After the fake daughter died. The diary she kept at the shelter was exposed. It chronicled her grievances, her resilience, and her selfless love for her family. In an instant. The entire internet was in tears. Our whole family was drowning in regret. And I, the one who had hidden the fact that she had cancer, became the target of universal hatred. My brother cursed me: “I’d rather live in poverty for the rest of my life if it meant Chloe could live!” My parents raged at me: “Who gave you the right to make choices for us?! We don’t want wealth and status, we just want Chloe!” I was isolated, cyberbullied, and kicked out of the house. I eventually died on the streets. When I opened my eyes again. I was back on the day the fake daughter, Chloe, received her terminal cancer diagnosis. 1 “Sis, promise me, don’t tell anyone I’m sick, okay?” Chloe was gripping my hand, her eyes swimming with tears. Her voice trembled, and her entire body radiated a pathetic, almost begging vulnerability. Even though I had been reborn, seeing her like this still tugged slightly at my heartstrings. “Dad lost everything in that gamble. The company is gone. Mom is so sick she can barely get out of bed. And Liam has been running himself ragged trying to keep Dad out of jail. If they find out I’m sick, it’ll just make everything worse. I don’t want to be a burden to you guys, I really don’t…” What a perfect sob story! A gambling father, a severely ill mother, an exhausted brother, and her—the cancer-stricken girl about to shatter! In my previous life. Not long after Chloe said these exact words to me, she chose to run away from home. To stop our parents and brother from looking for her, she intentionally painted herself as a gold-digging material girl. She partied wildly with thugs at clubs, publicly threatening to cut ties with Liam. She escorted wealthy older men to high-end events, outright declaring that our parents were unfit to be parents. She completely shattered the hearts of our parents and Liam. All to establish her own glorious martyrdom. And every bit of it. Was recorded in her diary. Three years after Chloe died. Liam went from being penniless to becoming a rising star in the business world. With new investments, my parents also got back on their feet. And I, who had been silently working multiple jobs to support the entire family, finally officially became the eldest daughter of the Vance family. But the good days only lasted a few days. Before Chloe’s diary sent me crashing back to the bottom. An influencer with millions of followers, known for reuniting families, showcased Chloe’s final diary on a livestream. Overnight, Chloe’s diary went viral. Her act of self-sacrifice for the sake of her family moved countless netizens to tears. It also plunged my parents and Liam, who finally knew the truth, into an endless abyss of remorse. With nowhere to vent their emotions. They pointed all their blame at me. It was as if I was the true culprit who killed Chloe. “Why did you hide the fact that Chloe was sick?! Let me tell you, even if Chloe is gone, you can never replace her as my sister! I only have one sister, and that’s Chloe Vance!” Liam held a hysterical press conference. Publicly announcing he was severing all ties with me. I fought back hard: “Chloe begged me to keep it a secret! She didn’t want to be a burden! I wanted you and Mom and Dad to succeed too! We only had that tiny bit of startup capital left! I was just respecting her choice, I didn’t do anything wrong…” Liam shoved me away, pointing at me and roaring: “But did you respect my choice?! Do you have any idea how much I cared about Chloe?! Stop using ‘for my own good’ as an excuse! Nobody asked you to do it for my own good! You’re just a ruthless, money-hungry bitch! That money could have saved Chloe’s life! Who the hell cared about starting a business?!” In a panic. I turned to my parents for help. But the locks on the house had already been changed. My luggage was tossed out like trash. “If it weren’t for Chloe, we never would have brought you out of that orphanage.” “You’re Chloe’s jinx! If it weren’t for you, Chloe wouldn’t have died!” “Get away from the Vance family, and don’t force us to do something even more cruel.” The hateful glares from my parents were deeply etched into my heart. In that moment. I finally understood. No matter how hard I tried, I could never integrate into this family. People who achieve success easily forget the hardships they endured, and they easily believe their current status stems from their own abilities rather than luck and opportunity. But, in this life. Often. Choices matter more than hard work. Opportunities matter more than abilities. Given a second chance. I will make absolutely sure my parents and Liam regret this for the rest of their lives! 2 “What are you guys doing?” Liam suddenly pushed the door open and walked toward us. Chloe furrowed her brow, continuing to plead with me in a low voice: “Please, Sis…” But before Chloe could finish her sentence. I cut her off: “I’m sorry, but I can’t promise you that.” I shook off Chloe’s hand. Chloe froze, looking bewildered: “Sis, why…” Because you’re going to write a diary. And make me public enemy number one. I turned to face Liam, blurting out: “Liam, Chloe is sick. Terminal cancer.” Liam stopped dead in his tracks, a look of sheer terror suddenly appearing on his exhausted face. Chloe immediately shook her head: “No, I’m not sick! Sis is just joking with you…” I calmly and methodically continued: “Chloe still has the diagnosis report in her pocket. You can see for yourself. I think we need to tell Mom and Dad as soon as possible. We can’t delay Chloe’s treatment.” Chloe instantly clamped her hands over her pockets. Liam reached out and snatched the crumpled diagnosis report from her