax me for hours afterward. He would say his friends didn’t mean any harm. He would say they only messed with me because they considered me ‘one of the guys.’ I thought it meant they were close to me. Now I finally understood—it was just a game of slapping me in the face, then handing me a piece of candy. I looked up, my gaze sweeping coldly across the group. “The only reason you people dare to be this brazen is because Ethan has never actually respected me.” No one said a word. The smirk on Ethan’s face finally vanished. Chloe was the only one who seemed to realize something was genuinely wrong. She hesitantly tugged at my sleeve. “Mia, I’m sorry, okay?” “I thought they were just joking around and that they’d give the IDs back to you in a minute.” “Ethan told me you two would definitely get the license today, that’s the only reason I played along.” I brushed her hand away. “I heard your apology.” “But I don’t forgive you.” Chloe’s face went chalk white. My phone screen lit up. Julian had shared his live location. [Just left the office. Four minutes away.] I sat back down in the waiting area. Seeing me sit back down, Chloe’s crew started laughing again. “See? I told you Mia would never actually leave.” “No matter how big of a scene she makes, she’s still going to sit right there like a good girl and wait.” One of Ethan’s frat brothers pulled out his phone and pointed the camera directly at my face. “Alright, let’s document this. Let’s see exactly how long the future Mrs. Cross can hold out before she loses her temper after having her IDs shredded.” Chapter 2 The camera lens got closer and closer. I turned my head to block it. He just laughed even harder. “Don’t hide, Mia! You were acting so tough when you were interrogating Ethan a minute ago! Let the viewers see how long the great Princess Mia can actually keep up the tough-girl act.” Ethan finally frowned. “Alright, knock it off. That’s enough.” The guy didn’t take him seriously, just waving the phone screen. “I’m just filming for fun. I’m not gonna post it anywhere.” Ethan didn’t order him to delete it. He pulled a piece of candy from his jacket pocket, unwrapped it, and held it to my lips. “Eat something sweet. Calm down.” I didn’t take it. He glanced down and noticed the clasp on my bracelet was loose. He naturally reached out and secured it for me. The group immediately erupted into catcalls and whistling. “Only Ethan knows how to handle her!” “There’s no way Mia can still be mad after that, right?” Ethan leaned in close, lowering his voice. “Mia, I never said I wasn’t going to marry you.” “I just want you to understand that once we’re married, you need your own social circle. Don’t focus all your attention on me.” “Give everyone a way out right now, and we’ll just pretend this never happened.” His movements were gentle, his tone exactly the same as every other time he coaxed me. But in this moment, it only made me feel violently nauseous. The humiliation was orchestrated by him. The gentleness was a charity bestowed by him. And I was expected to swallow it all and smooth things over for everyone else, just to earn that tiny scrap of affection. Chloe leaned in and asked, “Ethan, what’s your secret?” “Mia has been with you for three years, and she’s never once gotten into a real, screaming match with you.” Ethan let out a soft laugh. “How long can she actually stay mad?” “Three hours, max.” “By tonight, she’ll still text me asking if I’ve eaten and when I’m coming home.” The group laughed even more brazenly. Chloe stood on the sidelines. She looked uncomfortable, but she still didn’t say a single word to defend me. Someone else asked, “What’s the longest she’s ever stayed mad?” Ethan thought about it for a second. “One time I told her my dinner meeting would end at 10 PM. She drove through a massive thunderstorm to come pick me up.” “I changed venues at the last minute and forgot to tell her.” “She waited outside the restaurant until 2 AM. When she finally saw me, she wasn’t even mad. She just asked if I was cold.” He said it so casually, even with a hint of pride. “So yeah. She doesn’t have it in her to actually stay mad at me.” The last lingering ache in my chest completely evaporated. My endless compromises were never cherished. They just convinced him that I had absolutely zero boundaries. The PA system in the lobby chimed. “For anyone who has not yet pulled a number, please do so immediately. There are only four slots remaining for the day. This office will stop issuing numbers in exactly five minutes.” I snapped my head up, checking the digital display screen. Ethan completely misinterpreted my reaction. He pushed a boba tea toward my hand, his tone dripping with indulgence. “Alright, if we don’t have time today, we’ll do it tomorrow.” “Everyone is exhausted from waiting around with us all morning. There’s no need to force everyone to keep waiting.” Chloe and the others immediately chimed