On a reality show, I was driving my childhood-friend-turned-movie-star past a cemetery. The car stalled four or five times in the span of a mile. I lost my temper, got out of the car, and started screaming at the graves. Miraculously, the car didn’t stall again. My childhood friend quietly reminded me from the passenger seat: “It stalled the first time because you ran out of gas.” The next day, the top three trending topics online were: #TheMovieStarAndHisAngryAssistant #SeenPeopleFramedButNeverGhosts #Ghosts: LeaveUsAloneYouPsycho 1 Liam Vance and I grew up together. He became an A-list movie star, and I became his slacker personal assistant. When he was on set acting, I was sleeping. When he was on variety shows, I was sleeping. Once word got out, being Liam’s assistant became the most coveted job in the industry. A lot of Ivy League grads heard that the A-lister’s assistant just slept all day, so they started competing fiercely, trying to drag me down and take my spot. With so many jealous eyes on me at the agency, I felt a rare sense of impending crisis. Just like when we were kids, I cornered Liam against the wall, stood on my tiptoes, and raised a threatening fist. “Tell me the truth, are you going to replace me?!” Liam raised an eyebrow. He reached out, wrapped his hand around my fist, and pinned my arm above my head, leaning in to trap me between his body and the wall. When our faces were only inches apart, he drawled in a slow, lazy voice: “Who told you I was getting a new assistant?” Liam’s dark eyes stared intensely into mine. His eyelashes were incredibly long. In that split second, my heart skipped a beat. My throat felt dry, and I inexplicably swallowed hard. I feigned composure, turning my head away. “Sooner or later, I’ll show them that I’m irreplaceable!” “Oh?” “Well, aren’t I?” Liam said it like it was an indisputable fact. But thinking about my actual job performance, I blushed in sheer shame. 2 Liam was invited to be a panelist on a workplace reality show. It featured professionals from all walks of life. Unfortunately, the show featured an absolutely perfect executive assistant named Sarah Sterling. She memorized all her CEO’s habits and preferences, organized documents with ruthless efficiency, and never procrastinated. She was the textbook definition of a corporate elite. A celebrity guest teased Liam: “Does watching her make you want to swap assistants?” Liam didn’t even pause to think. “Not considering it. I think my assistant is perfectly fine.” After the episode aired, Liam’s fans flooded his Twitter replies with photos. The first photo: Me drooling on a sofa while asleep on a movie set. The second photo: Liam handing me a coffee, looking at me with a helpless, fond expression, saying, “Wake up, shift’s over.” The third photo: Liam standing up, memorizing a script, while I sat next to him playing games on my phone and grinning like an idiot. The fans went wild: [THIS is your ‘perfectly fine’ assistant? The hierarchy is completely upside down!] [Listen to us, Liam! You’re an A-lister now, it’s time to upgrade your staff.] On the show, Sarah subtly hinted that if Liam wanted to poach her, she wouldn’t mind jumping ship. 3 People immediately smelled the drama. The CEO of Sterling Corporation publicly stated: “Sarah is my younger sister, and she’s a huge fan of Liam Vance. If she really jumps ship to work for him, as her brother, I can only give them my blessing.” Fans started desperately pleading with Liam: [Sarah is a corporate elite AND a CEO’s sister. Be smart, fire the slacker and hire Sarah!] [Exactly! With Sarah as your assistant, your career will hit the stratosphere.] [The little assistant needs to stop leeching off Liam and leave.] The internet was a bloodbath over this trivial issue. For the finale episode, the CEO of Sterling Corp specifically requested to meet Liam. Usually, Liam drove while I sat in the passenger seat eating snacks. But to avoid getting ripped apart online, I aggressively teleported to the driver’s side door. I yanked it open, started the engine, rolled down the window, and yelled at Liam: “Get in.” Liam leaned close to the cameraman. The cameraman, assuming Liam was about to serve some premium handsome B-roll, focused intensely, his hands steady as a rock. In the next second, Liam said: “My little assistant is always this hardworking. Tell me, if I don’t treat her well, where else could I find an assistant this good?” With that, he got in the car. The cameraman froze, looking thoroughly confused. 4 It was getting late, and we were driving past a large, desolate cemetery. The car stalled out four or five times. I finally lost it and slammed the car into park. Liam looked at me in a panic, but couldn’t grab me fast enough. I stormed out of the car and started screaming into the dark: “Alright, alright! Wake up, all of you, and listen to me! “I don’t care if you’re someone’s great-aunt, second cousin, or grandpa! I don’t care if you died last year or got buried today, I want to know what the hell your problem is! “You think just because Liam is nice, you can bully us?! It’s a one-mile stretch of road and you stalled my car five times! Is there no law and order in the afterlife?! “I don’t care who you are, back off right now! I’m starting this car, and if it stalls one more time, I’m digging up your bones to make soup!” When I got back in the car, Liam’s expression was incredibly complicated. I thought he was scared, so I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry!” “The elders always say when you run into paranormal crap, you just have to cuss them out. You can’t show fear.” I turned the key. The car started perfectly and didn’t stall a single time until we reached our destination. I smirked at Liam. “See? Told you it works.” Right before we got out of the car, Liam looked at me and said quietly, “Actually, the first time it stalled, it was because we were out of gas.” The cameraman sitting in the back seat didn’t dare breathe. And me: “…” Oh, crap. Unsurprisingly, the internet exploded the next day. #TheMovieStarAndHisAngryAssistant #SeenPeopleFramedButNeverGhosts #Ghosts: LeaveUsAloneYouPsycho Netizens: [Oh man, if she can curse out a ghost like that, cursing me out would be a piece of cake.] 5 The incident trended for days. People were so curious that they purposely drove empty cars to graveyards at night to yell at tombs. They used the exact same speech I did. The result? The cops found dozens of people walking in circles around gravestones, looking exhausted with massive dark circles under their eyes. At the break of dawn, the cops stood there in total confusion as people hugged their legs, sobbing: “Officer, help! There are real ghosts!” If one person claims it, it’s a coincidence. If a whole crowd claims it, it’s a pattern. Since no one else successfully replicated my “method,” the internet decided I was a complete fake. [If this graveyard thing is real, I’ll eat literal garbage while doing a handstand!] [It’s obviously a PR stunt. Since when do personal assistants need PR stunts?] [Did you guys watch the show? Sarah is competing for her job. Sarah is amazing, so this useless slacker had to invent a viral stunt to stay relevant. It’s not that hard to understand.] Sarah Sterling posted on X: [I believe all high-level positions should be built on solid professional skills. Cheap gimmicks never last. My professional background is rock solid, so I think Liam Vance should consider my offer. I think we’d make a great team.] The implication was clear: I didn’t deserve to be Liam’s assistant. The CEO of Sterling Corp retweeted his sister, adding: [Anyone with eyes can see how outstanding my sister is. I will always be the ultimate financial backer for my sister’s idol-chasing dreams!] How interesting. I read the posts out loud, using a highly sarcastic tone toward Liam: “Wow, she’s the sister of a corporate CEO, and she’s so professional. If she became your assistant, she could take perfect care of you and bring in massive sponsorships.” I sighed, shaking my head dramatically. “Unlike me, who is just a complete waste of space.” Liam’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Who called you a waste of space? Is the emotional value you provide not valuable? In my eyes, eight hundred Sarahs wouldn’t equal one of you.” I knew Liam was just buttering me up. 6 Thinking back on our childhood, I clicked my tongue. “When the kindergarten teacher assigned arts and crafts, you did mine without a word. “Through all our school years, whenever it was our turn to clean the classroom, I stood to the side playing while you scrubbed the floors. “In college, you attended events to earn extracurricular credits for me. Even now at work, I’m just a salted fish. “Liam, why are you so good to me?” Liam raised an eyebrow, his gentle voice low and deep: “Because someone told me she was going to marry me, so I had to do all her chores.” He looked at me with a lingering, almost resentful gaze. I coughed dryly to cover my embarrassment. Okay, that did happen, but it was just dumb kid stuff. Liam and I had been neighbors since we were in diapers. When we were little, I watched a wedding on TV. I grabbed one of my mom’s silk scarves, threw it over Liam’s head, and declared: “Liam, you are the bride now. You have to marry me!” Little Liam’s usually stoic face turned red. His eyes sparkled, and he held my hand like a little adult. “No, you have to marry me.” I was too lazy to argue, so I threw the scarf over my own head and chirped: “Fine, I’ll marry you. But you have to give me all your snacks and do all the chores I don’t want to do.” Little Liam nodded seriously. “Okay.” It was an absolutely tyrannical contract, but Liam had strictly enforced it to this day. Hearing Liam bring it up, my briefly motivated heart immediately went back into slacker mode. “True. Why should I try hard? As long as I have you, I’m set.” Liam was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, making him look elegant and refined, but the gaze behind the lenses was burning hot. Seemingly very satisfied with my answer, he whispered, “Exactly. You just need to stay by my side.” Liam had always possessed an inexplicable possessiveness over me. I knew that. Growing up, any boy who tried to get close to me inexplicably distanced themselves shortly after. They all had one thing in common: they looked at Liam with pure fear. Other people might be scared of him, but not me. I was socially anxious and hated dealing with people anyway. His hovering suited me perfectly. 7 Liam was famous for his sharp tongue. Many netizens were furious that I was his assistant and demanded he fire me. Liam posted on X: [Are you paying my salary?] The translation: Why do you care? I’ll hire whoever I want. You’re getting way too comfortable trying to manage my personal life. His fans decoded the message and immediately pivoted to stand by his side: [Look, maybe our Liam’s assistant is a bit useless, but she’s cute! She’s easy on the eyes.] [So what if it was a PR stunt? People are bullying her right to her face; is she supposed to just take it? I support the little assistant!] Since I didn’t have any actual professional skills to brag about, the fans scraped the bottom of the barrel and settled on praising my face. Absolutely no one believed that my graveyard stunt wasn’t staged. Because the fans couldn’t find any solid arguments to defend me, they were racking their brains trying to fight off the haters. God knows they hadn’t even fought this hard for Liam before. Maybe it was a “love me, love my dog” situation. But the fans were ultimately losing ground to the haters, simply because there really wasn’t much to defend. The head of Liam’s fan club messaged their group chat: [Girls, my brain is about to explode.] I was secretly lurking in the fan group chat, absolutely terrified to say a word. 8 Furious at the rejection, Sarah Sterling went and became the assistant to Liam’s biggest rival. His rival was an actor named Carter Hayes. He debuted around the same time as Liam. But no matter the project, Liam always eclipsed him. The final nominees for Best Actor last year were Liam and Carter, and Liam took the trophy. So Carter had the industry nickname “Forever Number Two.” Since Carter couldn’t beat Liam in acting, he looked for other ways to win. The moment Liam posted his defense of me, Carter immediately signed Sarah. Sarah was bitter, and the two struck a deal. Carter posted a thinly veiled insult toward Liam: [Thank you to Mr. Vance for allowing me to hire such incredible talent. Mr. Vance might run his team based on ‘feelings,’ but I believe the world needs capable people. If everyone just relied on nepotism…] Carter left the thought unfinished, but it resonated with a lot of hardworking people online. For the first time in his career, Liam was hit with a massive wave of hate. [How did he even win Best Actor? Was that nepotism too?] [In this world, there really is no place for people who actually work hard, huh.] [If the assistant fakes paranormal stunts, the boss is probably a fraud too. A word of advice: don’t play with the occult for clout, you might actually get cursed!] I finally understood what it felt like to be completely unable to defend yourself. Liam’s manager, Brenda, came to see us. She knew about my relationship with Liam and both our family backgrounds, so she wasn’t worried at all. Liam raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised. “People are still offering me scripts in the middle of a PR crisis?” Brenda rolled her eyes at him. “Sorry, it’s not for you. The offer is for Chloe.” I whipped my head around, even more shocked than Liam. “Wait, for me?! Who?” Brenda said, “It’s for that insanely popular paranormal reality show, Maximum Hauntings. The number-one ranked expert on the show specifically asked for Chloe. Word is they’ve run into something incredibly dangerous.” Liam went silent for a moment. He gritted his teeth and asked, “I heard that expert is really handsome and in his early twenties?” Brenda nodded, completely hyped. “Exactly! A hot guy specifically requested our Chloe. She’s so lucky…” Brenda kept praising the guy. Liam’s face grew darker and darker. I could tell he was about to explode.

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The day before I was set to study abroad, I went to say goodbye to my aloof childhood best friend. His face remained entirely expressionless. He merely asked which university I was attending, then turned to leave. I pressed my lips together and eventually hid the confession gift I had prepared behind my back. Suddenly, lines of text began to float in the air right in front of me, like a live-stream comment section. [Female Lead, hurry up and confess! He’s absolutely crazy about you!] [He’s playing so hard to get. Pretending to be all cold and indifferent to her face, but secretly crying his eyes out at home all night.] [Wait, wasn’t it because the female lead was leaving him that the male lead snapped, followed her abroad, and then locked her up in a basement?] [OMG! Are we jumping straight from pure romance to forced confinement?!] 1 Startled by the floating text, I instinctively called out his name: “Ethan, wait a second.” The figure walking away stopped. He slowly turned around and asked, “Is there something else?” He looked completely indifferent. On the continuously scrolling text above him, the word [Confess] kept appearing, making me dizzy with a sudden burst of courage. I brought the gift hidden behind my back out to him. “Ethan, I like you. I have for a long time.” Ethan’s expression froze, and the scrolling text halted as well. “Your birthday was a few days ago, and I had this gift picked out ages ago, but…” My smile was tinged with bitterness. “If I don’t give it to you now, I might never get another chance.” Ethan’s face was hidden in the shadows, his expression unreadable. I lowered my head, staring at the ground, feeling a burning heat spread across my ears. On the ground, as if thawed, the comments started scrolling frantically again. [Wait, did my internet lag? Did I miss a crucial plot point? Why does the female lead suddenly have a mouth and know how to use it?!] [I’m just as confused. O_O] [Something’s wrong! Something’s very wrong! Based on how hard the male lead simps for her, shouldn’t he be thrilled she confessed? He should be announcing he’s buying out the whole airport today! But look at his face…] [To the person above, do you remember what happened on Ethan’s birthday? The female lead ran off early with the second male lead!] [Oh, I remember! The male lead wanted the female lead to blow out the candles with him, but he couldn’t find her. He got so mad his heart condition almost flared up!] His birthday! Reminded by the comments, the memory suddenly clicked into place. That day, I had stuck close to Ethan, chatting and trying to make him smile. But he seemed completely distracted, like something very important was weighing heavily on his mind. I got so mad that I deliberately dragged an upperclassman outside to get some fresh air. By the time I cooled down and went back inside, the private room was completely empty. So, he had gone looking for me later. [Actually, based on my years of reading web novels, Ethan was probably planning to confess that day, but the main character ran off with some random guy halfway through!] [The commenter above is right. I saw Ethan secretly blowing up heart-shaped balloons. He blew up twenty of them all by himself, and stuffed a ring inside every single one.] [Tsk, so pure and innocent!] Rings? I snapped my head up, looking at Ethan. He was staring at me expressionlessly. After a long time, he let out a mocking chuckle. “You like me? How do you plan to prove it? “Hmm? Chloe, how exactly do you plan to prove that you like me?” 2 All my previous soft-heartedness and affection vanished into thin air at his cold interrogation. I took a sharp breath and glared furiously at Ethan. He looked back at me with complete indifference, as if he were looking at a complete stranger who had nothing to do with him. [Oh no, our precious Chloe is going to run away angry again!] [Ethan! You have a perfectly good mouth, why can’t you just use it to talk properly?! Go home and cry about it later!] [Alright everyone, nothing to see here. The plot is returning to its original track—imprisonment and forced love!] Just as I was about to turn around in anger, seeing the comments predict my exact move actually made me feel too embarrassed to leave. My gaze returned to Ethan’s face. It was an incredibly pale and beautiful face. He had narrow, elegant eyes with an upward tilt at the corners, giving him a somewhat classical look. I don’t know if it was the comments influencing me, but I genuinely thought I saw a faint hint of red around the beautiful corners of his eyes. I sighed, took two steps forward, and tilted my head up. At this moment, the distance between us was incredibly close. So close I could almost feel his breath. He lowered his eyes, looking at me in confusion, his pure black pupils reflecting my figure. I cheered myself on frantically in my head, then suddenly leaned in and pressed my lips against his. Cool, soft, and slightly trembling. That was the immediate sensation Ethan’s lips gave me. To be honest, in all my years of life, I had absolutely zero kissing experience. I only knew to press my lips against his; I had no idea what came next. I froze against his lips, feeling the deafening heartbeat of the person in my arms. There was no sound of breathing. He had forgotten to breathe too. I don’t know how much time passed before he suddenly took a step back, staring at me with an unreadable expression. “What is the meaning of this?” His entire face was bright red. He was already very fair-skinned, so he flushed easier than most. Even the back of his neck, visible above his collar, held a faint pink hue. My mood instantly soared. I grinned at him and said, “Didn’t you want me to prove I like you? Is this enough?” “Or… how about this?” Deeply encouraged, I stepped forward again, cupped his face, and planted a loud, wet kiss right on his lips. “If you still don’t believe me, I’ll tear up my plane ticket right now, okay?” I wrapped my arms around Ethan’s neck and said softly, “I’ll just stay by your side. I’ll go wherever you go, until you believe me.” Before I even finished speaking, Ethan violently ripped my arms from his neck and glared at me furiously: “Chloe, are you done messing around?!” 3 He pushed me so hard I stumbled violently, barely managing to steady myself. I looked at him in absolute shock, not understanding why the mood had taken such a sudden, sharp nosedive. [Keep pushing it. Keep acting up, male lead. This is exactly how you lose your wife.] [Chloe finally gathered the courage to confess, and this is what he does?!] The comments echoed exactly what I was feeling. I gritted my teeth tightly, refusing to let the humiliating tears fall. He remained completely oblivious, his voice still icy as he said, “Chloe, do you really like Alex that much? Do you like him so much that you’d stoop to pretending with me just so you could stay here and be with him?” I looked up at him in utter bewilderment. The tears lost their battle for control and fell anyway. [Huh?] [Bro Ethan, that one sentence just completely derailed me.] [Wait, does he think Chloe is confessing to him so she can stay in the country and sneak around with the second male lead?!] “And then what?” Ethan demanded coldly. “You’d stay here, date me, and still be with Alex on the side? And later, are you planning to marry me while cheating on me with Alex?” “Chloe, do you have any basic moral compass at all?! You truly disappoint me!” The angrier he got, the more the ambiguous pink flush on his face faded without a trace. [What an advanced train of thought. I don’t even know how to judge this…] [Everyone, does anyone remember that after his birthday, Ethan secretly told Chloe’s parents that she was dating some random bad boy? That’s what caused her parents to urgently pack her off abroad to study. So, it makes sense he’s thinking this way.] […] [As expected of a psycho. So manipulative.] I scanned the words on the comments, finally realizing that my parents throwing me out of the country was actually Ethan’s doing! The fury of being tattled on behind my back mixed with the sting of being rejected. Old grudges and new anger merged into a sea of fire that rushed straight to my head, and I instantly lost all rationality. “Believe whatever you want! Who wants to like a despicable coward like you anyway?! You think I can’t live without you?!” I fiercely threw the un-gifted present onto the ground, turned around, and marched away. [Sigh. It’s over again.] [And so, the story will inevitably head toward the imprisonment arc we’ve all been anticipating…] [Wait! What is he doing?! What is Ethan doing?] [Chloe, turn around quickly!] [Daughter! Turn around!] 4 Of course, I didn’t turn around, nor did I pay attention to the scrolling comments, because my face was completely covered in tears at that moment. Liar! They’re all liars! Who said Ethan liked me? Would someone who liked me yell at me like that? Would he question me like that? I bet he doesn’t like me one bit. Getting my parents to send me abroad was probably just so he could get rid of me once and for all. I wiped the tears from my face aggressively and walked into the security checkpoint. [Why is Bro Ethan still crouching there?] [Did Chloe’s gift break when she threw it? It looked like it was made of glass.] Those comments wanted me to see… that he was picking up the gift I threw? I pondered this internally, still not turning around, dragging my coat toward the boarding gate. [Something’s wrong! Bro Ethan is having a heart attack!] I snapped my head back. Through the glass, I saw a black figure curled up in agony on the exact spot we had been standing. It was Ethan. His face was deathly pale. His hands still tightly gripped the gift I had given him—a watch. But the glass face of the watch had shattered completely. The broken shards had cut his hand, and blood was staining the floor tiles of the airport terminal. I screamed in panic and immediately sprinted back toward him, but a security worker at the checkpoint stopped me. Through that pane of glass, I watched helplessly as people swarmed him from all directions. Soon, someone brought a wheelchair and wheeled him away. From beginning to end, his hands tightly gripped that shattered watch that had cut him so deeply. Only after he was taken away did I finally snap back to reality. The security guard looked at me with sympathy and gently reminded me that if I wanted to return to the main terminal, I could take another passageway. “No, I won’t,” I muttered to myself, wiping the tears from my face. “It’s useless to go back. He doesn’t believe I like him anyway.” 