hand. Seeing the words “Terminal Cancer” clearly printed on the paper. Liam’s body visibly swayed: “It really is cancer…” Tears immediately spilled from Chloe’s eyes. “No, you can’t tell Mom and Dad! Mom’s health is terrible, and Dad’s body is already failing because of the company… If they find out, they won’t be able to handle it… Liam, please don’t! Sis, please don’t…” She cried, looking weak and pitiful, completely out of breath. Followed by a soft cough. A pool of blood gushed from her nose. It scared all the color out of Liam’s handsome face. But Chloe still tried to hold it together, insisting she was fine. “Let’s go to the hospital,” I suggested. Chloe shook her head and waved her hands: “No, no, I just need to rest a bit. Going to the hospital is just a waste of money…” Liam grabbed Chloe, pulling her domineeringly into his arms, and gave an order: “Chloe, listen to me.” And so. Refusing to let Chloe resist. Liam took her straight to the hospital. They ran a comprehensive set of tests. The result. Was exactly the same as the diagnosis report. “It is indeed terminal cancer. It has already metastasized to multiple areas. After removing the larger tumors, we’ll need to follow up with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. Given how young the patient is, it’s hard to say exactly how effective the treatment will be, and the costs… well, they won’t be small…” Before the doctor could finish, Liam interrupted: “No matter what it takes, we’ll treat her.” The doctor nodded, then printed out the admission forms. “Go to the admissions department and get her checked in as soon as possible. She may need multiple surgeries in a short period of time, so she’ll need a family member with her 24/7. Here’s a list of things you’ll need for her stay.” Liam took the stack of documents. He held Chloe’s hand and headed to the admissions department. “The deposit is $5,000. Cash or card?” The nurse asked Liam politely. Liam frowned deeply, looking troubled. “Wait here for a minute. I need to make a phone call.” I sat with Chloe on the bench in the admissions area, watching Liam make calls outside. He looked anxious one minute, forcing a smile the next, and then stomping his feet in frustration and cursing at the sky. It wasn’t until the hospital was about to close that Liam finally managed to scrape together the $5,000 deposit. God only knows how he had to bend his pride to ask those trust-fund kids he used to party with for money. In my previous life, even if he went a week without eating, he never asked those kids for a dime. In this life, it had only just begun, and his pride was already gone. You can imagine how the rest of his days would go… “Don’t worry, money isn’t an issue. As long as you can get better, Liam will take care of everything.” Looking at Liam’s passionate promise, Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. And I remained completely expressionless. I just took in the hospital, reeking of disinfectant. Oh, this wasn’t just a hospital. It was a money pit for the poor. 3 Hospital beds require joining a waitlist. Paying the $5,000 deposit just secured a spot in line. Once admitted, money would be silently drained away with every breath. A night in a bed, an IV line, a bag of saline, oxygen… accumulating bit by bit, tens and hundreds of dollars at a time, it would become an insurmountable mountain of debt for a poor family. When the three of us came to the hospital, we were in a frantic rush and took a taxi. Now leaving the hospital, less hurried, we unconsciously found ourselves at the bus stop, waiting for the bus home. It was rush hour. The crowd was surging. We were squeezed onto the bus. In the cramped, stifling space. Chloe cried several times, trying to convince Liam to give up on treatment. But Liam’s eyes were resolute, his gaze unwavering, driving his words of absolute commitment deep into Chloe’s mind. “We’re a family! No matter how hard it gets, we will never give up on you! Just listen to the doctors and get your treatment. Liam will handle everything else!” “Liam, how did I get so lucky to have a brother like you…” They hugged. Pouring their hearts out to each other. If the bus hadn’t smelled so bad, it would have been a perfectly dreamy scene straight out of a romance drama. When we got back to our rented apartment. My parents were sitting on the small bed, a stack of cash resting beside them. This was the money from Dad selling his prized gold watch and Mom selling an entire closet of designer heels. No more, no less. Exactly $300,000. In my previous life, Liam relied on this exact $300,000 to build his business from scratch, single-handedly saving the Vance family from total ruin and becoming a rising star in the business world. Seeing us return, my parents frowned deeply. “Liam, we got the $300,000 you needed. Invest it in Chris’s ‘Rice Tech’ startup just like you planned. Let’s hope Chris doesn’t let us down and takes ‘Rice Tech’ all the way to an IPO.” “Rice” was the smart tech brand founded by Chris. Chris was Liam’s college classmate. They were very close, and Liam had invested a lot of time and effort in the early and late stages to help take “Rice” public. Now, they were just short $300,000. Filling this gap would allow Rice Tech to take off, driven by Chris’s marketing genius. And soaring right alongside it would be Liam, my parents, and… the entire Vance Group. However. Now. It probably wasn’t going to take off. Looking torn, Liam walked over to my parents and handed them Chloe’s medical reports. “What’s this?” Dad frowned in confusion. Mom also leaned in to look at the report. When they clearly saw the words “Terminal Cancer” on the paper, their eyes instantly turned red. Dad pressed his lips tightly together. Mom burst into tears. Chloe couldn’t hold back her tears either, sobbing uncontrollably. “Mom, Dad, we can always make money later. But Chloe’s illness can’t wait.” Liam choked on his words, completely helpless. Mom and Dad wiped away their tears and nodded heavily. “We treat her. We absolutely have to treat Chloe’s illness.” 