in. “Yeah, Mia, save yourself some dignity.” “Ethan already said he’s marrying you tomorrow. Are you terrified he’s going to run away tonight?” I looked down at my phone, ignoring them entirely. Ethan assumed I was still throwing a tantrum, determined to get the license today. The impatience faded from his face, returning to his usual, confident smirk. “Mia, stop being so stubborn.” “I just wanted you to fix your clingy, jealous attitude. The position of Mrs. Cross is still yours.” My phone buzzed. Julian sent his live location. He had just turned onto the street where the clerk’s office was located. [There’s traffic right outside the main entrance. I’m taking the back alley.] I replied with two words. [Hurry up.] While I was staring at his location, my mom called. “Mia, sweetie! Did everything go smoothly?” Chapter 3 My mom’s voice was bright and cheerful. “I went to the fish market at 6 AM to get Ethan’s favorite sea bass.” “And I have your favorite sweet and sour spare ribs simmering on the stove. I didn’t put a single speck of green onion in the soup, just how you like it.” “Hurry up and finish the paperwork, and get back here so we can eat.” I stayed silent for two seconds, trying with everything I had to keep my voice steady. “Mom. I’m not done here yet.” There was a noticeable pause on the other end of the line. She asked, her voice cautious and tentative: “Is… is the date I picked bad? Is Ethan not happy with it?” “Mom will pick a new date right now. Don’t you guys fight over this.” My eyes instantly burned with tears. Over the last few years, because I loved Ethan so blindly and completely sacrificed my own dignity, my mom had lowered herself too. Just so he would treat me a little bit better, she constantly walked on eggshells, terrified that if she made even the slightest mistake, he would love me a little less. My throat tightened painfully. “Mom, it’s not the date. There was an issue with our IDs.” “Don’t heat the food up again. You go ahead and eat first.” She paused for two seconds, forcing a bright tone. “It’s fine if you can’t make it back.” “I can keep the food warm on the stove.” “If he doesn’t want to come over, don’t force him. Don’t ruin the mood for everyone.” “If you guys are delayed, tell him to go hang out with his friends. Mom will just keep the food warm on the stove.” I heard the ding of the microwave in the background. She had already reheated the same dish multiple times, terrified it would get cold. I didn’t even notice when Ethan had walked up behind me. He smoothly snatched the phone out of my hand. “Mrs. Vance, it’s Ethan.” “Mia is just having a little mood swing. It’s nothing.” “We still have some loose ends to tie up here, so we probably won’t make it for lunch today. I promise I’ll come over and apologize in person another day.” My mom hurriedly agreed. “Okay, okay, no problem at all! You young people have your own plans.” “Are there a lot of friends with you? Do you want me to pack up some food and send it over to you guys?” Before my mom could even finish her sentence, Ethan impatiently hung up the phone. Someone behind us let out a high-pitched, mocking laugh. “The Vance matriarch is really putting in the work, huh?” “Desperate to shove her daughter into the Cross family, they’re attacking from both sides. One guards the clerk’s office, the other guards the kitchen. Absolutely brilliant strategy!” Chloe couldn’t listen to it anymore and muttered quietly. “Hey, cut it out. Mrs. Vance has always been really nice to us. Don’t cross the line.” The guy standing next to Chloe scoffed loudly, pointing directly at me. “Nice to us? She’s only nice so she can secure the bag and get her daughter married to Ethan!” “The old lady is literally selling her daughter. Sending food and playing the victim… pathetic tactics!” I shot up from my chair and slapped him across the face with everything I had. “SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” “If I hear you say one more word about my mother, I will call the police right now and have them investigate the hidden camera videos on your phone.” The guy was completely stunned by the slap. Ethan grabbed him, pulling him behind his back, his face turning terrifyingly dark. “Mia, have you lost your mind?!” “You want to call the cops on my brother over a stupid joke?!” He took a deep breath, reached out to straighten my collar, and lowered his voice. “We are done here for today.” “Do not tell your mother about the IDs getting ripped up. There’s no reason to stress her out. I’ll go over and apologize some other time.” The sheer, staggering entitlement of his “charity” was nauseating. His gentleness was always, always built upon silencing my suffering. Every single time his people bullied me, I was the one expected to back down. But from beginning to end, he never forced a single person to genuinely apologize for hurting me. The last microscopic ember of warmth in my heart turned to absolute ice. My phone screen lit up. My mom sent me a photo. The food on the table was covered with insulated thermal domes. Beneath the photo was a text. [No rush. The food is keeping warm. Mom will just wait.] I kept my face perfectly blank and replied: [Don’t worry. I will be bringing your son-in-law home right on time for lunch.]