5 During the eight-hour flight, I drifted in and out of sleep. The comments never stopped chatting. From their text, I gathered a lot of information. First, if Ethan’s and my story were a novel, then we were destined for a tragic ending. In this story, I was a proud heiress who liked Ethan but was constantly wounded by his icy demeanor. To save my pride, I always pretended to be close with an upperclassman named Alex. Reading this, I felt a pang of guilt. Before this, I truly had used Alex many times. Whenever Ethan gave me the cold shoulder, I would drag Alex right in front of him, trying to hint that plenty of other people loved me. Alex was more than happy to play along. To be honest, I always believed that liking someone meant treating them well—wanting to buy them things I liked, wanting to be the first to share anything fun I encountered. So, I always thought Ethan’s coldness toward me all these years meant he didn’t like me at all, perhaps even found me annoying. But the comments said Ethan loved me to the point of madness. Instead, it was Alex who didn’t like me at all. He was only willing to cater to me because being with me meant he could skip twenty years of hard work. The comments also said Alex had a childhood sweetheart, and they were the main characters of another book. Once Alex climbed his way to the top of high society, he would dump me—the woman he used—and fulfill his childhood promise to marry his sweetheart. I didn’t want to believe what the comments said, but I had to. Because based on all the facts, everything they said was true. My mind was racing, my thoughts a tangled mess. Looking out at the clouds through the window, I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. [Sigh, my poor daughter is getting all emo.] [Don’t be sad, Chloe. The real hard days are still ahead. When Bro Ethan completely loses it and locks you up, that’s when you’ll really have no one to cry to.] [Stop talking about it, it makes me want to cry. Why can’t two people who love each other just be together properly?] [Heh, because Ethan has an inferiority complex! He always felt his poor health made him unworthy of Chloe. He wanted to avoid her but couldn’t help getting close, and then he’d have a massive breakdown whenever he saw her with other guys. Honestly…] [Actually, you can’t really blame Ethan for his twisted emotional expression. He was raised by his cold, unsympathetic grandfather. He has no idea what love is; he only knows what possession is. Then, subconsciously, because he likes Chloe, he can’t bear to truly possess her. He went back and forth, agonizing over it until he broke himself.] Seeing this comment, I suddenly remembered when Ethan was little. 6 Ethan’s grandfather built the family corporation from scratch, but tragedy struck in middle age when his son and daughter-in-law both died in a car accident. Only young Ethan survived, but he was left with a severe heart condition as a consequence. Left as the only heir, his grandfather naturally valued him immensely, raising him to take over the family empire. But terrified of anything triggering his heart condition, his grandfather was incredibly overprotective, strictly forbidding him from experiencing any intense emotional fluctuations. Because I was Ethan’s friend, his grandfather allowed me to play with him. Every time I visited, he would instruct me to take careful care of Ethan. Originally, I was full of complaints about this. After all, we were both kids. Why did I have to take care of him? Besides, he was the older brother, and I was the younger sister; shouldn’t it be the other way around? But all that resentment vanished shortly after I saw Ethan. For one thing, Ethan was just too beautiful. I was instantly captivated by his looks on the spot. Secondly, Ethan was incredibly good to me. If there was delicious food, he let me pick first. If there were new toys, he offered them to me first. If I casually mentioned wanting to play the newest video game, he’d have it delivered to my house the very next day. When did things change? It seemed to be after my high school entrance exams. I asked him to hang out, but he didn’t show up. I didn’t see him for a long time after that. When I finally saw him again, I threw myself at him crying, saying how much I missed him. But he had become cold and distant. I felt confused and angry. From then on, we started a cycle of constant, petty antagonism. Until Alex appeared, which made his temper even more unpredictable. Pondering this, I took out my phone and texted my grandfather: [Grandpa, around the time of my high school entrance exams, was Ethan sick?] The signal on the plane was surprisingly good. A moment later, my grandfather replied: [That’s right. He had to undergo heart surgery during that time. He wouldn’t let me tell you. I remember you threw a tantrum crying for a long time.] He added another message: [Little Ethan’s health was very poor those few years. Once, I caught him secretly crying. He said he was afraid he would die and make you sad. Sigh, you two were so close back then. Who would have thought you’d grow apart as you got older.] Understood. I understood everything now. Back then, Ethan became cold toward me because he was terrified I would be heartbroken if I lost him, so he deliberately distanced himself. Since that was the case, I couldn’t help but wonder what changed his mind. What made him become the person the comments described—someone who would imprison me just to be with me? To be honest, I was actually looking forward to it a little. [Is it just my imagination, or does our daughter seem to have regained her fighting spirit?] [News flash! Even though Chloe’s plane hasn’t landed yet, Bro Ethan is already in A-City buying a manor! Friendly reminder: it comes with a luxurious basement.] [What?! Shouldn’t Bro Ethan be in the hospital right now?!] [Wow, this is intense! The imprisonment countdown begins now!] 7 Seeing that comment, I immediately sat up straighter. If he could travel alone to a foreign country to buy a manor, it meant his health must be fine right now. A huge weight lifted from my heart. As for the “imprisonment” the comments mentioned, I thought it was highly unlikely. Because I simply couldn’t fathom how someone who had so sternly rejected me just moments ago would suddenly want to possess me completely. It wasn’t until I got off the plane and arrived at my new place that I received a call from a friend. My friend said that when Alex found out my parents had sent me abroad, he quickly went to them to declare his loyalty, swearing he would never give up on me. And unfortunately, my parents were visiting Ethan in the hospital at that exact moment. Ethan had just woken up, only to hear Alex proclaiming his devotion to my parents right in front of his hospital bed, declaring he would marry no one but me. He even used Ethan as an example, saying how fragile life is, that someone could fall ill or meet a tragic accident any day, so one must seize the person they love while they can. According to my friend, Ethan turned deathly pale with anger. Without saying a word, he ripped out his IV, went straight to the hospital roof helipad, and demanded to be flown to A-City. After hearing my friend’s account, I was utterly speechless. It was hard to say whether Ethan was provoked by Alex or actually took the “life is fragile” part to heart. Regardless, if all this made Ethan finally realize what he wanted and decide to be with me, then I was very happy. I wanted him to be happy, to follow his heart and fight for the person he liked. If that coincidentally aligned with my heart’s desire, then that would be perfect. Filled with anticipation, I stepped onto campus and attended my first class. Even though I had been hastily thrown out of the country, my university and major had been carefully selected—it was Jewelry Design, my absolute favorite. The first class with the professor was very pleasant. Instead of starting with a lecture, he immediately assigned a project: to design a piece of jewelry to the best of our abilities, without considering any practical constraints. For some reason, I thought of Ethan’s birthday. I thought of the twenty-something rings hidden inside balloons that I never got to see. I decided to design a ring. I rolled up my materials and walked out of the classroom. As I was walking down the steps, the comments, which had been chatting about random things, suddenly grew excited. [Here it comes!] [Oh ho! Bro Ethan! Fresh out of the hospital bed and you’re already here lurking in the corners?] [Crawled right out of his hospital bed, flew on a plane, bought a massive estate, and came straight to stalk Chloe without even sleeping! Bro Ethan, with this level of perseverance, you could succeed at literally anything.] Seeing the text on the comments, I started to worry about Ethan’s health again. I was just about to walk toward him. Right then, my phone rang. In that instant, I felt the expression of Ethan, hiding behind a tree, turn incredibly dark. I looked down. The caller ID read: [Alex].

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391829”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I was on the train when I got a text from my ex-boyfriend. “I have a new girlfriend now. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea, so let’s just delete each other’s numbers.” Wait, is this guy actually psycho? A second later, my roommate sent me a message. “I’m dating Liam now. You don’t mind, right?” Like hell I didn’t mind. I handed my phone to the guy sitting next to me. “Hey, handsome. Can you do me a favor?” 1 My phone buzzed. I opened it to see a text from Liam. “I have a new girlfriend now. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea, so let’s just delete each other’s numbers.” Wait, is this guy actually psycho? A second later, my roommate sent me a message. “I’m dating Liam now. You don’t mind, right?” I stared at the screen for three solid minutes. The silence in my head was deafening. Sarah was my roommate, and the main reason Liam and I broke up in the first place. She always styled herself as the “guardian” of our relationship, doing incredibly boundary-crossing things under the guise of “helping us.” When Liam was first pursuing me, Sarah volunteered to be his wingman, which she mostly used as an excuse to make him buy her dinner. Whenever Liam and I fought, she would stay up all night texting him, claiming she was just trying to mediate. She even picked out the birthday gift he got me. She made a point to ask me in front of our whole dorm: “Chloe, do you like the necklace? I went to the mall with Liam yesterday to pick it out.” “You picked it?” “Yeah! Liam told me he had no idea what to get you. I have great taste, right? You’re so lucky to have a roommate like me. Oh, by the way, we booked a table at Boom tonight for your birthday, you should go get ready.” I watched Sarah happily doing her makeup, then tossed the jewelry box onto her desk. “This necklace matches your dress perfectly. You should wear it tonight.” Then, I pulled out my phone and texted Liam to break up. Liam: “??? Are you serious? Why?” Me: “Because a relationship is for two people. Three people is a crowd.” 2 The train’s intercom announcement interrupted my thoughts. Looking at the back-to-back texts from those two, there was no way it was a coincidence. I could vividly picture them sitting together, gossiping about me, and hitting send at the exact same time. I was furious. After thinking for a second, I got an idea. I glanced at the guy sitting in the seat next to me. He had a black baseball cap pulled low over his face and headphones in, seemingly asleep. Would it be too rude to bother him? But faced with the choice between being polite or swallowing this disrespect, I chose to be impolite. I reached out and gently poked his arm. “Hi. Excuse me.” His cap slid up, revealing an incredibly handsome face. He was exactly my type. He didn’t look annoyed at all, just a little confused. I shamelessly held my phone out to him. “Hey, handsome. Can you do me a favor?” The screen showed Liam’s text. The guy frowned when he read it. I thought he was going to say no, but a second later, a knowing smirk crossed his lips. He took my phone, held the voice memo button, and said in a deep, casual voice: “Bro, who the hell are you?” He looked up at me, his eyes curving into a smile. “Is this the kind of favor you needed?” 3 “Yes! Yes!” I nodded frantically. This guy caught on so fast, I didn’t even have to explain the plan. “Thank you so much, man. You are as kind as you are gorgeous.” Damn my lack of a filter. Did I really just say that out loud? The smile in his eyes deepened. Suddenly, my phone started vibrating violently. We both looked down. A barrage of texts from Liam. “Chloe, who the f*** is that guy?” “Did you break up with me for him?!” Seriously? This guy was so delusional it hurt. “Oh, he’s triggered,” the handsome guy observed. A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. He asked, “Do you want to make him even more triggered?” Huh? Before I could process it, he held down the voice memo button again. “Oops. Looks like we got caught.” He let go, sending the message. This guy was a professional menace. A second later, Liam called me. I was going to decline it, but I saw the guy next to me looking at my phone with the eagerness of someone wanting to watch the drama unfold. Fine, I’ll indulge him. I hit accept. “Chloe, who the hell is with you?!” Liam immediately demanded. A good Samaritan I met on the train. Obviously, I wasn’t going to say that. But since the guy was sitting right there, I was too embarrassed to claim he was my boyfriend. “Liam, why are you calling me? Won’t your new girlfriend get the wrong idea?” I asked innocently. Liam choked on his words. “I only texted you that because—” Before he could finish, he was cut off. “Baby, I don’t care what his new girlfriend thinks. But if you keep talking to him, your new boyfriend is going to get jealous.” The guy next to me had suddenly leaned in close, his warm breath ghosting over my hand holding the phone. Even though I knew he was acting, hearing him call me “baby” in that voice made my entire face turn bright red. “F***!” Liam cursed violently on the other end. “You played me, Chloe! No wonder you suddenly dumped me! You better hope I never find out who he is, or I’ll beat the shit out of him.” He hung up. What a psycho. 4 Having completed his mission, the handsome guy leaned back in his seat. He said sagely, “You won. Your ex is definitely more miserable than you are right now. No guy can handle thinking he got cheated on. Especially finding out after a breakup.” “You speak with such authority. Is it from personal experience?” The guy: “…” He turned to look at me, his face deadpan. “Do I look like someone who gets cheated on?” Deep eyes, a perfectly straight nose, and a flawless jawline. No. He looked like the kind of guy who handed out the heartbreak, not the one receiving it. “Thank you.” I genuinely thanked him from the bottom of my heart. If it weren’t for this Train Vigilante, I wouldn’t have been able to get the upper hand on Liam. Thinking about Liam and Sarah together still disgusted me. But remembering how triggered Liam just got made me feel a thousand times better. “Don’t mention it. Putting trashy exes in their place is every citizen’s civic duty.” …Such high moral standards. He had to be a college student. I asked tentatively, “Are you in college?” He nodded. “Yeah.” “Which one?” “A University.” What were the odds?! I gasped excitedly, “We must have shoveled manure together in a past life to have this much fate in this one!” The guy fell into a visible silence. “Miss, I don’t know about you, but I definitely did not shovel manure in any life.” He better realize I was just using internet slang. 5 Sarah and I got back to the dorm around the same time. The moment she walked in, she bee-lined for me, leaning heavily against my desk. “Chloe, why didn’t you text me back?” I did. I replied with silence. Sarah probed, “Are you ignoring me because you’re upset about Liam and me?” If she hadn’t brought it up, I would have genuinely forgotten. But since she was so obsessed with it… I picked up my phone, opened my chat with Sarah, and sent a “👍”. Me: “There, I replied.” “Chloe, what is that supposed to mean?” I looked up at her. “You asked me to reply. I replied, and now you’re mad?” Sitting nearby, our other roommate Mia snorted with laughter. “What are you laughing at?” Sarah snapped, turning her hostility toward Mia. “You,” Mia replied simply. Sarah ignored her and turned back to me. “Chloe, when you didn’t reply, I was so worried! I was terrified you were mad at me. I mean, you have every right to be mad, but I really don’t want to lose you as a friend.” Her voice got smaller and smaller, dripping with manufactured guilt. She always did this. Just like when we fought over her texting Liam all night. She had stood in the dorm, crying and apologizing. “Chloe, I just saw how unhappy you were fighting with Liam, so I tried to help! I was doing it for both of you. If you don’t like it, I’ll never do it again.” She had cried until her eyes were swollen and red. Even though she was the one completely violating my boundaries, she somehow made it look like I was being a crazy, unreasonable bully. “Chloe, I swear it’s true! I’ll show you the chat logs, we only talked about your relationship!” It was about our relationship. Liam: “Sarah, if Chloe was as sweet and understanding as you, we wouldn’t fight at all. She’s such a spoiled princess, she gets mad over nothing. I’m so sick of her sometimes.” Sarah: “Don’t say that about Chloe! I’m sure she has a reason for being mad. You probably did something to upset her. And anyway, I’m not as great as you say I am.” … Out of hundreds of pages of texts, she specifically made sure I saw those messages. It only made me angrier. I knew she did it on purpose back then. And I knew she was doing it on purpose now. 6 “Did you know? When Liam first confessed to me, I was so shocked, I rejected him immediately. But you really can’t control your feelings. I figured since you guys have been broken up for months, and he swore he had zero feelings for you anymore, I finally said yes. Liam said we should all grab dinner sometime as an apology. When are you free, Chloe?” I’m free never, because I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist smashing a plate into both of your faces. I started to reconsider my life choices. Had I been too nice? Was that why she thought I was a total pushover? I slammed my phone face-down on the desk. “Sarah, I’m not a target dummy. Stop shooting your arrows at me.” Sarah: “?” “Are you done putting on a show? When Liam and I were together, I didn’t want to call you out on your pathetic little schemes. I gave you too much grace, and now you actually think you’re untouchable. “Does picking up my trash make you feel special? Does dating my ex make you feel proud? “You came over here spewing all this garbage just so you could see me look sad and defeated. It feeds your ego. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not as fake as you are, and I won’t give you the satisfaction.” She clearly hadn’t expected me to rip off her mask and expose her true intentions so bluntly. Sarah’s face turned the color of raw liver. Her voice shook. “Chloe… you’re being really mean today.” Me: “Well let me tell you, it’s not just going to be today. If you don’t like how mean I am, you can stop talking to me.” 7 Sarah stormed out in a huff, and my ears finally found peace. Mia gave me a massive thumbs up. “Girl, your combat power is off the charts today! You always used to just turn a blind eye to her.” I gave Mia a full rundown of what happened on the train. Mia slapped her thigh. “No way! Why don’t I ever meet gorgeous, helpful vigilantes on the train?!” …Was that really the main takeaway here? Mia was instantly invested. “He goes to our school? What’s his name? I’m searching the university confessions page right now.” She unlocked her phone. “Ethan Cole. Computer Science.” “People are literally begging for his info and posting pictures of him. Holy crap, he’s top-tier.” Mia shoved her phone in my face. It was a photo of Ethan, zoomed in to fill the screen. He was mid-shot on a basketball court, the muscles in his arms flexing perfectly. Under the red and white jersey, you could see a glimpse of a lean waist, defined abs, and… Mia sighed in awe. “You are eating good.” Me: “I haven’t eaten anything yet.” I pulled up Ethan’s WeChat profile. Wow. His feed was even cleaner than his face. Zero posts. I had no idea how to even start a conversation with him. Unlike me. My life was a mess, but my social media was highly curated. Mia asked, “By the way, are you still going to the Class President’s birthday dinner tomorrow?” Me: “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Mia: “I figured you wouldn’t want to watch Liam and Sarah aggressively making out in front of you.” Me: “They can eat each other’s faces. I’ll be eating the steak.” Mia: “I thought it would make you lose your appetite.” I looked at her, confused. “They’re just being annoying, they aren’t taking a dump on the table. Why wouldn’t I eat?” Mia: “…” 8 The next day, in the private dining room. “Liam, I gotta hand it to you. You managed to bag the two prettiest girls in our major. Got the old flame on the left and the new spark on the right.” “Yeah, Liam, tell us the truth. Who do you like more? The ex or the current?” A few drinks in, and people were already talking too much. I frowned. That was an incredibly disrespectful question. Liam didn’t answer immediately. He just looked over at me. When I met his gaze, he awkwardly looked away. A moment later, he threw his arm around Sarah’s shoulders, pulling her into his chest, and smirked at the table. “What do you guys think?” Sarah’s face turned bright red. She leaned into Liam’s chest, acting all shy and delicate. “Stop it, everyone is watching.” Then, she looked at me with fake magnanimity. “Chloe, don’t be mad. I’ll scold him for you.” Wait, why would I be mad? Can I just eat my food in peace? Stop dragging me into this! But there’s always someone who just wants to watch the world burn. “Chloe, you look really unhappy. Are you still not over Liam?” Me: “Not even a little bit.” “Don’t deny it, Chloe! We totally understand. Our guy Liam is a total catch, right?” Do these people not speak English? I looked at the guys making the jokes, and then at Liam, who was sitting there silently enjoying it. Four words popped into my head: Birds of a feather. I felt profound regret that I was ever blind enough to date Liam. It felt like stepping in dog crap. “Sorry I’m late.” Suddenly, the private room door swung open, and a familiar voice rang out. I looked over. It was Ethan Cole. Oh thank god! It’s Ethan! I shot up from my chair instantly. “You’re here!” “You’re here!” Two voices spoke at the exact same time. Me and the Class President. The President looked at me in shock. “You guys know each other?” So he was friends with the President. I was even more certain now that we definitely shoveled manure together in a past life. I nodded vigorously. “Yeah! He’s my boyfriend.” My eyes locked with Ethan’s across the room. I frantically sent him SOS signals with my eyes. He raised an eyebrow, a flash of surprise crossing his face. Then, the corners of his lips curled up into a slow, knowing smile. “Yeah. That’s right. I’m her boyfriend.” 9 After Ethan said that, the entire room went dead silent for a few seconds. The President was the first to break it. He looked thrilled. “Since when?! Why didn’t you guys tell me?!” Me: “Because keeping it a secret is more exciting.” The President was speechless. I looked at the guys who were just making fun of me, flashing them a sarcastic smile. “Do you really think that with a boyfriend looking like this, I’d be hung up on Liam?” At that moment, the expressions on everyone’s faces were absolutely priceless. Especially Liam’s. His face went completely dark. Mia was sitting next to me. When Ethan started walking toward us, she immediately jumped up and offered him her seat without a word. Ethan sat down, leaned in close to my ear, and whispered, “Which one is the ex?” Human nature is truly universal. Even he wanted the tea. I muttered, “Third one on your left.” I instinctively looked over, only to find Liam glaring daggers at us, looking absolutely furious. Ethan gave his assessment: “You have terrible taste.” …I literally could not argue with that. Sarah suddenly spoke up. “Chloe, you got a new boyfriend so fast! How come you never mentioned him in the dorm?” Still with the passive-aggressive tone, acting like she was the victim. I let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. “Because I was scared of you, obviously!” I grabbed Ethan’s hand and waved it in the air for everyone to see. “He’s very precious to me. I couldn’t risk you stealing him too.”