4 After Mom and Dad made the final call. The entire family completely shelved the “Vance Revival” plan. The new goal was the “Save Chloe” plan. Dad chose to work construction at a building site. Mom took a job as a waitress at a restaurant. Liam hustled at “Rice Tech.” Although he couldn’t be a boss, his relationship with the founder got him a spot in the sales department. As for me. Unlike my past life, where I dropped out of school to work and provide a financial safety net for the family. I took a leave of absence from school. To stay at the hospital and care for Chloe 24/7. “Sis, ever since I got sick, Mom, Dad, and Liam have all cried. But you’re the only one who hasn’t. Why?” Chloe, who was now officially admitted, asked me with wide, pitiful, innocent eyes. I had just finished organizing her hospital bed and putting her toiletries in the cabinet. Hearing her voice, I slowly turned around. I looked at her: “Crying doesn’t solve any problems. Why should I waste my time and energy crying?” Chloe offered a bitter smile: “From the very first day you came back, I knew you didn’t like me. But I just don’t understand why you told the family I was sick. If I had just left, Mom, Dad, Liam, and you would be living much better lives right now…” I used to think that too. That without the burden of Chloe, I would live a great life. But reality proved otherwise. People who aren’t loved will never live a good life, no matter what. So what about those who are loved? Do they inevitably live a good life? Will this tragic girl, Chloe, have a different fate in this life compared to the last? “Stop overthinking it. Just focus on your treatment and believe that you can beat this disease!” I settled her into bed. While I lay on the cramped cot, awake all night. Because I had to be constantly vigilant in case Chloe tried to escape the hospital room. The next morning. With heavy dark circles under my eyes, I accompanied the nurses as they wheeled Chloe into the operating room. Before going in, Chloe shook her head and sighed. “Sis, what’s the point? My disease is incurable. Spending all this money is just a waste… Sis, help me. Please convince Mom, Dad, and Liam to stop the treatment, okay?” Last night, Chloe tried to get out of bed five times to run away. And every single time, I pulled her back. “Yeah, the doctors say you can’t be cured, but Mom, Dad, and Liam won’t listen. You tell them you can’t be cured, and they still won’t listen. If I go tell them you can’t be cured… do you really think they’ll listen to me? You know exactly how much they love you. Why are you putting me in this position, making me play the bad guy?” Chloe frowned slightly: “I didn’t want to make you the bad guy. I just…” I looked at her intently: “Then stay alive. Stay alive and watch with me… Let’s see just how long the people who claim to love you so much can actually keep loving you.” Chloe looked shocked: “Sis, what do you mean?” “A long illness wears out a dutiful son. And prolonged poverty destroys a harmonious home.” I said softly. Chloe was wheeled into the operating room by the nurses. The red light above the door clicked on. The lead surgeon worked meticulously. The massive tumor was removed, and after testing, it was unequivocally confirmed as malignant. When Chloe was wheeled out, her frail body was covered in tubes. A massive oxygen mask almost covered her entire face. Her breath was weak as a thread. When Mom, Dad, and Liam came to visit after work and saw Chloe looking so lifeless, they trembled with heartbreak. Their care was genuine. Their concern was real. Even when the nurse reminded them about the upcoming bills for chemotherapy and radiation, they all remained fiercely committed to the treatment. Day one, surgery. After insurance, it cost $100,000. Day two, radiation. Day three, chemotherapy… Behind the seemingly smooth process, the disease was secretly raging. On the fourth night. Chloe experienced organ failure and urgently needed a kidney transplant. Mom and I were automatically ruled out due to incompatible blood types. After testing, both Dad and Liam were found to be matches. Dad immediately volunteered to donate his kidney to Chloe. But Liam stopped him, citing Dad’s age, and took the burden upon himself. While unconscious, Chloe received Liam’s kidney. Afterward, when Chloe learned the truth, she was deeply moved to tears again. Everyone was immersed in the feeling of “family unity.” I was probably the only one who actually heard what the doctor said. “Kidney failure is usually just the mildest of the complications. Next, it will be liver failure, heart failure… If you keep doing transplant surgeries, not only will the financial burden be astronomical, but you’ll be taking turns destroying healthy bodies. It’s truly not worth it. I advise you to give up treatment…”