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Chapter 1 I have absolutely no sense of direction. Even after living in San Francisco for five years, I still couldn’t tell north from south. Ethan used to always pre-set my GPS for me, promising that he would be my guide for the rest of my life. On our wedding day, as the bridal convoy wound its way up the twisting roads of the Marin Headlands, he suddenly announced that he had left my bridal bouquet in the trunk. The second I stepped out of the car, I heard the sharp click of the doors locking behind me. I caught the driver glancing at Ethan in the rearview mirror—like he was waiting for a signal. The next second, the entire convoy sped off into the dense, rolling fog, vanishing completely. My phone buzzed. A voice memo from Ethan. “There’s a fork in the road 999 steps ahead. Chloe said you’re so helpless you couldn’t even find the wedding venue without me. I don’t believe her. Maya, don’t let me lose this bet.” Chloe was his ex-girlfriend. I was wearing four-inch heels. My ankles were already bleeding. By the time I had taken two thousand steps, completely, hopelessly lost in the fog, I finally managed to get a call through to Ethan’s phone. But Chloe answered. “She literally has zero sense of direction, and you made her walk by herself. Now she’s going to be wandering the hills for three hours. What if she misses the ceremony?” Ethan’s voice drifted through the speaker, sounding entirely unbothered. “Then we’ll just start the reception. You can take the photos and do the toasts in her place. She’ll find her way eventually.” At that exact moment, a photo popped up in the bridal party group chat. Chloe was standing next to Ethan, holding the exact bridal bouquet he had tricked me into believing was in the trunk. It turns out those 999 steps weren’t a test for me. They were a red carpet rolled out for her. I reached down, took off my heels, and threw them into the ravine. This time, I was going to walk in a different direction. … “The bride is lost, so the groom has to take three penalty shots!” A video popped up in the group chat. The MC was standing on stage with a microphone, laughing and teasing Ethan and Chloe. “You two have such amazing chemistry. Truly living up to the title of best friends for seven years.” The guests below whistled and cheered. Ethan, wearing the bespoke black tuxedo tailored specifically for our wedding, held the microphone with one hand, looking relaxed and completely at ease. “Chloe has been taking care of the guests all day in Maya’s absence. She’ll take this penalty shot for her.” Chloe, wearing a bridesmaid dress, stood next to him. She lowered her head and took the shot glass, a shy, delicate smile on her face. Clueless relatives and friends started blowing up the group chat. “Honestly, the bridesmaid and the CEO look pretty good together.” “The bride is so inconsiderate. How do you show up late to your own wedding?” Immediately after, another photo popped up in the chat. Ethan was leaning in, carefully adjusting a veil on Chloe’s head. It wasn’t a standard bridesmaid hairpiece. It was the main bridal headpiece—the one I had painstakingly steamed and prepped the night before, the one I was supposed to wear while saying my vows. I stood barefoot on the jagged, gravel-covered mountain road. Sharp rocks sliced into the soles of my feet. The pain shot straight up my nerves, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the blinding glare of that photo on my screen. Five years ago, Ethan held my hand as we walked this exact same road. Pointing at the glittering San Francisco skyline in the distance, he promised he would never let me get lost in this city again. He told me that as long as I was with him, he would take me wherever he went. And now, he was standing next to someone else, accepting the blessings that were supposed to belong to me. A banner notification dropped down from the top of my screen. A text from Ethan. “There are signs on the road. Where are you? You have 300 steps left. Don’t make me look bad in front of Chloe.” Two minutes later, when I didn’t reply, he sent another. “Don’t make my family wait too long. Maya, grow up.” For five years, every single time I got lost, he would stay on the phone with me, his voice infinitely patient: “Don’t panic. Stay right where you are. I’m coming to get you.” Today was the very first time he told me to walk by myself. Not because he was busy. Not because of an emergency. Simply because he made a bet with Chloe. I closed my messages app and dialed my father’s private number. Six months