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I secretly dated the boy next door for six years, and we were finally planning to go public. I was happily preparing a family dinner, hoping to surprise him, when I overheard a familiar voice coming from next door. “Ethan, your innocent first love is coming back. What are you going to do about the backup sister?” He didn’t say anything. As the silence stretched, another friend laughed: “I gotta say, Ethan’s got some serious charm. Even the Vance family heiress fell for him. He’s been enjoying all the perks of a devoted ‘little puppy’ for six years.” “Mia, that innocent little flower, she wants to wrap you around her finger the second she gets back. She even invited you to celebrate her birthday. If you show up with your backup sister, do you think she’ll regret leaving you?” … The next day, Ethan actually brought me to Mia’s birthday party, putting on a huge show of how deeply in love we were. But when Mia ran out crying, he shoved me aside and frantically chased after her. I went home covered in spilled wine and bruises, and climbed up to the attic he never allowed me to enter. The entire wall was plastered with photos of him and Mia! My heart turned to ash. I called my brother, who was living abroad. “Matt, I’ve thought about the arranged marriage. I agree to it!” 1. “Chloe, is everything okay?” The line was quiet for three seconds before my brother’s familiar, worried voice came through. A wave of warmth rushed over my heart, my nose stung, and I almost burst into tears. “What could possibly be wrong? It’s just… I saw the neighbor’s dog just had her second litter of puppies, and I’m still single. It’s not fair.” My brother burst out laughing, his tone lightening significantly: “Very ambitious of you!” “Wait, isn’t your neighbor Ethan Sterling? He’s been terrified of dogs since he was a kid. He has a dog now?” I was suddenly speechless, not expecting my brother to have such a good memory. Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue and got back to the point: “So, when are you coming back? Or do you want to meet him first before making a final decision?” I quickly replied: “No need. I trust you and Dad’s judgment. You guys start planning the wedding; I’ll finish things up here and head back immediately.” “Alright.” “Are you going to invite Ethan to the wedding? I heard his ‘innocent little flower’ is back. He might just end up getting married right after you.” So, everyone knew he was waiting for his innocent little flower. I was the only one kept entirely in the dark. I lowered my head, fighting back the sting in my eyes. “I’m not inviting him. We had a massive falling out.” My brother paused, instinctively asking, “Why?” “Because of their dog.” Just as I finished the sentence, I heard a noise at the door. I quickly hung up the phone. When I looked up, I met Ethan’s smiling eyes. “What dog? Who were you talking to?” “My brother. We were talking about your dog.” “I don’t have a dog.” Realizing I was taking a jab at him, Ethan didn’t get mad. Instead, he laughed and tackled me onto the sofa. “If I’m a dog, then what are you, huh? My little puppy?” I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my hand and pulled it toward his waist. “Isn’t this the ‘dog waist’ you like so much?” He leaned in closer, his breath brushing against my nose, almost kissing my lips. This level of intimacy used to make my heart race and my face flush. Now, it only made me feel uncomfortable and resistant. As I struggled against him, a clear row of teeth marks on his collarbone was revealed. I don’t know what scraped against the cuts on my leg, but it felt like they were being torn open again. The sharp pain made tears fall uncontrollably. Seeing me cry, Ethan immediately panicked. “What’s wrong, Chloe? Did I hurt you?” He helped me sit up and looked me up and down. Finally, he noticed the several bleeding cuts on my calf. His voice began to tremble with heartache. “How did this happen? How did you get so many cuts? Why didn’t you call me?” He seemed to have completely forgotten what happened at the birthday party. I stayed silent, unsure if I should remind him and rip off his mask of deep devotion. “Be a good girl, stop crying. I’ll put some medicine on it.” He kissed my forehead and got up to fetch the first aid kit. “You’re so bad at taking care of yourself. What would you do without me?” I stared blankly at his back. Yeah, what would I do without him? I chased after him for twenty-two years, and for the last six, we were inseparable. But Ethan, what I wanted was never a fake dream or a fake you! 2 I couldn’t sleep. Jolting awake from a nightmare in the middle of the night, I slipped out of Ethan’s arms and sat barefoot on the bay window, watching the moon. I must have dozed off at some point, because I woke up with a start when Ethan picked me up in the morning. He smiled helplessly: “Why are you sitting on the windowsill instead of sleeping in bed? And you’re not even wearing enough.” Before he even finished his sentence, his expression drastically changed. “Why are you burning up?” I felt groggy, my brain like mush, and I didn’t want to talk. I let his palm rest on my forehead, bringing a cool, comforting touch. His handsome brows furrowed. He wrapped me in a blanket and silently started changing my clothes, maneuvering my limbs to get me dressed. I weakly raised a hand to push him away. “I can do it myself. Just… just get me a cold towel.” It felt like my tongue was tied in knots as I spoke. Ethan effortlessly swatted my hand away. “I’ve dressed you so many times before. Why are you suddenly shy now that you’re sick?” After forcefully getting me dressed, he carried me to the car. While we were waiting in line to register at the hospital, Mia walked in from outside, her eyes red. She locked eyes with Ethan and stood there, speechless and tearing up. “Ethan…” Ethan’s face shifted. He immediately stepped out of line, grabbed her shoulders, and asked nervously, “Where does it hurt?” “I… I was being clumsy. I burned myself making porridge.” She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a red, swollen patch on her arm. Ethan’s eyes instantly reddened. He gently lifted her arm and blew on it carefully. “Don’t do this kind of rough work anymore. Tell me whatever you want to eat.” Mia nodded, breaking into a smile through her tears. “Ethan, you’re the only one who treats me this well.” Ethan raised a hand and ruffled her hair. “Silly, if I don’t treat you well, who will?” Mia smiled coyly, her gaze sweeping past me sitting on the bench. But Ethan seemed to have completely forgotten about me. He registered for Mia, fussed over her, and never once looked back at me until they left. See, this is the difference between the backup and the main character. No matter how deeply devoted he acted, the moment Mia appeared, my role as the understudy vanished into thin air. I let out a bitter laugh, forced my heavy body to stand up, registered myself, and headed to the outpatient clinic. My fever was too high; I needed an IV drip to bring it down. Fighting off dizziness, I went to get my medication alone, then headed to the IV area. I was so exhausted during the drip that I fell asleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but I was shaken awake by a little kid next to me. “Miss, why isn’t your boyfriend here with you? Your blood started backing up into the tube while you were asleep. My mom called the nurse for you. But we have to leave now, and it’s dangerous for you not to have anyone watching.” I gratefully thanked the kid and his mom, then forced myself to stay awake and watch the IV bag. It was already afternoon by the time the IV finished. Ethan still hadn’t looked for me, not even a single phone call. I stood up, planning to go home by myself, but fell back into the chair, dizzy and weak. Left with no choice, I dialed Ethan’s number. Hearing that I was still at the hospital, he froze for a long time. “I’m sorry, Chloe. Mia was in so much pain, and she couldn’t stand the smell of the hospital, so I thought I’d drop her off and then immediately come find you…” Before he could finish, Mia’s sweet voice came through the receiver. “Ethan, is it done yet? I’m so hungry~” Even though Ethan immediately covered the receiver, her clear words still reached my ears. “Chloe, it’s not what you think. Head home first, and I’ll explain everything later.” I curled my lip, not really caring to hear his “explanation.” His so-called explanations were nothing but endless lies. I said: “It’s fine, Ethan. I can manage on my own.” There’s no one in this world who can’t survive losing someone else. Especially Chloe Vance losing Ethan Sterling! I hung up, hired a courier to help me, and safely made it back home. That night, Ethan didn’t come home like he promised. Late at night, while my boss had me working on an urgent file, my phone suddenly chimed. I checked it and saw that Ethan had shared one of Mia’s posts. It was a picture of their shadows leaning intimately against each other, accompanied by a sentimental caption. [Who says no one will wait for you where you left them? The person who truly cares about you is the one who, no matter how far you go, will always be there when you look back!] I was just about to click “like” when I noticed the post had been deleted. However, the next moment, a notification popped up on my alternate account. He had reposted it. He blocked my main account when posting but forgot I had him added on my alt. I smiled and unfollowed him on both accounts. 3 That night, without Ethan, I actually slept incredibly well and woke up feeling much better. I arrived at the office right on time and handed my resignation letter to the director. She was very reluctant to see me go, but knowing I was going back to get married, she could only helplessly offer her blessings and a hug. After I finished handing over my work, my colleagues, who had just been sad to see me go, started clamoring for me to treat them to a farewell dinner now that they knew I was leaving to get married. Of course, I didn’t refuse. I booked a restaurant and a karaoke room. I don’t know if Mia and I were bound by some twisted fate, but I actually ran into her again when I went to the restroom during karaoke. Meeting my surprised expression, Mia seemed much more composed. “What a coincidence. You’re here to play too, Chloe?” I gave her a polite smile. I didn’t think we had anything to talk about, so I turned to walk back to my private room. But she didn’t seem to share the sentiment and sidestepped to block my path again. “You seem to really dislike me, Chloe. Why? We have so much in common. You even dip your beef in vinegar, just like me.” Her words made me turn my head slightly to look at her. I had always wondered why Ethan insisted on dipping beef in vinegar for me every time. He had explained that it tasted better that way, but I could never get used to it. Looking back now, that was just an excuse. The vinegar dipping was just him projecting his habits with Mia onto me. My stomach churned with acid; I felt nauseous enough to throw up. But Mia kept talking. “Besides, don’t you think we look very similar, Chloe?” That one sentence completely destroyed all my defenses. The strength and dignity I had forced myself to maintain crumbled in an instant. “Is that so? What a coincidence. I have things to do, so I won’t keep you company.” I shoved past her shoulder and fled. Back in the private room, feeling my hands and feet turn icy cold, I downed a glass of liquor just to feel warm again. My colleagues were cheering for me to sing a song. Just as I was about to pick one, the door was violently thrown open. Ethan stood in the doorway. He stared at the packed room for a few seconds before his furious eyes locked onto me. I was about to ask him what was wrong when he crossed the room in three strides, grabbed me by the neck, and roared, “Who was the guy you brought with you?!” I had never seen him look so ferocious. I trembled slightly. “What guy? What are you talking about?” Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot. Even as my colleagues surrounded him, pulling at him, he didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest. “The guy you brought into the restroom to assault Mia! Tell me, who is he?!” As it became harder and harder to breathe, I slapped Ethan hard across the face. Shocked, he let go, but the suppressed rage radiating from him only grew thicker. Protected by my colleagues, I slumped onto the sofa, coughing for a long time before I found my normal voice again. “Ethan, have you gone crazy?! How could I possibly bring a man into the restroom and assault Mia?!” “If it wasn’t you, then who was it?! You were mad that I left you at the hospital for her, mad that I didn’t come home for two days to take care of her, so you orchestrated this revenge! How can you be so venomous?!” My heart ached bitterly. I offered a sad smile and nodded. “Since you’re already so convinced it was me, why didn’t you call the police?” Ethan pressed his lips tightly together. The disappointment in his eyes pierced me inch by inch. “You were so brazen because you knew I wouldn’t call the police, didn’t you?” I met his gaze, the mockery and derision in my heart roaring loudly. He’s ready to strangle me to death; what wouldn’t he dare do? He suddenly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room. My colleagues stepped in front of us to block him. I gratefully shook my head at them. “I’m sorry. My personal issues are ruining the mood. You guys keep playing; I’ll be right back.” Only then did my colleagues step aside. Ethan dragged me into another private room. Inside, Mia was huddled on the sofa, wrapped in Ethan’s jacket, shivering, while several of his close friends surrounded her, trying to comfort her. Ethan threw me in front of Mia and commanded sharply: “Apologize to Mia.” “You should be glad Mia wasn’t seriously hurt today. Otherwise, I would absolutely make you pay the price.” My knee slammed into the corner of the sofa, and I hissed in pain. Mia, tears shining in the corners of her eyes, shook her head repeatedly. “Ethan, let it go. It’s not Chloe’s fault. I was just unlucky.” Having said that, she let out low, whimpering sobs, like a pathetic kitten, making everyone feel sorry for her. But what did I do wrong? I chuckled softly and stood up from the floor. “I’m really curious, Ethan.” “As the old saying goes, ‘catch the thief with the loot.’ You’re concluding that I hurt Mia based entirely on your own words. Sorry, but I won’t accept the blame, and I don’t have time to play along with this farce. If you bother me again, I’m calling the police.” 4 Twenty-two years of being childhood friends, I thought my character needed no proving in Ethan’s eyes. However, in front of Mia, twenty-two years meant absolutely nothing. His bias and favoritism were so blatantly obvious, and I… I was nothing but a stand-in in this game of love! I didn’t go back to my colleagues’ room. I paid the bill at the front desk, apologized to everyone in the group chat, and said my goodbyes. When I got home, I collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted. In a daze, I remembered six years ago when a drunk Ethan begged me to take him in. I helped him onto the sofa in the living room and stared blankly at his sharply defined, handsome face. I don’t know how long I watched him before he suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was burning, trapping me like a ring of fire. “Do you like me?” Hearing his question, I nodded as if possessed. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He yanked me toward him, grabbed the back of my head, and kissed me passionately. From that day on, I became his girlfriend in everything but name. I had heard of Mia, but I had never met her. When Ethan and she were dating, I was a junior in college, getting tortured half to death by my thesis. By the time I finally had some free time, their story had already reached the “abandoned by love” phase. I thought I was the medicine that healed his broken heart, but looking back now, those six years were nothing but a joke. The next day, I hired a moving company to pack everything into boxes. Ethan didn’t have much stuff here. His house was right next door. Because he found it troublesome, he didn’t move everything over when we started living together; he only brought over his daily necessities. Now, returning his things only took one small cardboard box. I opened the front door to his house, retrieved all the photos of me and the little couple’s trinkets I had given him, and left the key on the table. As for my belongings and some old items in the apartment, I packed them all up and shipped them abroad. After doing all this, as the real estate agent was conducting the final walkthrough, I finally remembered that Ethan still had a key. I called him, but he hung up on me time and time again. Finally, he sent a text: [Unless it’s an apology and reflection on what you did, I don’t want to hear another word from you right now.] Speechless, I simply hired a locksmith to change the lock. After handing over the apartment, I took my suitcase early the next morning and boarded the plane leaving the country. Leaving the home I had once been so attached to, I felt incredibly light and free. Just before boarding, my phone received numerous birthday wishes. My friends wished me a bright future, peace, happiness, and a beautiful marriage! I replied to them one by one, then turned off my phone. As the plane took off, I thought to myself: With so many blessings, I will definitely be happy! 5 When the plane landed, it was the dead of night in London. I dragged my suitcase out of the airport and immediately spotted my family waiting anxiously. “Dad, Mom, Matt.” My brother seamlessly took my suitcase, allowing me to run straight into my mother’s arms unimpeded. It feels so good to hug my family again! I hugged my mom tightly, tears nearly springing to my eyes. “It’s so good you’re back. I missed you so much.” My mom patted my back gently, making my guilt grow even heavier. Nine years ago, driven by that hazy infatuation in my heart, I ignored my parents’ advice and insisted on staying in Shanghai for college. Though they were helpless, they couldn’t bear to force me and ultimately let me stay. I never expected that separation to last nine years. I only ever went home for brief visits during Christmas. Making them endure the agony of missing me for nine years… I was truly an unfilial daughter! “Mom, I’m never leaving again. I’m going to stay right here with you and Dad.” My mom and dad looked at each other and smiled: “That’s wonderful! Your dad and I have been waiting for the day our family would finally be reunited.” Laughing and chatting, I took my dad’s arm with one hand and my mom’s with the other as we walked out of the airport. Meanwhile, back at Ethan’s house, the situation was completely different. He sat on the floor, having an emotional breakdown, repeatedly dialing my number. Every year for my birthday, Ethan would order a custom bracelet from Stars well in advance, and on the day of my birthday, he would get a reminder to pick it up. This year was no exception. When he received the call, he suddenly realized today was my birthday. But looking at his phone, he suddenly realized I hadn’t initiated contact with him a single time recently. Not even today. He felt as if something had drained from his heart, leaving his chest tight and uncomfortable. After thinking it over, he sent me a message. [Since it’s your birthday, I’ll let this go. As long as you say sorry to Mia, we can consider this matter closed.] When he sent the message, a glaring red exclamation point appeared next to it. The pop-up notification on the screen made his eyes widen in disbelief. [Sorry, you are not friends with this user. Please add them as a friend first.] This time, Ethan was truly angry. He furiously dialed my number, but only heard the prompt that my phone was turned off. After calling over a dozen times, the panic in his heart grew larger and larger. Finally, unable to bear it anymore, he ignored Mia’s attempts to stop him, floored the gas pedal, and sped home as fast as he could. When he arrived at my door, he found that his key no longer opened it. He couldn’t understand why I was throwing such a massive tantrum this time. Clearly, I was the one in the wrong. He kept banging on my front door, but the people who opened it were a newlywed couple. He returned to his own home in defeat, only to realize he couldn’t find a single item related to me anymore. Even our one pair of matching mugs and slippers had vanished without a trace. And those little trinkets I had given him over the years—he couldn’t find a single one either. He deeply regretted not properly storing those small items. Mia rushed over and tried to comfort him: “Sister Chloe is probably just upset and went out to clear her head. She’ll be back once she cools down.” He shook his head in agony. “You don’t understand her. She’s never been one to do things without considering the consequences.” As soon as he said that, he froze himself. The events at the karaoke bar flashed through his mind. He stared at Mia with a dark, intense look, as if trying to see right through her. “That day at karaoke, are you sure it was Chloe who brought that man in to assault you?” Mia shuddered. “I never said it was Chloe! I only said that right after Chloe left, that man came in. I…” “Get out!” Before she could finish, the man roared at her. As Mia ran out of the house crying, Ethan suddenly smashed his phone and violently slapped himself twice across the face. 6 I knew nothing about what was happening in Shanghai. Perhaps due to the insomnia from the previous few days, I didn’t even suffer from jet lag and slept straight through until the sun was high in the sky. As soon as I came downstairs, I was greeted by my family enthusiastically wishing me a happy birthday! Holding my gifts, my entire heart felt stuffed full of happiness. After breakfast, feeling bored and lazy, I crouched in the plaza watching some kids skateboard. It looked so fun that I borrowed a skateboard from a little girl to try it out. Unfortunately, I pushed off too hard and almost went flying. Just as I was about to fall, a pair of strong arms caught me securely. “Thank you!” When I looked up, I was stunned by an incredibly handsome face. He had very Eastern features, but with a pair of light blue eyes. This combination made him far more handsome than any male celebrity I had ever seen. “Want to learn how to skateboard?” He tilted his head slightly toward me, offering a gentle smile that naturally made people feel at ease. I couldn’t help but nod. With that, he steadied me. Using his toe, he expertly flicked the skateboard up and helped me onto it. I thought he was going to teach me how to glide, but the next moment, he stepped onto the board as well. With a single push, the skateboard started moving. Under his guidance, we even performed two simple tricks on the board, drawing applause from the kids around us! By the time we stopped, my face was bright red. It was my first time being so close to a stranger. No wonder people say foreign cultures are more open. While I was feeling awkward, my brother ran over from a distance. He looked at him, then looked at me. “You two seem to hit it off. You got familiar fast.” “Huh?” Before I could react, the man held his hand out to me and introduced himself. “Miles Sterling. Nice to meet you. I hope I didn’t leave a bad first impression on Ms. Vance.” I looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to be Miles Sterling, my prospective fiancé. While I was zoning out, my brother suddenly winked at me. “He’s still holding his hand out.” Embarrassed, I quickly reached out and shook his hand. “Hello, Chloe Vance.” He didn’t mind my awkwardness at all and continued, “What do you want to do for your birthday today? Amusement park, shopping, or a movie?” His composure instantly made me feel a little less stiff. “Anything is fine.” He thought for a moment. “Hmm, then I’ll arrange the schedule. If we do all of them, we might get home a little late.” I was a bit stunned. Is that what “anything is fine” meant to him? But I truly hadn’t relaxed in a long time, so I didn’t correct his interpretation. When we went to the amusement park, my brother shamelessly insisted on tagging along. Not only that, but he also brought a whole bunch of his friends. This loud, rowdy group swarmed through the amusement park like a plague of locusts. Miles stayed by my side the entire time, carefully looking out for me. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this group seemed terrified of Miles. One look from him, and they immediately kept their distance. After playing for two hours, Miles seemed to notice I was losing interest, so he took me and ditched the rest of the group. After lunch, we went to see a movie. I don’t know if we just had bad luck, but a bratty kid sat behind me and kept kicking my seat the entire movie. At first, Miles very politely asked the parent to control their child. But the parent just let it go in one ear and out the other, completely ignoring him. A cold smirk appeared on the corner of Miles’s mouth. A few minutes later, he suddenly waved at the empty air. Two minutes after that, he moved to the row behind us, sitting two seats away from the kid, and started continuously chatting with the empty seat next to him. I don’t know what he talked about, but less than five minutes later, the kid burst out crying and absolutely refused to stay in the theater with his mom any longer. I spent the whole time trying to suppress my laughter, completely unable to focus on the movie. When Miles walked back to his seat, he adjusted his jacket and whispered to me, “Laugh if you want to. Don’t hold it in.” I mouthed one word to him. “Legend.” By the time we finished shopping, it was completely dark outside. I thought Miles was going to take me home, but instead, he drove me to the beach. My brother and his friends had set up barbecue grills and tents on the sand. We all crowded together, talking and laughing. When the moon was at its highest, they brought out rows of fireworks and eagerly lit them. The fireworks bloomed, filling the sky with brilliance. My brother patted my head. “Make a wish. Miles said a cake was too cliché. Fireworks are perfect—grand, and closest to the stars.” I turned to look at Miles, gave him a grateful smile, then closed my eyes and made a wish to the sky.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391827”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My family arranged for me to marry into the Sterling conglomerate, and both families sat down together to discuss the wedding details. My parents asked me who I wanted to marry. Figuring I had to marry someone anyway, I casually pointed at Ezra Sterling, whom I had known for years. Before I could even speak, a barrage of text comments suddenly materialized and floated across my vision. [Is this female supporting character a glutton for punishment? There are so many men in the world, why does she have to cling to the male lead? So disgusting!] [It’s fine. The female lead is already pregnant with a mind-reading miracle baby anyway. Eventually, everyone will find out about all the terrible things the female supporting character did.] [So trashy. Can the female supporting character just die off already? I want to see the female lead and her cute baby!] [Let me give you a spoiler: the female supporting character dies a miserable death. Her family goes bankrupt, the male lead doesn’t love her, her friends are all useless trash, and in the end, she jumps off a building wearing stolen clothes and dies!] Seeing these comments, my heart leaped into my throat. Only one thought echoed in my mind: whatever the hell was going on, under no circumstances could I choose Ezra Sterling. So, I subtly shifted my hand and pointed directly at the Sterling family’s notorious playboy: “I choose him!” 1 “These are all the unmarried boys in the Sterling family. Chloe, take your pick.” As soon as Grandpa Sterling finished speaking, everyone in the private dining room looked at me. I scanned the room, my eyes landing on Ezra Sterling. I looked at him; he looked at me. The moment our eyes met, he gave me a slight nod. The implication was clear: I was allowed to choose him. I reached out my hand and pointed at Ezra: “Then I’ll choose Ez…” Before the words could leave my mouth, a flood of text comments drifted across my vision. [Is this female supporting character a glutton for punishment? There are so many men in the world, why does she have to cling to the male lead? So disgusting!] [It’s fine. The female lead is already pregnant with a mind-reading miracle baby anyway. Eventually, everyone will find out about all the terrible things the female supporting character did.] [So trashy. Can the female supporting character just die off already? I want to see the female lead and her cute baby!] [Let me give you a spoiler: the female supporting character dies a miserable death. Her family goes bankrupt, the male lead doesn’t love her, her friends are all useless trash, and in the end, she jumps off a building wearing stolen clothes and dies!] There was even a “Next Page” button below, showing 999+ comments. Female supporting character? Me? Did I commit some grave sin against the heavens? I agree to a business marriage, and as a result, my family goes bankrupt, and I end up jumping off a building and dying? I usually enjoy reading web novels, including those with live comment sections, so I naturally understood what was happening. My brain worked lightning fast. Right now, I only had one thought: even if I had to choose Ezra Sterling’s dad, I absolutely could not choose Ezra Sterling! Of course, Ezra’s dad wasn’t in this room; the older generation was in the private room next door. Aside from Grandpa Sterling, everyone sitting here was an unmarried male of suitable age. Today’s banquet was essentially a giant matchmaking session prepared specifically for me. Therefore, I had plenty of men to choose from. With a quick flick of my wrist, I pointed directly at the man sitting next to Ezra: “…Asher.” Whatever, he’ll do. The rest of them I either didn’t know well or they just weren’t my type. The man had been playing on his phone. Hearing me call his name, his head snapped up. A flash of surprise crossed his peach-blossom eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but was there a hint of pleasant surprise in his gaze, too? He put his phone away, looked around the room, and then laughed: “Chloe, you must have misspoken. Ezra is sitting right next to me.” He nudged Ezra with his elbow, gesturing for him to stand up. The surprise and impatience in Ezra’s eyes vanished in a flash. He adjusted his collar, just about to stand up. I spoke clearly: “Sit down. Asher Sterling, I called your name.” Grandpa Sterling was also full of surprise. He looked at me kindly and said, “It’s alright, Chloe. Think it through carefully before you choose.” “That’s right, Chloe. After all, marriage is a major life event. We need to be a bit more prudent,” my dad chimed in. Before coming here, we had a family meeting to discuss who I should marry. Ezra Sterling was the top candidate. He was good-looking, and we had been classmates since we were kids. In all these years, I had never heard a single scandal about him. He seemed to keep his nose clean and stay out of trouble. He truly was a solid choice for a marriage of convenience. And during our discussion, the absolute worst choice was Asher Sterling, the number one playboy in the city. Just the title alone was enough to make anyone keep their distance. I shook my head and kept my eyes fixed on Asher: “No need. He’s the one.” 2 After dinner, everyone left with their own hidden agendas. Although Grandpa Sterling was very surprised by my choice, he still asked Asher to drive me home, suggesting we use the opportunity to cultivate some feelings. We sat in the same car, neither of us speaking. Technically, Asher was three years younger than me, and I had practically watched him grow up. But we hadn’t interacted much; we usually just exchanged polite greetings when we saw each other. Now, having suddenly gone from mere acquaintances to fiancés, let alone him, even I hadn’t fully adjusted to the shift. “Um, Chloe, I…” Before he could finish his sentence, the car door next to me was pulled open. Ezra Sterling sat down right beside me, frowning at Asher: “I have something to discuss with her. You and the driver step out.” They flanked me on the left and right, squishing me in the middle. I felt a surge of annoyance. When Ezra leaned closer, the strong scent of tobacco clinging to him suffocated my breathing space even more. I raised a hand, signaling Ezra to back off and maintain a safe social distance: “No need. Whatever you have to say, you can say it here.” Ezra’s brow furrowed tightly, clearly displeased, but he asked anyway: “Why did you choose him? There are plenty of people in the Sterling family you could have chosen. He’s not the only option.” I shimmied my butt to the other side, trying hard to put some distance between Ezra and me. Inevitably, I bumped into Asher. I looked Ezra straight in the eye and countered: “What about you? Why did you insist I choose you? There are plenty of unmarried men in the Sterling family. Why did it have to be you?” Ezra froze, seemingly not expecting me to ask that. Just as I was trying to think of an excuse to get him out of the car, he sneered: “You’d rather choose a playboy with a terrible reputation than choose me?” Earlier, I was still weighing my options, but now my resolve was ironclad. I wasn’t narcissistic enough to believe that Ezra loved me so much he couldn’t live without me. He must have some ulterior motive for insisting on marrying me. Thinking of this, I conveniently leaned back, resting against Asher. I smiled: “What’s wrong with a playboy? I happen to like them wild.” The car fell dead silent. The driver stared straight ahead, not even daring to breathe too loudly. I heard Asher’s heartbeat suddenly accelerate. Thump thump thump, thump thump thump. Even through his clothes, I could feel the heat radiating from his body. A faint, woody cologne drifted into my nose, cutting through the stale smell of smoke in the car. Ezra: “You! How could you be this kind of person?! Frivolous!” He glared at me resentfully, then slammed the car door and stormed off a moment later. Only me, Asher, and the driver were left in the car. The driver very tactfully raised the privacy partition. Now, it was time for Asher and me to have a private conversation. Asher’s voice drifted from the back of my neck: “Chloe, um, maybe you could sit up first?” His voice was as quiet as a mosquito, his gentle breath ghosting over my skin. The atmosphere was so ambiguous that my face flushed slightly. So he wouldn’t notice anything was off, I pulled out of his embrace and put some distance between us. Once I was settled, Asher finally spoke: “Do you want to reconsider the marriage alliance? You know my reputation is terrible. If you’re with me, your future…” “No need,” I shook my head. “Since I chose you, I’m not going to change my mind. But I need you to agree to three conditions.” He nodded almost instantly: “Okay. Tell me.” “I don’t care who you were tangled up with before, cut all ties within three days. I don’t want any negative press surrounding our marriage. “Get a full physical exam and a three-panel STD test. I need to know you’re healthy. Naturally, I’ll get tested too. “Third, we can divorce after we have a child. During the marriage, absolutely no cheating is allowed. The same goes for me.” After laying out my three conditions, I looked at Asher. For a notorious playboy, these three conditions were undeniably challenging. But it wasn’t like I had to marry him. If Asher couldn’t do it, there were other men in the Sterling family. But to my surprise, Asher nodded without hesitation: “There has never been anyone else. And I promise you, there will never be a third person between us.” With that, he lowered the partition and told the driver: “Turn around. Go to the nearest medical testing center.” 3 Money makes the world go round. Not long after our blood was drawn, the three-panel STD test results were in my hands. Asher stood before me, holding the report: “Here are my test results. Absolutely no issues. Is there anything else you want to check?” All indicators were normal; everything was negative. If I didn’t have much of an impression of him before, I was highly satisfied with Asher now. His facial features were softer than Ezra’s, and he spoke softly, but there was nothing soft about his physique. In the car earlier, I hadn’t just heard his racing heartbeat; I had felt the sudden, firm flex of his chest muscles. A man’s chest muscles are soft when they aren’t flexing them. What a scheming man. But I was an absolute sucker for this little trick. I nodded in satisfaction: “Excellent. Since that’s settled, when we get back, we’ll discuss the engagement date. Everything else is out of our hands.” Asher nodded eagerly, his tone eager: “It’s still early. Do you want to go grab a couple of drinks?” Since we were going to be partners in life from now on, I naturally didn’t refuse. But before we even walked out the hospital doors, a young woman walked past me. The moment she passed, the floating text appeared before my eyes again. [The female lead came to the hospital all alone to get her baby checked, while the male lead is still out drinking with that Vance woman. It’s so tragic!] [Thank goodness the miracle baby is well-behaved and doesn’t cause the female lead any trouble, otherwise our hearts would literally break for her.] [When is the female supporting character going to die off? I can’t stand reading about her for another chapter. I wish I could reach through the screen and slap her. Isn’t she pathetic?!] So the girl who just walked past was Ezra’s girlfriend? I glanced at her retreating back. Remembering that my marriage partner had been swapped to Asher, I immediately looked away. Mind my own business. But the second I turned my head, I saw text popping up around Asher, too. [Oh no, our Mia was spotted by the villain! The villain is going to use this to blackmail the male lead, and the male lead is going to have to give up so many shares to the villain to keep it quiet!] [Our Ezra and Mia are so tragic. They clearly love each other so much, why did the author have to write in a misunderstanding between them?!] [Can the villain just die together with the female supporting character? Those two pieces of trash should just be packaged up and sent to hell together!] So Asher, the guy I casually pointed at, was the villain of this book? Looking at his harmless, innocent face, I really couldn’t tell he was capable of blackmail. Asher: “Did you know that girl who just walked by?” I shook my head: “No. She looked heavily pregnant and was here at the hospital all alone. Just seemed a bit pitiful.” Asher: “I saw that girl a few months ago. I think she’s a new intern at one of Ezra’s branch companies.” I took one last look at the girl’s retreating back: “Let’s go.” 4 Returning home, I faced my parents, who had been waiting for me. Before they could even speak, I slapped Asher’s medical report on the table: “Mom, Dad, there’s a reason for this, and I couldn’t say it at the dinner table. But as of right now, Asher is a much better fit than Ezra.” After looking over the report, my mom finally asked: “And your reason for not choosing Ezra? We’ve practically watched Ezra grow up. We know his character.” It seemed my parents didn’t know about Ezra and the intern either. “Ezra has a girlfriend, and she’s already pregnant with his child.” My simple explanation left my parents stunned. Ezra’s usual reputation was so spotless that my parents even felt suspicious: “Did Asher tell you this?” I shook my head: “I looked into it myself.” To remember a lowly intern for months, and to specifically choose the hospital where the female lead was getting her prenatal checkups to do his medical exam—clearly, Asher wasn’t entirely innocent either. But compared to Ezra, who hid his romantic history to go on a blind date with me, Asher’s little schemes could only be seen as him aggressively courting me. My dad frowned, just about to say something, when the butler walked in: “Sir, there is a Ms. Mia outside requesting to see Miss Chloe.” Ms. Mia? I was confused: “Which Ms. Mia? Let her in first.” When she arrived, I understood. It was Ezra’s girlfriend. And the moment she walked through the door, she dropped to her knees right on the floor: “Ms. Vance, I’m begging you! Please marry my boss!” 5 Good thing I dodged quickly, otherwise her kneeling to me would have definitely cursed my lifespan. I shook my head: “Ms. Mia, I don’t quite understand what you mean. Who is your boss?” Even though I knew her relationship with Ezra, I couldn’t just come out and say it. Play dumb and make her say it herself. Mia choked back a sob for a moment, then said: “My boss is Ezra Sterling. His company recently ran into a bit of a crisis and needs a massive injection of funds to bridge the gap. If he doesn’t get this money, everything he’s worked for will be bought out…” Oh? Speaking of buyouts, my eyes lit up. The children of the Sterling family received a startup fund when they came of age, free to use for their own entrepreneurial ventures. Ezra had founded a large AI research company. The project launched last year and saw a brief period of massive popularity online. But the market was saturated with competing products, and now the company was languishing in mediocrity. If there was a buyout happening, I definitely wanted a piece of the action. But right now, I needed to deal with the woman in front of me first. I sighed: “Sister, does your boss know you’re here begging me?” Mia fell silent. I said: “Butler, please escort Ms. Mia out. Having a pregnant woman kneeling in our house… if something happens to her, we won’t be able to explain ourselves.” But no matter what I said, she remained stubbornly on her knees, refusing to get up. Anyone watching would think her knees had taken root and sprouted in my living room. “Ms. Vance, if you don’t agree, I will kneel here until I die! I won’t get up!” She spoke stubbornly, straightening her back, looking like she was defying the unfairness of fate. And I was that unfair fate. Looking at this pregnant woman, my mouth twitched. I turned around and called Asher. “Why are you calling me now?” Asher’s voice on the other end was soft and gentle. I asked directly: “Do you know where Ezra is?” He paused for a second. His tone wasn’t quite as gentle as before, carrying a hint of resentment: “How should I know? After we got back tonight, Grandpa called him away again. Why are you looking for him?” Looking at the woman kneeling on the floor, I sneered: “His girlfriend is currently kneeling in front of me, demanding that I marry him.” Asher let out a sharp “Ah”: “Who?! Wait for me at your house, I’ll be right there.” “Make sure you bring Grandpa Sterling with you.” Family matters are best resolved by the family themselves. After hanging up, I looked at the woman staring at me with hopeful eyes: “The Sterling family will be here shortly. I think rather than having me marry Ezra, it’s better to let the Sterling family decide the fate of this marriage.” Mia visibly panicked: “This is my own private matter! It has absolutely nothing to do with my boss! My actions have nothing to do with him! Ms. Vance, please don’t drag him into this, and please don’t take your anger out on him because of what I’ve done.” “Too late,” I said flatly. “A pregnant woman running into my house late at night and kneeling in my living room… If word of this gets out, people who don’t know any better will think I, Chloe Vance, committed some heinous crime. “Who do you think you are, that you can dictate my marriage?” After saying that, I looked at my parents: “Mom, Dad, do you understand now why I chose Asher instead of Ezra?” My mom was basically a princess herself. She had been protected her entire life, and after marrying my dad, he treated her like royalty. She had never been dragged into wealthy family drama. To see a heavily pregnant woman show up at our door before I was even married left her completely dumbfounded. My mom sighed: “You can marry whoever you want. Your dad and I will always stand by your side.” Hearing my mom say that, tears silently welled up in my heart. Even though I didn’t know exactly what kind of book my world was set in, I could tell from the massive amount of floating text that I was the vicious female supporting character in a novel. I died a mysterious, miserable death, and my parents probably didn’t fare much better. By not marrying Ezra, I could probably live a few years longer. 6 Mia remained kneeling in my house until Grandpa Sterling arrived with Ezra and Asher. The moment he saw Mia, Grandpa Sterling started coughing violently. I thoughtfully called the butler over and asked him to pour the old man a glass of water. Grandpa Sterling sighed: “Young lady, whose child are you carrying?” Even now, Ezra’s lips remained pressed into a tight, straight line. Naturally, Mia refused to admit the truth: “Grandpa, this has absolutely nothing to do with anyone else. This was entirely my own reckless decision, my own idea. I didn’t tell anyone. Please, please don’t be angry over this.” The old man scoffed coldly: “You are an employee at Ezra’s company, and you’re claiming your actions have nothing to do with him? Fine. Ezra, contact HR immediately and have her fired.” Ezra, who hadn’t said a word until now, finally spoke up: “No! Grandpa, I followed your orders and went on the blind dates. I’ll do whatever you ask, but I cannot let her leave me.” I wore a sarcastic expression: “Are you implying that you forced yourself to go on a blind date with me, suffering an immense grievance, just to protect your true love?” I glanced at the woman kneeling on the floor and shook my head: “I really should be celebrating the fact that I chose Asher instead of you.” Ezra shot me an icy glare, but quickly masked it, replacing it with a look of tragic sorrow directed at the woman in front of him. He immediately dropped to his knees, facing Grandpa Sterling: “Grandpa, I have already gone on the blind dates you arranged. I hope you can accept Mia. I will do whatever you command!” Grandpa Sterling let out a long, heavy exhale. He was clearly furious with Ezra. “Since you already have a child on the way, you shouldn’t have lied to us and said you didn’t have someone you loved. We aren’t living in the feudal era anymore. If you want to choose who you love, us elders wouldn’t have objected! “Now that things have reached this point, pick a good day and marry this Ms. Mia.” Hearing Grandpa Sterling’s words, I nodded in agreement from the sidelines. The baby is almost due, if you don’t get married now, what are you waiting for? None of the people in my social circle ever had the habit of keeping mistresses on the side. We didn’t tolerate that kind of dirt in our eyes. Ezra blurted out almost instantly: “But if I marry Mia, what will happen to my company?” At this moment, Mia, still kneeling on the floor, burst into hysterical tears upon hearing Ezra’s words. She crawled forward on her knees and hugged Grandpa Sterling’s leg: “Grandpa, I don’t want money, and I don’t want a title! I don’t want anything! I watched him build his company from nothing with my own two eyes. I don’t want his life’s work to be destroyed! I’m begging you, please help him! “I will have the baby, and I will find a quiet corner where no one knows me. I’ll hide away and never appear in front of you for the rest of my life. “Ms. Vance, say something! I know you are a gentle, kind woman. Ezra told me that a woman like you would never make things difficult for me.” My parents and I were absolutely stunned. We exchanged bewildered glances. What kind of melodramatic soap opera were we watching? Asher coughed: “That’s where you’re wrong, Ms. Mia. Ms. Chloe is my girlfriend, and my fiancée. She has absolutely nothing to do with your boss. I suggest you think carefully before you speak.” Although he was smiling, his eyes were full of mockery. Ezra’s jaw tightened, but he couldn’t utter a single word. In comparison, Asher had just scored another point. Mia shot Asher a vicious, venomous glare: “No! I know about you! You’ve always been fighting Ezra for everything! Whenever there’s something he wants, you try to steal it! Ms. Vance, he doesn’t truly love you!” “Enough!” Hearing this, I had absolutely reached the limit of my patience and immediately ordered them out. “Mr. Sterling, this is Ezra’s family drama. Having this argument in my house is highly inappropriate, isn’t it?” Grandpa Sterling coughed a few times. His eyes were currently filled with profound disappointment: “I’ve let you youngsters see a shameful spectacle. The Sterling family will handle this internally. You focus on preparing for your wedding with Asher.” In the end, a reluctant Mia was led away by Ezra.