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On my birthday, Ethan proposed to me. But the moment he pulled out the ring, Chloe snatched it from his hands and slipped it onto her own finger. Ethan just smiled, looking at her with absolute adoration. “Chloe is always so playful.” The room went dead silent. Everyone was waiting for my reaction—the actual girlfriend. They expected a screaming match, a hair-pulling reality TV catfight. Instead, I casually popped a party popper. As confetti rained down on them, I smiled and offered my congratulations. “A match made in heaven. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness.” 1 Ethan stared at me through the falling confetti. Chloe happily wrapped her arms around his neck, acting like a spoiled child. “I love this ring! I want it.” It was as if Ethan had suddenly snapped out of a trance. He finally seemed to remember that this was my birthday party. He pulled Chloe’s hands off his neck and nervously tried to explain. “Chloe’s just messing around.” The guests were all mutual friends of mine and Ethan’s. They quickly tried to laugh it off and ease the tension. “Tonight’s your special night! Don’t let irrelevant people ruin your mood.” Irrelevant? I looked at Chloe standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ethan. They were childhood sweethearts. The golden boy and the perfect girl. She raised her hand, deliberately showing off the ring on her middle finger. The fit was absolutely perfect. It was a silent declaration: I was the irrelevant one here. I raised an eyebrow, locking eyes with Ethan. “Since the ring is already on, shouldn’t you guys head straight to the honeymoon suite?” Ethan’s face instantly darkened. He took a long stride toward me. “Mia, Chloe was just curious and wanted to try it on. Could you please be a little more generous?” “We grew up together. She’s practically still a child at heart. Are you seriously going to hold a grudge against a kid?” The expressions on everyone’s faces turned painfully awkward. Chloe wasn’t six. She wasn’t sixteen. She was a twenty-six-year-old woman! Calling her a “child” implied everyone else in the room was blind. Chloe slid the ring off her finger. “Ethan, how could you say that to Mia? She’s not holding a grudge against me. Mia, here’s your ring back. Happy birthday.” She casually tossed the ring toward me. The small, diamond-encrusted band hit the floor and rolled, stopping right at the toe of my shoe. The atmosphere in the room turned suffocatingly weird. The entire situation was baffling. I was the one who had just been deeply humiliated, yet Ethan was fiercely protecting Chloe, even yelling at me in front of all our friends. Ethan glared at me, his eyes icy, trying to intimidate me into submission. It felt like a bucket of freezing water had been dumped over my head. I was instantly, terrifyingly sober. In the past, a situation like this would have made me lose my mind. I would have launched myself at Chloe and torn her apart. I would have had a screaming match with Ethan, leading to a massive cold war. Then, he would use that as a perfectly valid excuse to disappear for days, completely ignoring my calls and texts, until I finally swallowed my pride, apologized, and begged him to come back. That was how he had systematically trained me over the years. I had bowed my head so many times that he no longer even factored my feelings into his decisions. After all, in a relationship, whoever falls first… Loses. 2 Ethan and Chloe grew up in the same affluent, tight-knit neighborhood. Chloe was naturally chaotic and loved causing trouble. But in Ethan’s eyes, she was as pure and innocent as a child. He willingly, tirelessly cleaned up every single one of her messes. During college, even though they never officially announced they were dating, everyone assumed they were a package deal. So, when Ethan suddenly showed up with a massive bouquet of red roses and asked me to be his girlfriend… I was completely stunned. I thought it was a prank. A dare from a frat party. Or maybe I was just hallucinating. But I was so desperately in love with Ethan that even if it was a dream, I was more than willing to dive in. And reality seemed to reward my devotion. Ethan actually became my boyfriend. I got to hold his hand secretly under the table in the library. We went on dates to cute coffee shops. On every major holiday, I got to spend it with him. But there was a catch: I had to initiate every single one of those things. I rationalized it. I told myself it was his first real relationship and he just didn’t know how to take care of someone. Until I saw with my own eyes exactly how he took care of Chloe. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It was just that the person receiving his meticulous, unwavering devotion… wasn’t me. 3 The candles on my birthday cake were lit. My friends urged me to make a wish quickly. I snapped out of my daze and blew out all the candles without closing my eyes. Seeing this, Ethan frowned impatiently. “Mia, what kind of tantrum is this now? Don’t think that just because it’s your birthday I’m going to let you act like a brat!” I gripped the edge of the table and stood up. “Fine. Then I’ll let you have the floor.” I walked around the table, completely ignoring Ethan’s furious, dark expression, and walked straight out of the private room. As the door was closing behind me, I heard Chloe’s signature, dramatic voice: “Oh no… it’s Mia’s birthday after all. It’s really bad that we made the birthday girl leave so angry, isn’t it? Should I go apologize to her?” Ethan fought back his annoyance, his tone instantly shifting to a gentle, comforting murmur. “If she wants to leave, let her leave. No one is going to tolerate her terrible temper. Come on, let’s just enjoy the party!” A single, heavy door separated us. Inside the room was the roar of a party. Outside the door was absolute, suffocating isolation. Ethan had never, ever spoken to me with that kind of gentleness. He had never, not once, publicly taken my side or defended me in front of others. They always did this. Right in front of my face, under the guise of “just being childhood friends,” they did everything a romantic couple would do. Chloe was terrible with directions, so he would happily drive an hour out of his way to pick her up from work. When Chloe made a massive mistake on a project and got fired, he immediately hired her to be his personal assistant. The passenger seat of his car practically had her name permanently etched