ago, I had a massive, explosive fight with my father. I severed ties with him because I insisted on marrying Ethan, who had absolutely nothing. I insisted on leveraging my family’s assets to guarantee his company’s loans, funneling dark-pool capital to keep his startup afloat, and securing bridge financing when he was drowning. Despite our estrangement, my father still had his executive assistant arrange the entire fleet of luxury cars and the massive security detail for this wedding. He told me that a daughter of the Vance family must be married with absolute dignity and grace. The phone rang for a long time before it went to voicemail. My father didn’t answer. I followed the wet tire tracks left by the bridal convoy, walking down the mountain, step by agonizing step. The fog was incredibly thick. I took the wrong turn twice and had to backtrack. My bloody footprints stamped into the grey asphalt, a horrifying, visceral trail. Ethan thought that without him, I would just stand in place and cry in circles. But it turns out that without a guide, I might be terrified, I might take the long way around… but I wouldn’t be trapped forever. I flagged down a passing taxi. Once inside, I sent my father my very first text message in six months. “Dad, the wedding is off. I want to come home.” Leaning against the cold window of the cab, I watched the Marin Headlands rapidly recede into the distance. I opened my messages app, found the conversation thread I had kept pinned to the top for five years, and hit Delete. Chapter 2 When I pushed open the massive front doors of our hillside mansion, the living room was a disaster zone. Chloe was wearing the traditional, gold-threaded crimson reception gown—the one my late mother had left for me. She was sitting dead center on my marital bed, excitedly tearing into the wedding gifts brought by the guests. The vintage emerald bangle my grandmother had left me was dangling loosely around her wrist. Ethan was crouched by the bed, holding a Band-Aid. “I told you during the toasts to change into flats. You had to be stubborn, and now look, you got a blister.” His tone was dripping with absolute indulgence. He carefully, meticulously applied the Band-Aid to the back of Chloe’s heel. There was only the faintest, almost invisible red mark there. Hearing the door open, Ethan looked back. Seeing me standing barefoot in the doorway, his eyes dropped to my mud-caked, blood-soaked feet. He paused for a fraction of a second, his brow furrowing. He turned and pulled out the first-aid kit. I thought, for a second, that he actually felt bad for me. Instead, he just shoved it directly into my hands. “You finally decided to show up? Clean yourself up.” He walked over to the kitchen island, poured a glass of warm water, and slid it toward me. “You threw a massive tantrum today. My family was looking for you the entire reception. Even if you got lost, you should have called for help earlier. Pulling a disappearing act just made everyone look like a joke.” I stared at the glass of water. I didn’t take it. My feet were still actively bleeding. Every step I took left a bloody footprint on the pristine, cream-colored carpet. But in his eyes, the microscopic red mark on Chloe’s heel required his personal, tender care. My mangled, bleeding feet were my own problem to fix. Chloe touched the emerald bangle on her wrist, offering a meek explanation. “Maya, I’m so sorry. I accidentally got my bridesmaid dress dirty coming down the mountain. Ethan said since you weren’t wearing the reception gown, I should just borrow it for the photos.” She lowered her head, looking the picture of absolute innocence. “Ethan gave me the bracelet, too. He said I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and that jade is calming. If you’re mad about it, I’ll take it off right now.” I stared dead at her. “You can take the dress off later. Give me the bracelet back right now.” Chloe bit her lip and reached over to pull the bangle off. As it got stuck over her knuckles, she let out a small gasp: “Ethan, it hurts a little…” Ethan immediately stepped over and grabbed her hand. “Don’t force it, you’re going to bruise your bone.” He turned, walked into the master bathroom, and brought out a bottle of massage oil. He rubbed it onto Chloe’s wrist, slowly and carefully working the bangle down. “Maya, just wait a second. Chloe has a low pain tolerance,” he said. I stood exactly where I was. The blood from my feet had completely soaked into the carpet beneath me. To avoid hurting Chloe, Ethan’s movements were incredibly slow and gentle. As the bangle finally slid past her fingertips, Chloe’s hand suddenly jerked. CRASH. A sharp, sickening shatter. The vintage emerald bangle slammed into the marble floor, breaking into three pieces. The room went dead silent. Ethan’s absolute first reaction was to grab Chloe’s hand, turning it over and over to inspect it: “Did the glass cut you?!” Only