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My sister and I both possessed a Family Selection System. She chose the richest couple in the city to be her parents, the most popular guy in school to be her boyfriend, and the prettiest girl in our grade to be her best friend. I chose a pair of dedicated teachers as my parents, a brilliant scholar as my boyfriend, and a top-ranking nerd as my best friend. My sister laughed at me, saying I picked a bunch of useless, boring bookworms. But she didn’t understand. Money and looks can never measure a person’s true worth. 1 Chloe and I stared intensely at the system screen, our palms sweating. After sacrificing ourselves to save someone, my sister Chloe and I were both reborn in an orphanage, and we were both granted a System. The system told us we had three chances to choose our “family.” We could choose our parents, our best friend, and our boyfriend. Right now, Chloe and I were choosing our parents. Pair after pair of potential parents flashed across our screens: high-ranking politicians, janitors, award-winning actors, Olympic champions, exceptional teachers, billionaires… When Chloe saw the final pair—the billionaire couple—her breathing quickened. She eagerly pointed at the screen, her voice shrill: “I want them! I choose the billionaire parents!” The system turned to me. Chloe immediately shot me a defensive, glaring look. I understood her psychology. She was terrified I would steal them from her. Parents could be chosen simultaneously. If we both chose the billionaires, we would be sisters again, which meant she would have someone competing with her for their affection and wealth. I looked at the massive screen, my eyes slowly moving past the various options, finally stopping on a pair of nationally recognized, award-winning Master Teachers. According to their character profiles, they were gentle, kind, and completely indifferent to fame and fortune. Because they were both exceptional educators, they valued their child’s education above absolutely everything else. It was obvious that growing up in that household would guarantee the best possible education. I chose the teacher parents. Chloe let out a massive sigh of relief, followed immediately by a mocking laugh. “Mia, are you actually stupid? What’s the point of choosing a pair of broke teachers? At least pick someone with some money!” I lowered my eyes and stayed silent. Having lived a past life, how could I not understand? Wealth can be lost in an instant, but knowledge and skills are yours forever. It’s better to have your own capabilities than to rely on rich parents. Once the selection process ended, the orphanage director rushed over, announcing that two different couples were here to adopt us at the exact same time. Chloe’s eyes gleamed with greed. She sprinted out to meet her billionaire parents, only to find a single Rolls-Royce waiting. A stiff, formal assistant informed her that her new parents were too busy to come, but the car was a welcoming gift. Chloe stared at the luxury car with pure, unadulterated excitement and greed. My new parents, the teachers, stood off to the side. One held a bag with new clothes, while the other carefully balanced a small cake. I walked over and gave them a bright smile. “Mom, Dad. I’m Mia.” They hugged me, overflowing with joy. Chloe looked down on us from her high horse, her face a mask of absolute disdain. “The joy of poor people is so cheap.” I thought back to the brief character profile I had read about the billionaire parents. The system balanced the total points for every set of parents. That meant if they excelled in one area, they would be severely lacking in another. For example, my teacher parents could provide me with endless love and a top-tier education, but they lacked massive wealth. Chloe’s billionaire parents, on the other hand, could give her an endless supply of money. But they were also both psychopathic, violent, and sadistic. Their favorite way to relieve stress was by torturing their children. Once Chloe officially became their child, her life was going to be a living hell. As Chloe climbed into the luxury car to leave, she shot me a smug, victorious smile. I smiled back. I wondered if she would still be smiling like that after enduring a few rounds of combined abuse from her new billionaire parents. 2 As soon as we got home, my teacher parents immediately drew up a comprehensive, customized study plan for me. They originally assumed that, given my young age, I would hate studying. But to their surprise, I threw myself into my books, studying day and night, forgetting to eat or sleep. “Our daughter is an absolute treasure.” They would constantly praise me, beaming with pride. I just smiled. They had no idea how desperately I craved an education. In my past life, my parents blatantly favored Chloe. They gave her the only opportunity to go to school, forcing me to drop out early and work menial jobs to support the family. Because I lacked education and knowledge, I suffered unimaginably in the real world. Reborn into this life, my only desire was to study as hard as humanly possible. I graduated middle school ranked first in my entire school. I had my pick of any top high school in the city, but I set my sights on something much higher: Arwood Academy. If the city’s top high schools selected the best students locally, Arwood Academy recruited the absolute best minds from across the entire country. Everyone said that stepping through the gates of Arwood Academy was basically keeping one foot in the Ivy League. Because of this, Arwood’s admission standards were brutal. The number of applicants was astronomical, but the number of students actually accepted was microscopic. When I arrived at Arwood Academy for the entrance exams, I realized the rumors weren’t exaggerated. The campus was packed with a sea of people. Despite the grueling, multi-stage elimination process, a few hundred students made it to the final round. And among them, I saw Chloe. Chloe looked incredibly haggard. Her bright eyes were heavily bloodshot, and the skin exposed by her uniform was covered in a terrifying crisscross of fresh and fading scars. It seemed Chloe’s life these past few years had been exactly as horrific as I predicted. Her irritated, impatient gaze swept over the crowd and landed on me. Seeing my healthy, glowing complexion, her face instantly darkened. She forced a stiff, fake smile. “Mia, you’re applying to Arwood too? Keep dreaming. You probably won’t even pass the first round.” Right then, an admissions officer walked over to me, smiling brightly. “Mia, I reviewed your scores. Don’t worry, you are absolutely getting in. You’ll be placed in the elite Class 1.” Hearing this, Chloe couldn’t even maintain her fake smile. The admissions officer then turned to Chloe, frowning deeply. “Chloe, your scores are far too low. You were eliminated in the very first round. Why are you still here? If you don’t leave, I’m calling security.” Chloe completely dropped the act, grinding her teeth in fury. She quickly turned to the assistant standing next to her and threw a tantrum: “I want to go to Arwood Academy! And I want to be in Class 1!” Her billionaire father ended up donating ten new buildings to Arwood Academy, securing Chloe the right to enter Class 1. Waving her admission letter in my face, Chloe gloated. “See, Mia? Ten years of grueling, bone-chilling studying, and you still can’t beat ten minutes of my ‘effort’.” “Hard work can never beat a wealthy background. It’s not my fault I have billionaire parents. Unlike you, stuck with broke teachers, having to fight tooth and nail for everything yourself.” Thanks to her ability to buy her way in, Chloe’s initial irritation and gloom were completely replaced by smug arrogance. Her resentment over the abuse from her parents seemed to vanish, replaced entirely by the smug satisfaction of being a billionaire heiress. She felt like she had finally beaten me, tying the score. I, however, just stared at the ugly, jagged scars covering her hands. Given her parents’ psychopathic nature, the fact that Chloe made them cough up the cash for ten buildings meant they were going to exact payment for it entirely on her body. Chloe’s collection of scars was about to grow significantly. 3 As expected, Chloe didn’t show up for the first month of school. My classmates whispered among themselves, saying that whenever they walked past the billionaire estate, they could hear Chloe’s blood-curdling screams echoing from inside. I paused for a second, then lowered my head and went back to my practice exam. Our class was filled with the absolute best students from all over the country. I was the top student in my city, but here, I was barely average. There’s always someone better, always a higher mountain. Even though I studied relentlessly, sheer effort is nothing in the face of raw, natural genius. Every single student at the top of our class was a prodigy. I only had average talent. Even with my Master Teacher parents guiding me, surpassing them would require exponentially more effort. After studying until my brain felt numb, I got up to use the restroom. But as I approached the door, I heard a commotion inside. “So you got first place, huh? Think you’re tough? You’re still just a pathetic punching bag for us.” “If you try to dodge again, I’m shoving this dirty mop in your mouth and making you drink the water.” “Look at your hands, they’re completely chapped and rotting. You’re so broke you can’t even afford hand cream. You deserve to be bullied.” … I glanced into the dim restroom and was shocked to discover that the ringleader of the bullies was Sarah Jenkins, the prettiest girl in our class, often called the ‘Class Beauty.’ And the person being bullied was our class valedictorian, Elara Vance. I had a very strong impression of Elara. Not just because of the incredibly prominent burn scar on her face, but because of her absolute, terrifying genius. No matter the subject, she only had to read the textbook once to score a perfect 100. She was a pure, natural-born prodigy. But she was also incredibly isolated and silent. She was always a lone wolf in class, never speaking to anyone. Seeing the blood seeping from the corner of Elara’s mouth, a sudden, blinding rage ignited in my chest. Having been raised by my parents, I knew exactly how rare and precious a genuinely gifted student was. How dare Sarah treat her like this?! I took a few large strides forward, aggressively shoved Sarah and her crew aside, and pulled Elara behind me. “Stop it right now! Bullying is strictly prohibited!” Sarah sneered at me, her voice dripping with threat: “My parents are high-ranking government officials. If you try to stop me, I’ll beat you up too.” Behind me, Elara pulled her hand out of my grasp, her voice cold and detached: “I don’t need your help. Just leave.” I grabbed her hand again, smiling brightly. “Don’t be scared. I know exactly how to handle this.” I turned to Sarah, speaking slowly and deliberately: “I know your parents are high-ranking officials. But if you dare touch a single hair on my head, your parents’ careers will be over.” Sarah frowned, demanding to know why. I enunciated every single word: “My parents are teachers. Nationally Recognized, Award-Winning Master Teachers.” Sarah’s face instantly changed. Broke teachers might mean absolutely nothing to someone like Chloe, whose family only cared about money and avoided political power. But Sarah’s family was completely different. Government officials care about their public image and reputation above absolutely everything else. They have to be incredibly careful with their every word and action, terrified of giving anyone leverage over them. My parents were poor, yes. But their students were everywhere, working in every industry imaginable. And they held honorary titles bestowed directly by the national government. If the news got out that their child was being violently bullied, I guarantee I wouldn’t be the one suffering the consequences. Realizing the massive political risk, Sarah dropped the dirty mop and begrudgingly walked away. I turned and helped Elara up, asking with genuine concern, “If she bullies you again, you can tell the teachers.” Given Elara’s exceptional grades, if she reported it, the teachers would absolutely intervene and protect her. But Elara just shook her head apathetically. She muttered a quick ‘thank you’ and turned to leave. After she walked away, I noticed a full bottle of sleeping pills lying exactly where she had been standing. 4 I started paying close attention to Elara, and that’s when I realized the sleeping pills weren’t just for insomnia. She wanted to commit suicide. After doing some discreet investigating, her backstory became even more horrifying. Both of Elara’s parents were police officers who died in the line of duty. Before they died, they entrusted Elara to her aunt and uncle, leaving behind a massive pension—more than enough to comfortably support Elara for the rest of her life. But before Elara even turned twelve, her aunt funneled every single cent of that pension to her gambling-addicted son, using endless, fabricated excuses. Not only did the son gamble away the entire pension, but he also racked up so much debt that he forced his mother to sell their house and flee to this distant city. Once they arrived in this unfamiliar city, where Elara had absolutely no one to turn to, the family officially began physically and mentally abusing her. They forced Elara to work multiple part-time jobs just to pay for her own tuition. And her older cousin—the gambling addict—would constantly steal her meager earnings to fund his habit. When her money was stolen, her aunt would simply blame Elara for being “careless” and refuse to compensate her. Elara’s life at school was an agonizing struggle. She pinned every last shred of hope on the college entrance exams, studying with a desperate, terrifying intensity. But all her hopes were brutally shattered the day her aunt announced her plan: she was going to force Elara to marry her older, gambling-addicted cousin. “You are going to marry my son. You can tell the teachers all you want, but don’t forget, we are your legal guardians. If you make a fuss, we’ll just move to another city. Let’s see how long you can keep fighting.” “This time it was just a burn on your face. Next time, we’ll break your hands so you can never hold a pen again. Let’s see you dream about college then.” While I was lost in thought, remembering the neighbor’s vivid reenactment of her aunt’s threats, a thick, heavy notebook suddenly appeared right in front of my face. “The curriculum here has a different focus. I’ve outlined some of the key concepts and most difficult topics. You should review them.” Elara’s cold, clear voice brought me back to reality. The sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the grotesque, jagged burn scar on her face, making it look glaringly harsh. For some inexplicable reason, my chest tightened with an overwhelming sense of sorrow. I suddenly grabbed Elara’s thin, frail wrist, blurting out impulsively: “Do you want to come hang out at my house this weekend?” Elara’s eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly refused. I didn’t give up. I started following her around relentlessly while she studied. I brought her home-cooked meals every day, and made sure to stick by her side during P.E. class so she would never be the one left out. She never said anything about it, but the amount of time she spent tutoring me grew longer and longer, and my grades started skyrocketing. It took two full months for Chloe to recover enough from her injuries to finally return to class. But she had no idea that the moment she walked into the classroom, she became Sarah’s new target. Having lost Elara as her punching bag, Sarah immediately locked her sights on Chloe, cornering her in the restroom and beating her up every single day. Chloe tried telling her billionaire parents, but they completely ignored her. Given their psychopathic tendencies, they probably enjoyed the fact that she was being tortured. Reporting it to the teachers was useless; the teachers couldn’t afford to offend either the billionaire or the government official. Chloe tried to deflect Sarah’s bullying onto me. “Bully Mia! She’s the perfect target to be bullied!” Hearing Chloe’s desperate screams, I just laughed. I casually brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “If I get bullied, my parents will tear this school apart to protect me. But your parents are probably just sitting at home, praying you suffer even more.” Chloe’s face instantly twisted in pure, unadulterated rage. She finally, truly realized that she had chosen the absolute wrong parents. “System! System, get out here! I want to make my best friend selection! I choose Sarah Jenkins to be my best friend!” Chloe glared at me, a sudden, triumphant smirk spreading across her face. “Mia, don’t think you can escape your destiny of being bullied! I chose Sarah as my best friend. That means she’s completely loyal to me now!” “It’s your turn to get beaten.” 5 Chloe officially selected Sarah as her ‘Family: Best Friend.’ However, the system didn’t prompt me to make my selection. When I looked at it in confusion, it spoke with a meaningful tone: “You don’t need to make a selection. You’ve already found your family, haven’t you?” I froze for a second, then a massive smile broke across my face. The system was absolutely right. I had already found Elara. I didn’t need to choose. “The second family member, ‘Best Friend,’ has been selected. The final family member, ‘Boyfriend,’ cannot be selected at this time. Due to system regulations, high school students are strictly prohibited from dating. The ‘Boyfriend’ selection will unlock after the college entrance exams.” With that, the system vanished. Riding her high, Chloe couldn’t resist mocking me: “Mia, that’s what you get for hanging around that ugly freak all day! You really screwed yourself over this time!” “My best friend is the Class Beauty, Sarah Jenkins! Your best friend is a scarred, ugly freak! Let’s see how you’re going to beat me now!” Chloe and Sarah officially became best friends. Sarah stopped bullying Chloe. Instead, they spent every single day skipping class, scaling the school walls, wearing tailored, customized uniforms, and dancing wildly in local nightclubs. While Elara and I were burying ourselves in textbooks and practice exams, Chloe and Sarah were living recklessly, burning through their youth in dark, chaotic clubs. I finally managed to convince Elara to come home with me. My parents had already prepared a bedroom specifically for her. They smiled warmly and said, “Welcome home.” Elara looked at me in absolute shock. I scratched my head awkwardly. “I told my mom and dad last night that they needed to start working overtime because they were about to have another daughter to support.” “If you’re willing, we can finalize the adoption papers tomorrow. Don’t worry about your aunt and uncle. My parents are experts at handling this kind of thing. The police will arrest them for severe child abuse, the pension they stole will be fully recovered and returned to you, and they will never, ever be allowed to show their faces in front of you again.” Elara bit her lip tightly, massive, heavy tears suddenly rolling down her cheeks. “I have a home again.” I heard her whisper. Elara officially became a member of our family. It was only after my parents started teaching Elara that they realized she was an absolute, once-in-a-generation genius. Her natural aptitude for learning was unparalleled. My parents felt like they had discovered a priceless treasure and poured all their energy into cultivating her potential. Elara, in return, focused all her energy entirely on me. I had the work ethic but lacked the natural talent, so she meticulously broke down her advanced problem-solving methodologies into bite-sized pieces and spoon-fed them to me. Over time, I completely internalized the thought processes of a top-tier academic elite. In this perfect, symbiotic loop, both Elara’s and my grades exploded at an absurd rate. We became legendary throughout the school, known as the ‘Twin Pearls’ of Arwood Academy’s history. Chloe and Sarah were equally famous, but for all the wrong reasons. Their reputation was absolute garbage. They constantly skipped class, spent every night in seedy clubs, bullied weaker students on campus, and were constantly drunk off campus. Until one massive event completely shattered their decadent lifestyle. 