into it. Any free time he had, the moment she called, he was there. Whenever I felt my boundaries were being violated and got angry, he would tell me, “We are the ones building a life together. Chloe is just a kid. Don’t be so petty and jealous.” But every time I saw another one of Chloe’s things left in our apartment, a deep, sickening panic would gnaw at me. Until tonight. When Ethan stood by and allowed Chloe to slip on the engagement ring meant for me. He finally turned me into a complete, undeniable joke. Ethan took the love I had for him and forged it into a blade, driving it straight into my chest. I pulled out my phone to order an Uber. A notification popped up. A friend inside the room had texted me a photo. It was Chloe, looking slightly flushed from the alcohol, comfortably nestled in Ethan’s arms. “Mia, Ethan is going way too far. Does he even remember he’s your boyfriend?” Did he remember? He probably did. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be just innocently holding her while she was drunk. He would be carrying her out of there, finding a quiet, empty room, and having his way with her… A cold night wind swept down the street, blowing dust into my eyes. My eyes stung and watered, and I rubbed them aggressively. But I realized… I wasn’t crying. My heart wasn’t aching with that familiar, suffocating pain anymore. It felt like the world had finally gone quiet. So this is what it feels like when you finally stop loving someone. 4 By the time I got home and finished washing up, it was past midnight. Ethan hadn’t texted me once. For the first time, I didn’t send him the usual barrage of texts demanding to know when he was coming home. Instead, I opened a message from my manager, Sarah. “Mia, are you seriously not going to consider the overseas posting? It’s a massive learning opportunity provided by corporate. It’s incredibly rare! It’s only for three years. Is your relationship with your boyfriend really so fragile it can’t survive three years?” Sarah was my senior from college and my current boss. The company had an upcoming opening for an international posting—a fast-track program for future executives—and she had highly recommended me for it. I had politely declined, using my poor English as an excuse. But she saw right through me. She knew I was completely blinded by love. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Ethan alone in the States. When I graduated college, my advisor asked our class what our ultimate goals were. My classmates shouted about making six figures, buying houses and sports cars, starting their own companies… I just squeezed Ethan’s hand tightly and said with absolute sincerity: “I want to build a home with Ethan!” Later, we did buy an apartment together. But I couldn’t even manage to get him to come home to it. I typed and deleted sentences in the chat box. Before I could hit send, Sarah called me. “Mia, I truly believe in your potential. You do this three-year stint, and when you come back, you’ll walk straight into upper management. Plus, you’ll be going with an entire team. You won’t be out there fighting alone.” “Sarah… let me think about it a little more.” Hearing the hesitation in my voice, Sarah’s tone instantly brightened. “Great! While you’re thinking it over, I highly suggest you start preparing. Brush up on your English. The deployment isn’t until next month, you have plenty of time.” I had absolutely no natural talent for English. Back in school, no matter how hard I studied, I barely scraped by with passing grades. As for conversational speaking… back then, Ethan used to help me. Now, I had to rely entirely on myself. All the English books in the apartment were ones I had bought for Ethan. I knew this place inside and out. Without even looking, I grabbed the exact textbook I needed from the shelf. I used to naively believe I knew Ethan just as well. I let out a self-deprecating laugh. He was currently drowning in the affection of his true love. Why would he need me to care about him? I read for a while until my eyelids grew too heavy to keep open. I was half-asleep when I heard the sound of keys turning in the lock, followed by heavy footsteps. Ethan was home. “Mia.” He called my name from the living room a few times, then pushed the bedroom door open. Seeing me in bed, his tone immediately turned displeased. “Mia!” I furrowed my brow, rubbed my eyes, and sat up. “You’re back?” He froze. Usually, if he came home this late, I would be sitting rigidly on the living room sofa waiting for him. Then, I would interrogate him endlessly about exactly what he had been doing, accuse him of having an inappropriate relationship with Chloe, and it would escalate into a massive, screaming fight. This was the first time things hadn’t gone exactly according to his script. His face was dark as a thundercloud. I adjusted my blanket. “Go take a shower and get to bed. It’s late.” “After you left, Chloe got drunk, so I had to drive her home. Then…” “Oh.” I didn’t wait for him to finish his excuse. I lay back down and pulled the covers up. He took a step closer to the bed. The sharp scent of alcohol mixed with expensive women’s perfume invaded my nose. “What happened with the ring… she took it too far. I’ll make it up to you another day…” “She just acts like a kid. She likes to play around.” I reached a hand out from under the covers and waved the air in front of my face. “Just go shower. I’m exhausted.” “Mia, what exactly is your endgame here?” He was suppressing his anger, his voice low and tight. I opened my eyes, looking at him with genuine confusion. “What do you mean?” “You…” For once, he was completely speechless. In the past, whenever I questioned him, he would just get annoyed and tell me to shut up. I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. “Stop overthinking it. We both have work tomorrow.” With that, I closed my eyes and pretended to fall asleep. He stood silently by the bed for a few minutes before finally turning and walking out. He slammed the bedroom door behind him with absolutely zero hesitation, venting his frustration. I knew he was angry, and I knew exactly why. He had actually lowered his pride to offer a rare, half-assed explanation, and I completely ignored it. So he threw a tantrum. He actually thought I would jump out of bed and go chase after him to comfort him, just like I always used to.