after confirming Chloe was perfectly fine did he finally look up at me. “It broke, it is what it is. I’ll have my assistant go to Sotheby’s tomorrow and bid on a better one for you.” His tone was perfectly flat. Like he was talking about a dropped coffee mug. I crouched down and used my sleeve to wipe the massage oil off the shattered pieces of jade. “This was left to me by my mother,” my voice sounded like grinding gravel. Ethan paused for a brief second, but his brow remained furrowed. “Chloe didn’t do it on purpose. Don’t try and force her to apologize today.” Wiping the third piece of jade, I suddenly stopped. I finally realized that in Ethan’s world, the bride could be swapped. The wedding dress could be swapped. Even the absolute last physical memory of my dead mother was entirely replaceable. “Don’t bother buying a new one.” I stood up and swept the shattered pieces directly into the trash can. Since everything is replaceable. Then replacing the man will be exactly the same. Chapter 3 I walked right past Ethan and headed straight for the walk-in closet. Pulling out my suitcase, I didn’t pack a single item of clothing Ethan had ever bought me. I only grabbed a few basic, everyday outfits I had purchased myself. Ethan leaned against the doorframe, watching me pack, and let out a cold scoff. “Are we really playing the ‘running away from home’ game again? Maya, are you done throwing your fit? Chloe entertained all the elders for you today, and you haven’t even said thank you. Now you’re giving her attitude?” I ignored him entirely and turned to open the drawer of my nightstand. It was my backup drawer. It held my passport, my IDs, and an old, battered smartphone. The drawer was empty. My entire body went rigid. I whipped my head around and glared at Chloe. Chloe was sitting on the sofa, casually playing with that exact, familiar old smartphone. “Why are you touching my things? Give that back to me!” I marched over and held out my hand. Chloe shrank back behind Ethan, looking incredibly wronged. “Maya, don’t yell at me. My phone died taking pictures today. I saw a spare phone in the drawer and just wanted to use it to AirDrop some photos.” “I couldn’t guess the passcode, so I just did a factory reset. It’s just an old phone anyway, it’s not like there was anything important on it, right?” A deafening buzz exploded in my brain. All the blood rushed straight to my head. That old phone didn’t have photos or text messages. It only had a few voice memos. My mother died in a brutal car crash. Before she died, her absolute biggest worry was that I had zero sense of direction. She was always on the phone with me, teaching me how to navigate. After she died, I was so traumatized I refused to leave the house. It was Ethan who stayed up for three days straight, splicing and editing old voicemails my mother had sent me, creating a one-of-a-kind, custom GPS navigation voice pack. “Maya, turn left ahead.” “Slow down, honey. Don’t be scared.” “It’s okay if you make a wrong turn. Mom is right here.” For the past five years, every single time I stepped outside in this city, I relied on that phone. I relied on my mother’s voice to keep me grounded. I violently snatched the phone from Chloe’s hand and turned it on, my fingers shaking uncontrollably. The screen lit up. It displayed the initial factory setup screen. Wiped perfectly clean. Absolutely nothing was left. The local backups were gone, and the cloud storage had been casually wiped along with it. I stared dead at Chloe. My eyes were so bloodshot they looked like they were going to bleed. I raised my hand and slapped her across the face with everything I had. SLAP! Chloe shrieked, clutching her face as she fell back onto the sofa. Ethan’s face mutated in rage. He grabbed my wrist, his grip so vicious it felt like he was trying to snap my bone. “Maya Vance! Are you out of your fucking mind?!” “She deleted my navigation voice pack!” I struggled, my fingernails digging into the back of his hand. “Ethan, you knew that was my mother’s voice! You knew exactly what that was!” Ethan froze for a second. Then, he let go of my wrist and pulled Chloe behind him defensively. He frowned, his voice dripping with intense, suffocating impatience. “It was just a few voice memos. Chloe didn’t know. The woman has been dead for years, Maya, you can’t live your entire life clinging to a few audio clips.” He paused, then added with absolute, sickening entitlement: “Tomorrow I’ll hire top-tier voice actors to mimic your mom’s voice and record a much higher-quality set for you. Is that enough?!” I looked at the man standing in front of me. It felt like someone had ripped my chest open with a crowbar, letting the freezing winter wind howl through the gaping hole. The teenage boy who once held me and promised, “Don’t be scared, I’ll help you keep your mom’s voice forever,” had died a long time ago. Now, he was personally invalidating the