6 Right before the college entrance exams, Sarah’s father was arrested and imprisoned for massive political corruption. Her family went completely bankrupt overnight. Having lost her entire source of income, Sarah immediately locked her predatory gaze back onto Chloe. She started brutally beating and torturing Chloe again. After draining every last cent Chloe had on her, she forced Chloe to go to her billionaire parents and beg for more money. Anytime Chloe showed the slightest hint of resistance, Sarah would threaten to leak the highly explicit, compromising photos she had taken of her. If Chloe stole money from her parents, she would be subjected to horrific, agonizing beatings by them. If she didn’t steal the money, she would be subjected to relentless, brutal bullying by Sarah. Every single day of her life was a living hell. They were supposed to be best friends, but now, just the sight of Sarah made Chloe tremble uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Elara, who shared the exact same eligibility for early admission to a top-tier university as I did, officially surrendered the only guaranteed admission slot to me. When the teacher announced that I had received the guaranteed admission, the entire class erupted in genuine, enthusiastic applause for me. Chloe, sitting in the back corner covered in bruises, fanning Sarah like a servant, heard the announcement and her face instantly turned a dark, venomous shade of green. I looked at Elara in shock, feeling absolutely no joy. Based on pure merit, that guaranteed slot belonged to her. After class, I tried to find the teacher to decline the offer, but Elara stopped me with a smile. “Don’t. I don’t need to take the college entrance exams either. I’ve already secured a different path.” Elara leaned in close and whispered mysteriously into my ear, “I’ve been recruited by a highly classified, top-secret national intelligence agency for specialized training. I can’t say anything more.” I was completely stunned. I knew that when a true, once-in-a-generation prodigy appeared, the government would often intervene to cultivate them directly. But to catch the eye of a top-secret agency, raw intelligence wasn’t enough. You needed absolute, terrifyingly effective practical execution skills. I suddenly remembered Sarah’s father going to prison, and I remembered my parents casually mentioning a few months ago that Elara’s uncle and his family had been beaten to death in the streets for failing to pay off massive gambling debts. Sensing my shock, Elara smiled faintly. “I compiled the evidence of his corruption. And I orchestrated the situation with my uncle’s family. But they were all guilty, and they all got exactly what they deserved.” A sudden chill ran down my spine. Elara smiled, gently taking my hand, her eyes warm and affectionate. “Mia, take the admission slot. Compared to everything you’ve done for me, a single college admission is absolutely nothing.” I walked back to the classroom in a daze, only to run into Chloe at the door. Her face was a twisted mask of jealousy and utter confusion. She glared at me, demanding in a low, furious hiss, “What kind of manipulation did you use?! Why does she treat you so well?!” They were both supposed to be ‘Best Friends.’ But Sarah spent every waking moment finding new ways to torture and extort Chloe, while Elara had just handed me the only guaranteed admission to a top-tier university on a silver platter. Any high school student understood the absolute, life-changing value of that admission slot. The jealousy in Chloe’s eyes was practically boiling over. Seeing my silence, Chloe sneered with bitter resentment. “Mia, don’t get too arrogant! So what if I failed with my parents and my best friend? I still have the ‘Boyfriend’ selection!” “Parents and best friends don’t matter anyway. Picking the right boyfriend is the only thing that actually matters! With a powerful boyfriend to rely on, I will definitely live the best life out of anyone!” Perhaps triggered by the massive contrast between her life and mine, the next time Sarah tried to beat her, Chloe finally snapped. They got into a vicious brawl, and Chloe plunged a knife directly into Sarah’s thigh. Sarah was permanently crippled. She completely lost her mind, dragging Chloe to court, desperate to see her rot in prison. But she failed. The billionaire parents used their massive wealth to keep Chloe out of jail, and then had Sarah forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital under the guise of mental instability. After all, they were the system-selected parents. No matter how psychopathic they were, they would never allow Chloe to actually go to prison. They would just handle her punishment internally, significantly increasing the severity of their abuse. Because of the ten buildings her parents donated, Chloe was allowed to continue attending school. But she grew more silent by the day, her face growing paler and more hollow with every passing week. When the college entrance exam results were released, Chloe became the biggest laughingstock in the history of Arwood Academy. Her combined score across all subjects was a pathetic 3 points. When she saw the score, she literally fainted on the spot. My photo was placed at the very top of the Honor Roll. Chloe stared at it every single day, her face twisted in pure, venomous hatred. Elara warned me cautiously, “You need to watch out for Chloe. I can feel her hostility toward you. It feels like she’s waiting for the perfect opportunity to make a massive move against you.” I just laughed. After the first two massive comparisons, I knew I had long since become Chloe’s ultimate enemy. As for what she was waiting for… I knew exactly what she was waiting for. She was waiting for the ‘Boyfriend’ selection to unlock. I thought the timing was still a while off, but I never expected that on the very first day of university, Chloe would find a boyfriend who would make everyone incredibly jealous.

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During a live New Year’s Eve broadcast, my sister called me. I spoke first: “May you have peace and joy, and live a long, long life.” My sister scoffed: “But I don’t want you to have joy or a long life at all. “I wish you would suffer for the rest of your life.” I had cut ties with my sister during the year she was at her absolute lowest. Now that she was successful and famous, the very first thing she did was seek revenge against me. My tone remained unchanged: “May you have peace and joy, and live a long, long life.” My sister grew impatient: “Enough. I will never wish you well. “If I have to, then I wish you an eternity of pain.” The host hesitated for a moment before finally reminding her: “Ms. Sterling… that was just a recording of Mr. Sterling’s voice. “And when he passed away… it was indeed, as you wished, very painful.” 1 “Passed away?” Chloe Sterling froze, then let out a cold laugh: “I hope you mean he died.” The host paused, then pointed behind her. On the massive screen behind her, my face appeared. In the video, I slapped the camera lens. The rain plastered my hair and shirt tightly against my skin. I looked utterly miserable. My tone was filled with pure exhaustion and impatience: “Stop filming. I said no.” Immediately after, a sweet, incredibly sincere voice replied: “I’m really not a scammer. I’m a vlogger who specifically documents the real struggles of everyday people. I can help you.” I turned away from the dumpster I was digging through and shoved my face right up to the lens: “Really? Can you cure my cancer?” The girl froze. I smirked bitterly: “Don’t waste your energy. Go find someone else.” “Um… I can try!” She grabbed my arm as I tried to walk away. I looked her up and down. I let out a laugh, pointing out her T-shirt, belt, pants, and shoes one by one: “Twenty bucks. Sixty. Forty. Fifty. “Oh, and this camera… you bought it secondhand, right? “Do you have any idea how much my treatment costs?” I held up five fingers to the camera: “Half a million.” The girl’s breath hitched. Smiling, I turned and walked back into the rain, bending down in front of each trash can: “Shadow? Shadow, where are you?” She followed me: “What are you looking for?” “A dog.” “Is it yours?” “No. When the pain made me pass out earlier, he licked me awake.” The girl didn’t say anything. I looked up: “If you don’t have anything else to do, don’t just stand there. There are plenty of people in this world you can actually help. Don’t waste your time on me.” I covered the camera lens with my hand. The screen went black. 2 [The Next Life — October 11, 2023, 9:32 AM — The Sterlings Never Need Anyone’s Pity] “You’re Liam Sterling, Chloe Sterling’s younger brother, right?” I was sweeping the floor in the back kitchen of a coffee shop. Hearing that, I frowned: “Why are you here again?” The girl’s voice came from behind the camera: “Everyone online is calling you a treacherous, ungrateful backstabber. But they don’t know you have cancer. I want to shoot a documentary series about you, can I?” I shook my head: “Let them call me a backstabber. I worked so hard to build that persona, are you trying to ruin it for me?” “Wait!” She frantically grabbed my arm: “But you’re completely broke right now! Where are you going to get the money for your medical bills? Let me help you. I have some savings.” I turned my head and smiled: “Why do you think I cut ties with my sister?” She paused. I pulled my arm free and waved her off: “I have a job. I don’t need your help. Just leave.” “I asked around. You only make two thousand dollars a month here.” “I still don’t need it.” I turned my back to her, glancing over my shoulder with a smile: “The Sterlings never need anyone’s pity.” The moment the words left my mouth, I suddenly collapsed to my knees. “Mr. Sterling!” The camera shook violently. On the floor was a massive pool of blood. “You…!” Sarah’s voice was trembling. The camera was tossed aside as a slender girl rushed over to support me: “Come on, I’m taking you to the hospital!” I raised a hand and pushed her away. I grabbed a rag, wiped the floor, and used the back of my hand to wipe the blood from the corner of my mouth: “No need.” Then I walked over to the sink and washed the blood off my face. Sarah’s voice quivered: “Please, just let me help you, okay?” I cleaned off the last trace of blood, turned around, and looked at her seriously: “The Sterlings… never need anyone’s help.” With that, I walked out of the camera’s frame. 3 [The Next Life — November 15, 2023, 3:21 PM — A Puppy Doesn’t Know He’s Dying; He Only Rejoices That He Has a Home] “What do you mean?” Inside the veterinary clinic, I stared at the vet in absolute shock. The vet sighed and shook his head: “I’m guessing the original owner abandoned him because they saw he wasn’t going to make it. “This little guy has been starving every day, getting bullied by other stray dogs… he’s already…” I offered a weak smile: “I know. You’re going to say he doesn’t have much time left, right?” The vet hesitated for a second, then nodded. It was the exact same reaction my attending oncologist had. Sarah frowned: “Is there really nothing we can do?” “…Just make him comfortable. Give him whatever he wants to eat.” The room fell into silence. I petted Shadow’s head: “No wonder we found each other.” Shadow’s tail was wagging a mile a minute. He kept rubbing against me, tongue lolling out, looking at me with bright, dark eyes. Sarah smiled bitterly: “He thinks you’re his owner.” I froze for a second: “Is that really something to be happy about?” Sarah nodded, petting the dog’s head: “A puppy doesn’t know he’s dying. He only knows he finally has a home again.” I was silent for a moment. I patted the dog’s head: “Then I’ll call you Shadow.” Shadow let out a happy “Woof!” Carrying Shadow out of the clinic, I turned and faced the camera: “You found Shadow and brought him to me. In return, I agree to let you shoot your documentary series about me.” 4 [The Next Life — December 31, 2023, 9:00 PM — Then I Wish You a Long, Long Life · Part 1] “Where did you get this stuff?” I looked at the old VHS tapes Sarah had brought over, frowning deeply. She shook the tapes and smiled: “A good vlogger has to fully understand her subject.” Saying that, she popped a tape into the VCR. On the ancient TV left behind by the previous tenant, a young boy wearing a custom-tailored suit appeared, bending down to look into the lens. Back then, my eyes still sparkled with hope: “Hello, hello! Happy New Year 2015! I wish everyone peace and joy, and may all your dreams come true!” “You were so lively back then.” Sarah sat next to me, watching the video with a smile in her eyes. I leaned back on the ratty sofa in my cheap apartment: “Did you literally dig through every single video on all my social media accounts?” “I thought it was interesting, so I brought them over to watch.” I didn’t say anything. I just watched my past self sitting amidst a mountain of presents. A familiar voice rang out: “Don’t rush, Sister will help you open them.” Chloe walked into the frame and sat down next to me. I held up a hand in a “Stop!” gesture: “Don’t! Sis. The Sterlings are fiercely independent!” The camera angle shifted. My sister fastened a watch around my wrist: “Happy New Year, Liam.” With a click!, the video captured my massive, beaming smile. Then came the sound of chaotic laughter. I had smeared a bit of frosting on my sister’s face. She froze for a second, then raised her hand with a laugh: “Stop right there! Don’t think just because it’s your birthday I won’t smack you!” The video was filled with my joyous laughter. Outside the video, I suddenly burst into laughter too. I wiped the corner of my eye, my sigh carrying a slight tremble: “After Mom and Dad died, everyone thought I was so pitiful. “But… actually, I wasn’t pitiful at all. “I still had my sister, and my friends…” The freezing wind howled through the drafty apartment. I wrapped my blanket tighter around myself as tears fell silently. My red, freezing hands were suddenly enveloped by two small, warm hands. Sarah looked at me earnestly: “I’ve saved up some money. Tomorrow, let’s go to the hospital and start your treatment.” I sniffled and let out a laugh: “Your account doesn’t even have a hundred followers yet, and you eat instant ramen with me every single day. How much money could you possibly have?” Her pale hands clenched tightly against her faded jeans: “It’s enough… to help a little.” “No need. I have good news for you. I saved up two thousand dollars. I can afford one chemo session now.” Sarah froze. Then she started smiling: “Is it enough? Let me give you a little more.” I shook my head stubbornly: “No. The Sterlings never need anyone’s help.” I lifted my chin proudly: “Don’t worry, my current income can cover my medication. Look, I bought all these with my salary.” Saying that, I grabbed a handful of colorful pills, tossed my head back, and swallowed them all at once. Then, frowning, I sat in silence for a long time before finally rubbing my chest and letting out a long breath. When I looked up, Sarah was watching me, the corners of her eyes a little red. I laughed: “Swallowing a whole handful of pills in one gulp… pretty impressive, right?” Sarah lowered her eyes, her smile laced with deep bitterness: “Yeah.” 5 [The Next Life — December 31, 2023, 11:45 PM — Then I Wish You a Long, Long Life · Part 2] In the video, the two of us, having finished a modest meal, leaned against the sofa waiting for the New Year’s bell. Sarah looked at me: “Are you sure that’s all you’re going to eat?” I sounded exhausted: “My stomach hurts. If I eat any more, I’ll throw up.” Sarah was silent for a moment before finally speaking up: “Ms. Sterling… she succeeded. Her new project just broke a hundred million in revenue.” I kept my eyes closed: “I know.” “Go back to her. She’ll pay for your treatment.” I shook my head. “Why? Do you want to just die like this?” “Did you think that when I cut ties with her, I still had any illusions about surviving?” Sarah choked on her words. Then, she asked with a slight tremble in her voice: “Why did you cut ties with her? Wouldn’t it have been better to face this together?” I started laughing: “Since we were little, Mom and Dad always said that Sterling children never needed anyone’s help. But the Sterling family helped a whole bunch of relatives. “But… when my sister went bankrupt, not a single one of those people was willing to help. “Do you know how it felt? Watching my sister swallow her pride, begging those relatives to just help pay my tuition?” My breath shuddered, and I gritted my teeth: “My sister never begged anyone for anything. After being rejected by all those relatives, she took me and found a tiny, twenty-square-foot apartment, about the same size as this one. “She told me that even if it was just her, she would get us back to the life we had before. “That’s the sister I admired. Even when she had absolutely nothing, she never lost her ambition or her pride. “But…” I started laughing again, looking at Sarah: “Guess what she would do if she knew I was sick?” Sarah looked at me, speechless. “She would get on her knees and beg those relatives.” As I said those words, my very heart was trembling: “Actually… just to get my tuition money, she almost got on her knees. Thank god I stopped her… haha…” I wiped away the tear stains at the corners of my eyes: “Before I left, the business she started with her partner was just starting to take off. “Guess whether her partner would have still been willing to invest if they found out there was a terminal medical burden in her family?” Sarah’s voice trembled: “Liam…” I held up a hand to stop her: “Cancer will take my life. But half a million dollars… that would take her life.” Sarah clenched her fists. I smiled and sighed: “The day I left, I completely destroyed her with the most vicious words I could think of. “In the end, she grabbed my arm, crying and begging me. She said things would get better soon, that she would definitely get us back to our old life. Seeing how glamorous and successful she is now, you probably can’t even imagine how pathetic and desperate she looked back then… haha…” Sarah asked quietly: “How did she finally let you go?” I thought back: “I told her she was a failure. That her past success was only because of Mom and Dad. “I told her that acting so pathetic now was dragging Mom and Dad’s reputation through the mud. I told her that if she cared about me even a little bit, she would let me go find my own happiness. “And then… she slowly let go of me.” The New Year’s bell rang. Fireworks exploded outside the window. I raised a hand and wiped the tears from my face. 6 [The Next Life — January 1, 2024, 0:00 AM — Then I Wish You a Long, Long Life · Part 3] Sarah turned to look out the window: “Happy New Year.” “Thank you.” “Aren’t you going to wish me well?” I looked up: “You’re asking a dying man for a blessing?” She gently placed her hand over my bony, emaciated one: “Please.” I looked at the warm, golden fireworks outside the window. It felt like I was bathed in hope. I smiled: “Then I wish you a long, long life.” The hand resting on mine clenched tightly, trembling slightly. Sarah stared out the window. I couldn’t see her expression. The camera quickly cut, showing that we had both gone to sleep. But in the darkness, my figure slowly appeared. I leaned in close to the camera, frowning: “Why did you forget to turn the camera off?” I raised a hand to turn it off, but paused. After thinking for a second, I dragged a chair over and sat in front of the lens, adjusting the angle left and right, doubt in my eyes: “Will anyone actually ever see this video?” More fireworks exploded outside, the warm, yellow light illuminating my face. I took a deep breath and smiled gently at the camera: “If anyone does see this, then… I wish everyone peace and joy, and a long, long life.” With that, I waved at the camera and hit the stop button.