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After being blacklisted online due to a plagiarism scandal, I publicly announced my retirement from writing. My boyfriend, who had just been indignantly condemning me, froze. “What are you doing? Didn’t you say you still have a lot of debt to pay off?” His childhood sweetheart, the “victim” of the plagiarism incident, also panicked. “Vivian, you don’t need to punish yourself like this. I’m willing to give you a chance to start over.” Looking at the frantically flashing camera flashes below the stage, my expression didn’t waver. In my previous life, these two humiliated me while secretly working together to steal my creative work. In the end, the words I painstakingly wrote built Chloe’s reputation as a genius writer. Given a second chance, I directly deleted the pen name I had used for six years. I’ve had enough of squeezing into a tiny apartment. It’s time to go home and inherit the family fortune. As for Chloe, let’s see how you finish the remaining half of the book. 01 “Ms. Vance, you keep claiming you’ll produce evidence to prove you didn’t plagiarize, so where is it?” “As a former reader of yours, I really don’t want to believe you’d do something like this. Did you actually write your previous works yourself?” Faced with countless microphones thrust towards me, I was stunned for a moment, and then my heart started beating violently. I was reborn. Reborn on the day I held a press conference to prove my innocence. In my previous life, my boyfriend’s childhood sweetheart plagiarized a novel based on my own unrequited love story. On the day of its initial release, it shot to the top of the website’s charts, creating a best-selling myth in the young adult romance genre. After being shared by major influencers, countless netizens cried out that it was a tearjerker. I originally wanted to show my original drafts as proof. But unexpectedly, my files were wiped clean on the day of the press conference, leaving no trace. I experienced unprecedented cyberbullying, receiving funeral wreaths, black-and-white photos of myself, and terrifying packages from all over the country every day. I gritted my teeth and continued writing, but was ultimately tracked down by a rabid anti-fan and stabbed to death. Right now, I merely hesitated for a moment, and my good boyfriend of three years, Sean, couldn’t help but launch a passionate attack. “Vivian, if you claim Chloe is slandering you, then show the evidence! Don’t just make empty accusations and throw dirty water on people!” He glared at me angrily, but a flash of smugness crossed his eyes. Of course, how could he not know what was in my folders? What he wanted was to ruin my reputation and make Chloe the new generation’s most popular author. I lowered my eyes, picked up my laptop, and walked to the projection stand. Boot up, screen cast. The next second, under everyone’s shocked gaze, I deleted the pen name I had used for six years. Sean and Chloe immediately stood up. I spoke coldly: “Everyone, I have been wronged today, and my evidence has been destroyed by someone with ulterior motives, making it difficult for me to defend myself. “This pen name is void from today. I am sealing my pen and will never set foot in the web novel circle again!” 02 After speaking, I grabbed my laptop and was about to leave when Sean rushed in front of me like a speeding bullet to block my way. “What are you doing? Didn’t you say you still have a lot of debt to pay off? “You think you can just stop writing because you say so? Didn’t you say every day that writing is your biggest dream?” Chloe also panicked. She walked over, tears welling up in her eyes. “Vivian, you don’t need to punish yourself like this. I’m willing to give you a chance to start over.” I sneered as I watched the two of them perform. The next second, Chloe suddenly bit her lip and knelt down to me right there! “Vivian, I beg you, please don’t leave the industry over this little thing. Your readers will definitely not let me off! “I can delete all the information and pretend none of this happened. If you leave the industry, my sin will be too great. I won’t write anymore either…” The sound of camera shutters instantly focused on her. My former top-tier editor couldn’t help but walk over to pull her up. “Chloe, what are you saying? Why are you kneeling to a plagiarist? “She brought this upon herself. You just signed a top-tier contract with the company. Don’t forget, there’s still work to be done.” I was too lazy to stay here and be attacked, so I simply left the scene. To avoid being mobbed by reporters, I specifically took a detour and took a taxi back to my apartment from the back door. On the way back, my Twitter notifications kept popping up. I clicked open and found that four of the top ten trending topics were about me. #VivianVancePlagiarism# #VivianVanceChloe# #ChloeForcedToKneel# #ChloeGhostwriter# Crazed marketing accounts denied all the works I had ever created. They claimed I stole Chloe’s ideas and threatened her to be my ghostwriter. The comments under my Twitter were a chorus of curses. [Damn, this is so disgusting. I actually became a fan of a plagiarizing dog.] [I watched the live broadcast of the press