entire existence of those memories. “Voice actors?” A broken, tragic laugh ripped out of my throat as I stumbled backward. “Ethan. Do you really believe everyone is replaceable?” I turned around, grabbed my suitcase, and started walking toward the door. Ethan yelled from behind me: “If you walk out that door today, our honeymoon trip to Iceland next week is canceled!” He knew that taking my mother’s ashes to see the Northern Lights was a trip I had been planning for three years. I didn’t stop walking. I didn’t even turn my head. “Cancel it.” Because I was never going to need him to be my guide ever again. Chapter 4 I dragged my suitcase out of the mansion. The weather in the Bay Area is notoriously volatile. Just hours ago it was only heavy fog; now, gale-force winds were dragging black, bruising clouds down over the hills. An emergency hurricane warning popped up on my phone. Standing on the curb, preparing to hail an Uber to the airport, I suddenly remembered something. The urn holding my mother’s ashes was still in the trunk of that wedding car. The original plan was to leave the reception and head straight to SFO to fly to Iceland. Because I got out of the car halfway up the mountain, the driver had parked the car back at the venue’s parking lot at the summit of the Marin Headlands. I immediately flagged down a taxi and headed back up the mountain. The wind was howling, and rain battered against the windshield like bullets. Halfway up the mountain road, the cab driver slammed on the brakes and absolutely refused to go any further. “Miss, there’s a mudslide warning for the summit. They’re about to close the roads. No amount of money is worth me driving up there to die!” I had no choice but to get out. Bracing against the torrential rain and hurricane-force winds, I started hiking up the mountain road on foot. Without the navigation voice pack on my old phone, I was completely paralyzed on the winding, intersecting trails. The blinding rain obliterated my vision. I could only blindly feel my way through the mud based on sheer memory. My phone battery was at 10%. That’s when I realized my portable power bank was missing from my purse. Right before I left the house, Chloe had “helpfully” offered to hand me my bag. At that exact moment, a text from Ethan popped up. “What the hell are you doing running back up the mountain? The emergency sirens are going off. Are you actively trying to get yourself killed?” I sent him a voice memo. “Ethan, I can’t see the road. I can’t find the parking lot.” My voice was violently shaking in the wind. The chat interface remained dead silent for two agonizing minutes. Finally, Ethan replied: “Stay exactly where you are. Chloe went out to buy something earlier and got lost at the base of the mountain. I’m going to go pick her up first, and then I’ll come find you.” I stared at the words on the screen, leaning weakly against a freezing rock wall. The convenience store Chloe was at was only a few hundred yards from our mansion. It was a designated safe zone. Meanwhile, the emergency sirens directly above my head were shrieking, growing more urgent by the second, ordering an immediate evacuation of the area. He clearly received my live location pin. Half an hour later, my phone battery dropped to 3%. A new message popped up in the wedding group chat. Chloe posted a photo. She was wrapped in Ethan’s oversized suit jacket, sitting in the passenger seat of his G-Wagon, holding a steaming cup of coffee. The caption read: “Hurricane weather, but I’m so lucky to have you by my side.” Immediately after, Chloe sent me a private DM. “Maya, Ethan said you need to learn how to navigate on your own eventually. He’s really tired today, so we headed home first. Stay safe out there! <3" Through the curtain of rain, I looked down at the winding mountain road below. The familiar headlights of his G-Wagon illuminated an intersection in the distance. It didn't hesitate for a second. It made a sharp U-turn and drove straight back down the mountain. It wasn't that he couldn't find me. He actively chose not to come. With trembling fingers, I opened the chat with my father and sent one final message. "Dad, I think I took a wrong turn again." The phone screen flickered once, and went completely black. In the distance, a low, terrifying rumble echoed through the hills. It was the sound of a mountainside collapsing, massive boulders tearing through the earth, rushing directly toward my location. Just as I thought it was truly over, the dead screen of my phone suddenly flared to life for a fraction of a second. The residual battery power forced through one final text message. "Don't panic. Stay exactly where you are. Daddy is coming to get you." The phone died completely. The deafening roar of the mudslide grew terrifyingly close. In the absolute darkness, I closed my eyes. Ethan. We have no future left.

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