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I was reborn on the exact day I originally confessed my feelings to my childhood crush. Surrounded by the cheering crowd, he looked at my tear-stained face and asked coldly, “Mia Harrison, do you really find this pathetic attention-seeking fun?” Then, he turned to the girl standing next to him—his perfect ‘unattainable ideal’—and his voice softened entirely: “Wait for me a minute. I’ll come find you as soon as I deal with this.” He turned back to me, lecturing me impatiently: “Why are you always crying?” “If you have free time, you should try reading a book. Stop obsessing over this romantic nonsense all day…” I was so incredibly annoyed. I shoved him hard, stumbling past him, and threw myself directly onto the notorious school delinquent who was standing behind him, watching the drama. “Hubby…” I buried my face in his chest, sobbing hysterically. Eighteen-year-old Liam Vance was still alive. Everything could still be fixed. 01 Before Liam died, he made me pinky-promise that I would live to be a hundred years old before I came to find him. I promised him, and then I turned around and lied. On the third day after his death, I followed him. Right before I closed my eyes, I even found a convenient excuse for myself. When I saw him, I’d tell him I had a nightmare that he was flirting with other ghost girls in the afterlife, so I had to come check on him. The truth was, I hadn’t slept at all. Without him, I literally couldn’t sleep. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back in my 18-year-old body. I was standing in the middle of a crowd, holding a bouquet of flowers, surrounded by relentless chanting and cheering. “Confess! Confess!” The crowd was massive, but my eyes instantly locked onto that blinding head of bleached blonde hair. He was standing in a corner no one was paying attention to. His gaze swept over me—seemingly casual, but incredibly intense. Looking at him, I instantly lost control of my tears. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Arthur Sterling’s voice cut through the noise. “Mia Harrison, do you really find this pathetic attention-seeking fun?” In my daze, I finally noticed the person standing right in front of me. His brow was slightly furrowed, his expression freezing cold. The lively atmosphere instantly died. The awkward silence stretched until Chloe Sinclair finally broke it. “Arthur, we need to finalize the draft for the award acceptance speech.” Arthur turned to look at her. “Wait for me a minute. I’ll come find you as soon as I deal with this.” His expression held a rare, genuine tenderness. Chloe was a top-tier academic prodigy, just like Arthur. People constantly joked that the valedictorian and the salutatorian were a match made in heaven. Chloe would just scoff and reply dismissively: “I’m not one of those pathetic little girls who only has romance and boys in her head.” When she said that, Arthur looked at her with a rare, profound admiration. He had told me the exact same thing once—that he despised girls who only cared about romance. But back then, my brain was exclusively occupied by him. I was actually delusional enough to think that if I confessed to him on my birthday, he wouldn’t embarrass me in public. It was only much later that I realized how deeply he despised feeling emotionally manipulated. Just like he did right now. He snatched the flowers from my arms, looking incredibly impatient. “If you have free time, you should try reading a book. Stop obsessing over this romantic nonsense all day.” 02 I froze. Whispers erupted from the crowd. “Look, Mia is crying.” “She’s been trailing after Arthur for years. Looks like the school beauty just became the school joke.” “Ugh, I feel second-hand embarrassment just watching this.” In my past life, I definitely cried hysterically because of the sheer humiliation. But right now, the only thing I could see was that blonde guy standing in the corner. I stared directly at him, my mouth opening and closing. I was trembling so hard I couldn’t make a sound. The tears just kept streaming down my face. Seeing my reaction, Arthur frowned deeply and let out a heavy sigh. “Mia, why are you always crying?” I was so incredibly annoyed. He wouldn’t stop talking, and he was physically blocking my view. I forcefully shoved Arthur out of the way, sprinting forward and throwing myself onto the boy I had miraculously gotten back. “Hubby…” “Hubby, you’re still alive… thank God, waaaahhh…” His chest was burning hot, radiating that familiar, sunny scent. I held onto him, sobbing so hard I was hiccuping. The body in my arms went completely rigid. “Uh… sis… I think you’ve got the wrong guy?” His face was flushed bright red all the way to the tips of his ears. 03 “Mia Harrison, who the hell are you calling ‘hubby’?!” Arthur’s voice rang out from behind me, laced with unmistakable anger. “How many times are you going to pull this exact same stunt?” Oh, right. In my past life, to make Arthur jealous, I frequently pretended to be overly intimate with other guys. He would get slightly annoyed and then offer some half-hearted coaxing. Except, this time, the guy I chose was the delinquent thug he despised more than anyone else in the school. I ignored Arthur, clinging to Liam and crying even harder. “Waaaah, hubby, you really are still alive…” I couldn’t believe it. My hands instinctively dove under his shirt, desperate to feel his chest and confirm the fatal stab wound from my past life wasn’t there. Liam was absolutely terrified by my actions. “Holy shit! What are you doing?!” I sobbed through my hiccups, “Take your shirt off. Let me see.” His face instantly turned a dark, explosive red. “I am a respectable man!” I cried even harder. “Waaaah, hubby, I need to see it, please, just let me see…” His hands hovered in the air, completely unsure of where to put them. Finally, he lowered his voice in sheer desperation. “Hiss… wait… can we wait until there’s no one around, please?” Watching this spectacle, Arthur’s eyes filled with absolute disgust. “Mia, aren’t you humiliated putting on this kind of show in public?” “I am not going to coddle you this time.” He turned on his heel and stormed off. Without the main attraction, the crowd quickly dispersed, grumbling in disappointment. 04 “Princess, the show’s over. Aren’t you going to let go?” The voice above my head carried a heavy dose of sarcasm. I just shook my head violently, burying my face in his neck, sobbing and hiccuping. “Never. I am never letting go for the rest of my life…” Eighteen-year-old Mia Harrison didn’t have shattered legs. She wasn’t consumed by clinical depression. Eighteen-year-old Liam Vance hadn’t jumped in front of a knife for her yet. Everything could still be fixed. Liam stared at me in disbelief and threatened, “I’m going to walk out of here right now, you know that?” “Mm…” He scooped me up into his arms and carried me out of the classroom. The moment we stepped into the hallway, the booming voice of the Dean of Discipline echoed toward us. “Hey! Liam Vance! Instead of being at practice, you’re out here holding a female student?! Are you sexually harassing her?!” I continued to cling to him like a koala, completely unbothered. Seeing my absolute refusal to move, Liam’s face flushed red as he frantically explained: “Reporting to the Dean! The female student broke her leg! I’m carrying her to the nurse’s office!” The Dean’s tone softened considerably. “You little punk. Didn’t know you had a caring side.” Suddenly, the memory hit me. In my past life, Liam had done exactly this. Carrying me all over the world to see specialists for my legs, staying by my side through every grueling physical therapy session. Once the Dean was out of earshot, Liam looked down at me, looking like he was about to lose his mind. “Seriously, Princess, what exactly is your endgame here?” I kept my arms locked tightly around his neck. “Hubby…” He shuddered, his scalp literally tingling. He gritted his teeth. “Do not call me ‘hubby’!! Who the hell is your hubby?!” “You are…” I pouted, looking incredibly wronged. “You’re my favorite, sweetest hubby…” His brain looked like it was about to short-circuit. He reminded me through gritted teeth: “Princess, do you remember who literally threw my love letter in the trash yesterday?” I felt a sudden, massive wave of awkwardness. My timing couldn’t have been worse. Liam had confessed his feelings to me yesterday. And I had viciously stomped his letter into the dirt. “I absolutely despise meathead sports jocks like you. All brawn and zero brains.” Ironically, I was an arts student—all flexibility and zero brains. Honestly, I didn’t actually hate Liam. I only hated him because Arthur hated him. Arthur despised anyone he considered stupid, especially someone like Liam, who had terrible grades and threw his weight around the school. I blinked innocently, offering my most sincere, earnest explanation: “Um, yesterday was actually… a test. I was testing you.” I quickly added a solemn vow: “Hubby, I promise, from now on, I will only ever like you.” The corner of Liam’s mouth twitched violently. “Hiss… can you please stop calling me ‘hubby’?” I shook my head firmly. “No.” He gritted his teeth, finally accepting his fate. “Ugh, whatever… call me whatever the fuck you want…” He looked down at me, still clinging to him like a monkey, and sighed heavily. “But seriously, Mia… “You are a human being, not a primate. Can you please get off me now?” “But I want to hold you a little longer, hubby~” His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously. The tips of his ears were burning bright red. Eighteen-year-old Liam was trying to act tough, but he was actually just a soft, easily flustered puppy. 05 Liam ended up carrying me all the way to his Second Great-Uncle’s house. The old man sat in an alleyway, doing fortune-telling and mystical readings, acting cryptic and bizarre every single day. “Uncle, I think she’s possessed.” The old man stroked his beard, taking one look at my tear-streaked face and bloodshot eyes. “Hmm. Eyes blood-red. She’s definitely got something dark attached to her.” He pulled out a piece of yellow paper and hastily scribbled a talisman on it. “Stick this talisman on her. It wards off evil spirits and demonic attachments.” Liam set me down outside the door and ordered me: “Wait here for a second. Do not follow me. I’ll be right back.” I completely ignored him and stealthily crept right up to the doorframe. I heard him asking in a hushed, secretive whisper: “Uncle… what I actually want to know is… do you have a talisman that will make her stay ‘possessed’ like this forever?” I secretly rejoiced in my heart: You little idiot. You’ve been madly, hopelessly, dangerously in love with me this whole time. Liam, in this life, it’s my turn to run to you. 06 I actually lived with the Sterling family. Our families had been close for generations, and Arthur and I had an arranged marriage setup since we were babies. When I was ten, my parents died in a sudden accident. Arthur had gripped my hand tightly. “Mia, you still have me. I will always stay by your side.” I moved into the Sterling estate, and his parents treated me incredibly well. Since I started dancing at a young age, his mother hired the absolute best instructors for me. My closet was overflowing with beautiful clothes she bought for me. But no matter how good they were to me, I wasn’t their actual child. They were raising me to be their future daughter-in-law. It wasn’t until my legs were shattered and I couldn’t walk normally that they decided a “crippled” daughter-in-law was too humiliating for their family image. They told me: “Mia, we’ve always loved you like our own daughter, and Arthur sees you as his own little sister. Don’t worry, we will definitely find you a good husband.” At the dinner table, Arthur’s parents put food in my bowl and asked about my studies. Remembering what they said in my past life, I found the whole scene incredibly ironic. I set down my chopsticks. “Uncle, Auntie, I want to move into the school dormitories. It’ll help me focus better on my studies, and you both know my academic grades aren’t very good.” They looked visibly surprised. “The dorm environment is so rough, how could you possibly live there?” “Mia, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Arthur’s grades are excellent; just have him tutor you.” I shook my head calmly. “No, he’s been really busy preparing for academic competitions lately. I shouldn’t bother him.” Arthur’s mother seemed to pick up on something. “Did you two have a fight?” Arthur remained silent. I just smiled. “Not at all. He treats me very well, and I’ve always seen Arthur as my own older brother.” “I’m sure that in the future, he’ll find a daughter-in-law for you who is just as brilliant and exceptional as he is.” Arthur’s gaze snapped to me, pausing for a long moment.

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After my mother died, I seduced the son of her lover. In the heat of passion, he pinned me by the neck and demanded, “Is this how you seduced my father?” Later, his younger half-brother also fell for me. Consumed by frantic jealousy, he snarled, “Having a great time with that little bastard, huh?” I feigned terror, but inside, I was laughing hysterically. Go crazy. Father against son, brother against brother. How entertaining! 1. My mother plummeted to her death from a high-rise. For years, she had been imprisoned in a towering attic, treated as a plaything, a forbidden canary. She was forced to endure his demands, all for my sake. On the day I came of age, my mother, as delicate and fragile as white porcelain, threw herself from that high attic and shattered right in front of me. The man who caused her death was Richard Vance. The patriarch of the Vance family. After my father died, Richard seized our family’s business. Along with the business, he also forcibly took my beautiful, vibrant mother. That animal, Richard Vance, fell in love with his best friend’s wife. To get my mother, he orchestrated my father’s death and stole our family’s fortune. Now that my mother is gone, he has set his sights on me. I need to protect myself. I need revenge. I need Richard Vance to pay in blood. He took everything from my father, so I will destroy everything he holds dear—his wealth, his status, even his life. I want him to feel the exact same agonizing pain of losing his family that I did. The first step in my revenge is to destroy the son he is most proud of. His own son, falling in love with his kept canary. Father and son fighting over the same woman, turning into bitter enemies. How entertaining would that be? Just thinking about it thrills me. My revenge begins tonight. 2. Hailed as a business prodigy, Liam Vance is the Vance family’s most outstanding heir. At only twenty-four, he has already founded his own company and become the most sought-after new money in the city. I gently trace the outline of Liam’s face in my mind. Such an aloof, arrogant man—what would he look like groveling at my feet? I’m very curious. Richard is currently on a business trip in Europe, away from the main estate. This gives me the perfect opportunity to seduce his son. As night fell, I specifically chose a white lace nightgown. It exuded a mix of innocent purity and just the right amount of seductive charm. I softly pushed open Liam’s door. He didn’t have the habit of locking it. Right now, he was taking a shower in the en-suite bathroom. I pulled back the covers and slipped into his dark-colored king-size bed, enveloped by his crisp, cold scent. The mattress dipped beside me. He was in bed. I knew Liam slept naked. Sure enough, as soon as he got in, he noticed me pretending to be asleep. I knew exactly how alluring I looked right now. Glossy, rosy lips, cheeks flushed as if from deep sleep. And the hem of my nightgown, hiked up to my upper thighs due to my “restless” sleeping position. The sight of my full, unconstrained curves was undoubtedly stimulating the fragile nerves of a slightly drunk man. I could feel Liam’s burning gaze on me. I purposely let out a soft whimper, rolling over to hug him as he lay hesitating beside me. The solid muscles of his entire body instantly tensed. He was restraining himself. Am I not tempting enough? Seems I haven’t stoked the fire quite enough. I purposely rubbed against him, as if talking in my sleep. Liam finally lost control. With a dark gaze, he pinched my chin. “Are you seducing me?” Suddenly, something soft and cold covered my lips. It was his mouth. I pretended to be startled awake by him, looking at him with innocent, confused eyes. “What are you doing?” My sweet, soft voice carried a hint of sleepy desire. The thin strap of my nightgown slipped down, half-exposing my shoulder. Pure yet seductive. Hearing my voice, Liam froze. Then, his kisses rained down on me overwhelmingly. “Be good. Let me kiss you.” His voice was deep and husky, thick with undeniable lust. Pinned beneath him, I struggled in a panicked flurry. “Brother, you can’t do this.” Just then, footsteps echoed from the hallway. Click, clack, click, clack! It was Mrs. Vance. 3. “Liam, I made you some hangover soup. Get up and drink a little.” Eleanor Vance pushed the door open without knocking. She knew her son had been at a business dinner and drank quite a bit. I cowered in fear, trembling slightly. And “accidentally” brushed against Liam’s terrifyingly hard, sensitive arousal. He gently pressed a kiss to my forehead to calm me. Then he pulled the covers up, hiding me completely beneath him. His aggressive, masculine scent surrounded me entirely. His current position essentially had me caged in his arms. Liam answered impatiently, “Mom, I’m going to sleep.” Eleanor walked in and placed the hangover soup on the desk. “Liam, why is your face so red?” Of course his face was red. He was currently lying naked against me, our hearts beating wildly against each other. If his own mother saw this, how thrilling would that be? The thrill of the taboo caused a thin layer of sweat to break out on Liam’s body. A drop of sweat rolled down his temple and past his Adam’s apple. Eleanor tried to step closer, but Liam stopped her. “I need to sleep. Please leave!” Eleanor knew her son was always haughty and didn’t dare cross him. “Then remember to drink your soup.” She gave a few more instructions before turning to leave. Liam was nearing his breaking point. My hot breath hit his chest, every exhale scratching at his heart like a feather. I wasn’t going to let him off that easily. I deliberately shifted my body, my soft, glossy lips brushing against his chest. My fingertips also “accidentally” grazed his straining desire. “Ah!” He let out an agonizing, heavy pant. “Liam, what’s wrong?” Eleanor, who was just about to leave, turned back around. She approached with concern to check on her son, who was acting strangely. “I’m fine!” Liam irritably yanked the covers up even higher, covering himself completely. Trapped beneath him, I couldn’t move an inch. I used my hands to push against his chest, which was pressed tightly against mine. My soft, seemingly boneless hands touching his burning, rock-hard chest pushed his sensitive nerves to the brink of collapse. Eleanor cast a suspicious glance at the unnaturally high lump under the covers. She seemed to have noticed something. The shape of the blanket… was there someone else hiding in there? 4. Eleanor held her tongue and didn’t expose her son. Her son was her only support in the Vance family; she didn’t want a direct confrontation with him. Forcing down her shock and fury, Eleanor closed the door to Liam’s room. She then ordered the servants not to disturb the young master’s rest. After Eleanor left, I pushed Liam away forcefully. I slumped on the bed, gasping for fresh air. My violent movements caused my nightgown to slip entirely. My beautiful figure was fully exposed. The alcohol had mostly worn off Liam. He stared at me with a dark expression. Just as he opened his mouth to interrogate me. I scrambled off the bed before him and ran away in a panic, tears trailing from the corners of my eyes. Liam watched in stunned silence as I fled. For a moment, he actually felt a pang of frustration. Is she disgusted by me? After I left, Liam didn’t sleep. He kept replaying the scene of me pinned beneath him. Lying in bed, he sought release again and again. He had no idea that while he was passionately calling my name, I was peeking at him from outside the door. … The next day was a weekend. I was painting in the art studio. Eleanor stormed in with her people. “Grab Chloe!” “You little slut, just as cheap as your mother!” Furious beyond words, she dragged me into the greenhouse and threw me onto the floor. The greenhouse was her territory. Her favorite thing to do here was stab me with needles. Richard Vance didn’t allow any visible marks on my body. So she could only use needles. After stabbing my back, she still wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to jam the needles under my fingernails. To be honest, I was terrified. Memories of her abusing me when I was little flooded back, and I almost passed out from the fear. I was gambling. Gambling that either Richard or Liam would come save me. Sure enough, a split second before the steel needle pierced my finger, Richard kicked the greenhouse door open. He yanked Eleanor away. “Eleanor, I’m warning you. Don’t forget your place.” Pushed to the ground, Eleanor screamed hysterically. “Do you know what she did?! She seduced Liam! She’s a shameless slut just like her mother!” Richard ignored her. He picked me up and walked straight toward the attic. That was the forbidden zone of the Vance estate, the place where my mother lived before she died. Richard threw me onto the rug. He stood in front of me, slowly unbuckling his belt. He wasn’t saving me; he was just torturing me in a different way. He tied my hands and feet, leaving me completely immobilized. Richard drank heavily. With every gulp of liquor, he lashed me with the belt. The belt snapped against my skin, bringing a fiery, agonizing pain. When he was tired of beating me, he collapsed onto the sofa, panting. My opportunity was coming. I silently counted the time, waiting for him to get completely drunk. Richard grabbed me by the hair, forcing me to look up at him. “Chloe, you should know exactly why I’m keeping you.” With that, he threw the belt aside, untied me, and started tearing at my clothes. I struggled desperately, crying and reminding him. “Uncle Richard, you promised my mom you wouldn’t touch me.” His hands paused for a fraction of a second, but then he started biting me even more frantically. I calmed myself down, tried my best to imitate my mother’s voice, and spoke coldly: “Richard Vance, are you an animal?” Richard froze, his blurry eyes focusing on me… 5. “Joy… we met first. I fell in love with you first. Why did you…” His voice cracked with a sob. I knew I had succeeded. Richard had mistaken me for my mother. I pushed him away and picked up the dropped belt. My pale, delicate foot stepped hard on his surging desire. I viciously whipped him with all my strength. He didn’t dodge; he took it with a mix of pain and twisted excitement. Richard Vance was a sick, twisted pervert. “On your knees!” I whipped him again. Richard trembled violently as he knelt straight up. It seemed he really enjoyed this. Suppressing my nausea, I used the handle of the whip to lift his chin. “Richard Vance, do you know how filthy you are? You disgust me!” He didn’t look away, his eyes staring at me in a hazy daze. “Joy, I just love you too much. Please, give yourself to me. Give me a child that belongs only to us.” “You don’t deserve it!” I slapped him hard across the face. I pinched his jaw open and poured the rest of the liquor down his throat. He got dead drunk and finally collapsed onto the floor. I tied him up and escaped from the little attic. As I was returning to my room, I happened to run into Liam coming home. The purple and blue whip marks on my pale skin shocked his system. Liam glanced at me, then walked straight into his room. I let him see it on purpose. I wanted him to know the horrific marks his beloved, respected father left on my body. 6. After showering, I sat at my vanity, trying to apply ointment. The wounds were on my back; I tried several times but couldn’t reach them. The door was pushed open, and Liam walked in holding a tube of ointment. He tossed it onto the bed and turned to leave. I grabbed the hem of his shirt, my voice pitiful. “Brother, can you help me apply the ointment?” I knew exactly how alluring I looked right now. My pale, glowing skin was slightly exposed, highlighting my full curves. He hesitated for a long time before finally sitting on the edge of the bed. Liam squeezed a dab of the cooling ointment onto his long index finger and applied it to my lower back. The moment his finger, slick with the cold ointment, touched my skin, I instinctively flinched like a startled fawn. I even let out a small cry of pain, “Ah~” My innocent, fragile, girlish voice, laced with suppressed pain and a hint of coquettishness, was more intoxicating than any stimulant. Liam’s finger paused, and he looked up at me. My eyes were brimming with tears. Forcing myself to hold the crystalline drops in my eyes, I looked devastatingly pitiful. “It hurts. Be gentle, brother.” Liam’s prominent Adam’s apple bobbed twice. He put down the ointment and stood up to leave. “It’s done.” I stood up faster than he did, but the moment I got up, I “accidentally” tripped and let out a gasp as I fell forward. Liam reached out and caught my soft waist. With a gentle pull, I landed squarely on his lap. His legs were strong, muscular, and radiated power. Liam looked at me. “Careful.” Pretending to lose my balance, I instinctively wrapped my soft, pale arms around his neck. The unique, sweet scent of a young girl filled his senses. Liam’s rationality crumbled. He kissed my lips gently, and I responded with feigned inexperience. This time, he was completely sober. I knew I had succeeded. But halfway through the kiss, Liam suddenly grabbed my throat.