conference. Vivian Vance was speechless when confronted, and she even forced Chloe to kneel at the end!] [Good thing you know your place and decided to retire, otherwise I’d ruin you!] [Even her own boyfriend stood up to point the finger at her. Vivian Vance, what exactly have you done?] [I bet she just grabbed enough cash and ran. I support Chloe suing her until the end!] My private messages were completely filled with foul language. In contrast, Chloe’s Twitter follower count was skyrocketing, and the comments below were all heartwarming encouragement. I left a comment. [Then I wish you can continue updating daily and finish the second half, don’t disappoint the readers.] I knew I didn’t have many unpublished drafts left. Chloe was too anxious, worried that I would publish the story before she finished hoarding drafts, so she decided to strike first. But she couldn’t possibly complete the foreshadowing and easter eggs I had buried earlier. Exposing her was only a matter of time. 03 I returned to my rented apartment. A 900-square-foot place, neither big nor small, warmly and comfortably decorated by me. On the old walls were photos arranged in the shape of a heart. Photos of Sean and me. Except every single one was secretly taken by me and developed. He never agreed to take a photo with me. He also refused to post about me on his social media, and on anniversaries, he would purposely give me the silent treatment and disappear. Over the years, I paid the rent and utilities, and I basically covered the costs of eating out and shopping. I immediately contacted the landlord to terminate the lease, bearing the pressure of paying the penalty fee. I threw away what needed to be thrown away and packed up as quickly as possible. Just as I was busy working, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and found Sean and Chloe. “Vivian, are you moving?” As soon as Chloe entered, she hypocritically held my hand. I pulled my hand out with a cold face. Sean looked at me coldly, the disdain between his brows obvious. “Moving? As far as I know, her dad died of an illness a long time ago. All the money she worked so hard to earn from writing over the years went to pay off her dad’s medical debts. “She probably aches over the $2,000 monthly rent for this place. If she moves, she can only afford those shabby, single-room dorms.” I looked at him expressionlessly: “What do you want?” Sean spoke with disgust: “Apologize to Chloe and publicly admit that you plagiarized.” 04 My eyebrow twitched. Are those the words of a human being? I angrily questioned him: “Sean, don’t you know the truth? You’ve lived off me all these years. Where do you get the nerve to say such things now?” Sean’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest. He spoke righteously. “Because you are an unemployed vagrant with no parents, while Chloe has been the princess surrounded by stars since she was in school. I will help her get whatever she wants. “You probably don’t know, but Chloe’s parents are middle school teachers. She is a thousand times better than you in every way.” The boyfriend I had been in love with since college was now attacking me with the most vicious words. He only knew that I came from a single-parent family and moved out because of disagreements with my mother. But he didn’t know that my mother was the head of the Asia-Pacific region for a multinational conglomerate. My father left us an inheritance worth nine figures when he passed away. It’s fair to say that if I hadn’t chosen to stay here to escape inheriting the family business. I would be someone Sean could never reach in his entire life. Seeing my silence, Sean thought his attack had worked and continued with a sneer. “Some people are born princesses, while others, no matter how hard they try, are just maids who can’t see the light of day. “If I were you, I would leave with my tail between my legs right now and leave everything here for Chloe. “What are you standing there for? Log onto Twitter immediately and publicly apologize to Chloe, otherwise don’t blame me for not holding back—” However, the next second, I raised my hand and gave Sean a solid slap across the face. I slapped him so hard that Sean’s face turned to the side. His eyes widened, and the whites of his eyes immediately filled with bloodshot veins. “Vivian, you dare hit me?” Chloe screamed and immediately took two steps back to pull out her phone to record. However, I knocked her phone away first, grabbed a suitcase, and smashed it into both of them, pushing them aside. I frantically vented my resentment, smashing whatever was at hand. Anyway, I didn’t plan on taking anything with me. “Since you like my things so much, I’ll reward them all to you!” The surroundings were a mess, everything in sight shattered by me. I pulled open the door and strode out of the place I had called home for three years. 05 I called my mom. We hadn’t contacted each other for years, but when I dialed her number, she picked up immediately. In that instant, my tears flowed uncontrollably. In my previous life, from the time I graduated from college and left in a fit of pique until the moment I was murdered, I never got to speak a single word to my mother. I couldn’t imagine how heartbroken she must have been hearing the news of my death. This time, I just want to willingly be my mother’s little dependent. “…Just come home, just come home.” My mother’s voice trembled continuously, until in the end, she could only repeat those three words. Soon, I boarded a flight back to New York. Before boarding, I glanced at Twitter and saw that Chloe had hypocritically posted another tweet. [Sorry everyone, I’m taking a break from writing for a while. The recent events have left me feeling a bit overwhelmed, and Vivian is also a senior I’ve always respected. I