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After pulling three consecutive all-nighters, I was resting my head on my desk during my lunch break when the boss’s daughter, who had just returned from studying abroad, viciously kicked my desk. “The company is full of employees like you. No wonder we’re barely turning a profit.” She turned up an alarm and woke up every single employee who was resting. “From now on, the hour-and-a-half lunch break is canceled. You get ten minutes to eat. “Also, you are required to work five days of unpaid overtime every week. If profits don’t triple by next month, you’re all fired.” I just smiled. Firing your most critical talent? Brains are a wonderful thing, it’s just a shame she didn’t have one. 01 Hearing the boss’s daughter say this, everyone started whispering, expressing their intense dissatisfaction. HR Manager Sarah walked over to her and whispered, “Ms. Sterling, this violates regulations. Besides, this is the tech department—the absolute core of our company!” She pointed at me and added, “Like Chloe here, we spent a fortune to recruit her. We should probably inform your father about this.” Evelyn Sterling scoffed and looked me up and down with absolute disdain. “Her? A highly-paid talent? Dressed like a peacock, she looks more like she’s here to seduce people. No need to tell my dad. I’m in charge here now. Implement the rules immediately!” Naturally, I couldn’t accept such tyrannical terms. I worked incredibly hard; dressing nicely was at least a small comfort to myself. Who was she to judge me? But many people had already sat up straight and started working. After all, jobs were hard to come by these days. So, I naturally got to work too. Seeing everyone get back to work, Evelyn lifted her chin proudly. However, I directly called our biggest client. The phone rang for over a minute before someone answered. It was obvious they were also on their lunch break. The voice was incredibly impatient: “What is it?” I smiled. “Manager Davis, we need you to review that proposal. We can’t move forward until you give it the green light.” “Yeah, yeah. Let’s talk after lunch.” Manager Davis hung up on me. I called right back. Manager Davis raised his voice: “I said we’ll review it after lunch! Do you people not sleep?!” I shrugged. “I’m so sorry, Manager Davis, but our boss’s daughter just canceled our lunch breaks. We’ll probably be bothering you a lot around this time from now on. Could you try to get used to it?” 02 Manager Davis completely lost it upon hearing this. “What?! It’s going to be like this every day?! You’re going to kill me!” To finalize this proposal, our team and Manager Davis’s team had stayed up for three entire nights. Even a body made of iron would collapse under that strain. Manager Davis started cursing profusely over the phone. I put him on speaker: “We are the clients! How dare you make things this difficult for us?! And your boss’s daughter is out of her mind! I need to talk to your boss.” Evelyn’s face turned bright red from Manager Davis’s scolding, but since he was a major client, she had to swallow it. She pointed at me and started yelling, “Couldn’t you do other work first?!” I spread my hands helplessly. “We can’t proceed to the next step until the proposal is approved, right?” Hearing my cue, everyone else chimed in: “Exactly. We can’t start working until Manager Davis approves it.” “Yeah, maybe I should give Manager Davis another call.” Evelyn clenched her fists tightly in anger, but she had no choice but to stop us. The very next second, her phone rang. Our boss’s piercing scream erupted from the speaker: “Evelyn, what the hell are you doing?! Manager Davis is our biggest client, you absolutely cannot offend him!” Looking incredibly awkward, Evelyn covered her phone and ran into a private office to take the call. Everyone gave me a thumbs up. I was a highly sought-after talent that the boss had spent a whole month negotiating with HR to recruit. Plus, I had brought along several other skilled tech personnel. If we hadn’t worked so hard, the company would still be drowning in debt. Right now, the company had four active projects. Two of them were brought in specifically by my former partners who found out I had jumped ship. In other words, if they fired me, this company could just wait to go bankrupt. 03 Last month, I heard the boss mention he was bringing his daughter into the company to gain some experience. I didn’t pay much attention at the time. As long as I did my job, it didn’t matter to me who the boss was. But the very next day, Evelyn joined the company group chat. As soon as she got in, she started ordering us around and even demanded we call her “Miss.” When we discussed work matters in the group, she had to interject, claiming we were incompetent because we couldn’t solve minor issues, spouting absolute nonsense. Her comments were completely irrelevant because she majored in marketing; she knew nothing about tech. She even said that when she got back to the States, she was going to “rectify” us and show us how Gen Z cleans up the workplace. No one else in the group dared to say anything, so I was the only one who fired back at her. I guess she held a grudge against me from that moment on. So, on her very first day, she wanted to establish her dominance by making an example out of me. But did I look like someone who was easy to bully? After finishing the call with her dad, Evelyn looked terrible. With a dark expression, she walked over to us and said, “Rest for now. Contact Manager Davis after lunch.” Everyone held back their laughter. After all, she was the boss’s daughter; we had to give her some face. As Evelyn walked past me, she shot me a vicious glare. The message was clear: Just you wait. Sure enough, by the time afternoon work hours started, everyone had received the new regulations sent by Evelyn. 04 The new regulations were as follows: Everyone must work unpaid overtime until 12:00 AM every week. Violators will be fined $100. Everyone must submit a daily work report of exactly 1000 words. A $1 fine will be applied for every missing word. Everyone must complete 5 projects every month. Failure to do so will result in immediate termination. Bathroom breaks must not exceed 10 minutes, or a $100 fine will be applied. If profits do not triple by next month, the entire tech department will be fired. Everyone in the office was complaining. Suddenly, Lily clutched her stomach and sprinted into the bathroom. 15 minutes later, we heard Lily’s plea for help in the group chat: [Help me, the bathroom door won’t open.] We rushed over only to discover that timed locks had been installed on the bathroom doors. If facial recognition showed you had been inside for more than 10 minutes, the door automatically locked. You had to pay the fine; otherwise, the person inside couldn’t get out, and people outside couldn’t get in. This infuriated us. We all agreed to tell Lily not to pay and stay put. If worst came to worst, we’d just use the public restrooms outside the office. Suddenly, Evelyn posted another message in the group: [Leaving your workstation for more than 30 minutes is considered absence from work. This month’s performance bonus and half your salary will be deducted.] This threw Lily into an absolute panic. She had a two-year-old at home and desperately needed the money. Ignoring my advice, she pulled out her phone to pay the fine. As the minutes ticked by, Evelyn started announcing in the group: [All members of the tech department have been away from their workstations for over 20 minutes. If it exceeds 30 minutes, it will be considered an absence.] She also tagged HR Manager Sarah: [From now on, go check on the tech department every 10 minutes.] Just as we were all grinding our teeth in anger, two new hires from the sales department walked toward the bathroom. The facial recognition system announced: “Identified as a member of the sales department. No time limit for restroom use.” We were all stunned. A few colleagues who really needed to use the bathroom tried to push their way in while the door was unlocked, but the two sales girls blocked them. Refusing to accept this, our team started arguing with them. Surprisingly, the sales girls sneered, “Ms. Sterling said the sales department is the core of the company, so we aren’t subject to any restrictions.” I completely lost it. I took a screenshot of Evelyn’s new rules and posted it online, captioning it: [Great news! Death-sentence regulations! Everyone, hurry up and apply to our company.] 05 I graduated from MIT, the most prestigious university in the country. During my time there, I won numerous programming awards and was heavily recruited by top tech companies before I even graduated. I spent six years working at major tech giants, gaining a wealth of experience. But the corporate grind at those massive companies was too intense, and new talent was constantly pouring in. So, I made a bold decision to return to my hometown to build my career. The day I moved back, I started a social media account to document my life and began posting free, basic programming tutorials. Over the past year, I had amassed over a million followers. So, shortly after I posted the screenshot, it caught the attention of many people. Within half an hour, my followers had pushed it onto the trending list. Everyone started tearing the regulations apart. [Corporate drones are humans too!] [I give this company a month before it goes bankrupt!] [This boss’s daughter is out of her mind. Go to hell!] People swarmed the company’s official website, leaving a barrage of insults. The site eventually crashed from the sheer volume of traffic. Even the websites of merchants we previously collaborated with were flooded with comments from netizens: [Are products built on the blood and sweat of corporate slaves actually any good?] Terrified, the merchants immediately pulled that line of products from their shelves. Even the clients who were planning to renew their contracts with us issued statements suspending all collaboration. Our boss had always wanted to take the company public. But an IPO requires a stellar reputation. Right now, there wasn’t a single positive review on our site; it was all one-star reviews. Watching the trending topics climb higher, I smiled in satisfaction. Listening closely, I could hear agonized wails coming from Evelyn’s office. It turned out many reporters were calling to interview her. Given Evelyn’s personality, she naturally cursed right back at them: “They’re just a bunch of lowly workers! If they don’t want to work, they can get the hell out!” She wasn’t just insulting our tech department; she was insulting every working-class person out there. I hid outside her door, recorded that sentence, and posted it online. This time, the backlash was even bigger because her target audience had expanded exponentially. 06 Netizens who were just watching the drama unfold were now absolutely furious. [What the hell? I’m just surfing the web and I get insulted?!] [Everyone, follow me! Let’s tear down this capitalist dog’s daughter!] In the information age, a casual deep dive by netizens exposed everything about Evelyn. They revealed that while studying abroad, she had slept around constantly, practically changing boyfriends every week. Someone even found a video of her grinding against several large men at a frat party. On top of that, it was exposed that she had been arrested for bullying on campus abroad, and the boss had to pay a massive bail to get her out. The online vitriol against her reached a fever pitch. And that wasn’t even the worst of it. Someone leaked that Evelyn was actually the boss’s illegitimate child from an affair. The internet completely exploded. What started as insults directed solely at Evelyn now dragged the boss down with her. Evelyn had personal social media accounts, originally used for flaunting her wealth and posting selfies. Now, they were overrun by angry netizens. Shortly after, the boss arrived at the office. He screamed at Evelyn, tearing her a new one for a solid hour. It wasn’t until right before closing time that HR Manager Sarah notified the tech department to head to the conference room for an emergency meeting. Evelyn sat to the side, her head hanging low. The boss immediately walked up to me when he saw me. “Chloe, if there’s a problem, we can resolve it internally. Why did you have to take it to the internet?” I signaled for everyone to sit down and replied to him with absolute seriousness: “I am the team leader. I have to take responsibility for my team members. Furthermore, when you recruited me, you promised me absolute autonomy.” When the boss recruited me, he offered me triple my previous salary and explicitly exempted me from mandatory clock-ins. However, out of fairness and to lead by example, I still clocked in and out on time every day. The boss pushed up his glasses to hide his embarrassment. “It’s true my daughter acted inappropriately. That’s why we’re having this meeting to resolve it. How about this: you propose a solution.” 07 To be honest, our project deadlines were incredibly tight. We simply didn’t have time to deal with Evelyn’s nonsense. After a brief discussion, we proposed a resolution. First, all the regulations Evelyn introduced must be abolished immediately. Second, she must apologize to every single one of us. Finally, the company must distribute the bonuses for our current projects in advance. The boss hesitated. Seeing this, I stood up, ready to leave. Our tech department was full of young, elite professionals. We had no fear of not finding new jobs elsewhere. The boss immediately grabbed my arm and agreed to the terms. Right in front of all of us, Evelyn bowed deeply and apologized. The boss also immediately instructed finance to distribute a $5,000 bonus to every member of the tech department. Seeing the money hit my account, I kept my promise and posted the final resolution online. But there was no way I was going to let it go that easily. I continued using my burner account to steer the narrative online. [It’s ending just like this? We haven’t even forgiven her yet!] Left with no choice, Evelyn had to issue a public apology via live stream: “The workers are the soul of the company. Everyone, I was wrong.” I used my burner account in the live chat: [If you want our forgiveness, get on your knees!] As soon as I posted that, a massive wave of people copied and pasted it. In an instant, the live stream with 100,000 viewers was flooded entirely with comments demanding she “kneel.” I was the one who suggested this live stream apology method. The boss was standing right next to me, anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof. He naturally didn’t notice me frantically typing on my phone hidden in my pocket. “Chloe, what do we do? I can’t actually make my daughter kneel, can I?” I shrugged, indicating there was no other way. “If you want the netizens to forgive her, this is the only way. Otherwise, forget about the IPO; the company might actually go bankrupt next month.” The boss loved his daughter, but this company was his life’s work. He couldn’t let it fail. He had no choice but to order Evelyn to kneel. Evelyn’s eyes were bloodshot, but she was powerless to resist. She obediently knelt down. “I’m sorry, everyone. I was wrong.” That video was reposted across the entire internet and even remixed into countless memes. Evelyn didn’t show her face at the office for a whole month. Pathetic. She thought she could take me down with those pathetic little tricks? We enjoyed a month of peace. But a month later, Evelyn returned in a highly ostentatious, bright red pantsuit, a man standing by her side. 08 During the month without Evelyn causing trouble, we smoothly pushed through more than half of our current projects. Many of them were already operational. Most notably, the companion robot—our most highly anticipated project—was already capable of performing basic movements. Just as we were discussing the next phase, Evelyn walked into our office, holding her boyfriend’s hand. “Let me introduce everyone. This is William. From now on, he will be the team leader of Tech Group Two. Please welcome him.” William stepped forward, took off his sunglasses, and gave us a gentlemanly bow. “I look forward to working with you all. Even though I studied abroad and my skills are undoubtedly superior to yours, I still hope you can look at me as an ordinary person.” Cue a collective eye roll from the entire room. What a massive poser! Lily raised her hand and asked, “Since when did the tech department have a Group Two?” Evelyn smiled and replied, “Starting today. I am announcing that the eight members of the tech department will be evenly divided between the two team leaders. After a month, we will evaluate performance. Only one group will remain.” Everyone gasped and looked at me. This Evelyn had gotten smarter. Instead of using ridiculous rules, she was trying to dismantle us from the inside. But why did this William look so familiar? I remembered. He was the underclassman who confessed his feelings to me back in college. I also remembered completely eliminating him in the very first round of a programming competition. Back then, his name was Bill Zhang. William clearly recognized me, freezing for a second before returning to normal. However, a newfound trace of hatred flashed in his eyes. Great. Another person in this company who wants me dead. But I wasn’t scared. 09 Evelyn wanted the team to voluntarily choose four people to join William, but no one wanted to go with him. After all, over the past year, not only had I secured excellent benefits for them, but I was also very generous with approving time off. I immediately contacted the boss. However, he was currently vacationing in the Maldives with his mistress. Over the phone, he gave me nothing but non-committal answers. “William studied abroad, you know. I brought in a talent like him to share your burden! Let him participate in all your projects; it’ll make things easier for you.” I understood the boss’s true intentions now. He simply wanted William to take over all my projects, and then he would fire me. Seeing that complaining to the boss was useless, Evelyn flashed a smug smile. Finally, she came up with an idea: drawing straws. Everyone reluctantly drew straws, and the two groups were finally formed. William swaggered into the conference room with his four team members, even pulling down the blinds as if I were going to spy on them. I immediately turned around and texted the headhunter who had contacted me before: [Hey Brenda, please set up a meeting with Horizon Group, the one that tried to poach me last time. I’m very interested now.] Brenda replied instantly: [You finally figured it out! I’ll contact them immediately.] After the whole fiasco with Evelyn, I realized that sometimes, you truly have no control over your circumstances. I just wanted to coast in this small company, but there was always someone trying to sabotage me. Since I was still young, I might as well throw myself back into the ultra-competitive corporate grind. Horizon Group was the largest conglomerate in the city, and their robotics division ranked among the top in the nation. Their tech department was full of elites. Once you were in, how much you earned depended entirely on your own abilities. That evening, Brenda replied: [I’ve set up a lunch meeting for you tomorrow. Make sure you bring your A-game.] [Received!]

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