want to take some time off to adjust myself.] And my former editor, Fiona, who used to show me the utmost care, quickly retweeted this post. [Fans, please give Chloe some time to produce even better work. Next month we will host a fan meet-and-greet event in New York, everyone is welcome to attend!] It was obvious they were trying to build Chloe into a highly marketable author. I sighed, turned off my phone, and fell into a deep sleep. When I got off the plane, my mom had already brought a driver and bodyguards in a Rolls-Royce to pick me up. She said she had heard about my situation and was preparing to have her friends handle the PR while contacting lawyers to file a lawsuit. “We will pursue this matter to the end. I will absolutely not let my precious daughter suffer any grievances.” I lay in my mother’s arms. Her hand continuously stroked my back, her chin gently resting on my forehead. In the car were various exquisite dishes and my favorite drinks from the past. My mom was afraid I would be hungry and started preparing the moment she received my call. I hugged my mom tightly. “Don’t worry, Mom, there’s no need to go to so much trouble.” I smiled and said, “Very soon, the real plagiarist will reap what she sows.”

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On my daughter’s very first day of kindergarten, the teacher unceremoniously kicked us out. “Mr. Sterling’s son has already been attending here for a year. Where did this daughter come from?” I was completely baffled. My daughter with my husband had just reached the age of enrollment. How could she possibly have been here for a year? After a quick investigation, I uncovered a chilling truth. A year ago, my husband’s new executive assistant had enrolled her own child in this exact kindergarten, masquerading under the title of “Mrs. Sterling.” When I confronted her, she casually presented a marriage certificate with my husband. “I know all about you. You’re the woman who’s been obsessively stalking my husband all these years, aren’t you?” The official seal from the registry office and their smiling photo were crystal clear. The issue date was exactly five years ago. But Julian and I had only been married for three years! 1 “Mommy, am I really a wild kid with no daddy?” Driving home, my daughter looked at me, desperately fighting back tears. My grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Of course not. Lily is Mommy and Daddy’s one and only precious baby.” The tears pooled in her eyes finally broke free, her voice trembling with profound hurt. “Then why did Auntie Chloe’s son say he’s Daddy’s baby?” “All the other kids at kindergarten were saying it too. They hit me and called me a bastard…” Looking at the faint, swollen red mark on my daughter’s cheek, my heart shattered. Today was supposed to be her very first day of school, and she was subjected to this nightmare. The most terrifying part, however, was that when I contacted Chloe Vance, she immediately texted me a photo of a marriage certificate. The man smiling next to her in the photo was the exact same man I had held in my arms countless times. The government seal was undeniably authentic, and the date was from five years ago! Yet, Julian Sterling and I had only celebrated our third anniversary. Come to think of it, Chloe’s arrival at the company was incredibly sudden. She was hired directly into the position of Julian’s executive assistant without going through the standard HR protocols. Could it be that… I didn’t dare finish the thought. I pulled out my phone and dialed Julian’s number. Instead of my husband, his male assistant answered the phone. “Mrs. Sterling, Mr. Sterling is currently in a highly sensitive corporate negotiation. All electronic devices had to be surrendered outside. If you have an urgent matter, I can relay a message when he finishes.” “Was Julian married before he met me?” The assistant froze. After I quickly explained the situation, he frantically assured me. “Ma’am, that marriage certificate has to be photoshopped! I promise you, the CEO would never dare do something like that!” After hanging up, my panic subsided slightly. It was true. Julian didn’t have the guts to pull off a double life of this magnitude. But I still needed to hear him explain it to my face. My only option right now was to head to our new house and wait for him to finish his meeting. To ensure Lily had a short commute to her elite school, Julian and I had recently purchased a massive estate in the most exclusive school district in the city. Today was the exact day we were scheduled to move in. But when my car pulled up to the grand iron gates of the estate, I was shocked. The property, which I was supposed to be personally inspecting today, was bustling with activity. Dozens of people were rushing in and out, unloading luggage that definitely did not belong to me. A massive banner was draped across the front entrance: [Congratulations on Your New Home, Mrs. Sterling!] A swarm of reporters and paparazzi were crowded around the entrance, their cameras aggressively focused on a glamorous, elegantly dressed woman. The moment I clearly saw her face, my pupils dilated in pure shock. Chloe Vance? What the hell was she doing here?! 2 The reporters excitedly shoved their microphones toward Chloe. “Ms. Vance! Is the marriage certificate you posted on your social media real?! Did you retire from the entertainment industry five years ago because you found true love?!” I immediately opened my phone. The trending topics were already exploding. [#ChloeVance #JulianSterling] [#ChloeVanceRevealsMarriageCertificate] [#JulianSterling: The Love Hidden for Five Years is Finally Revealed] I clicked the top trending post. It was the exact same marriage certificate Chloe had texted me earlier. The caption read: [Yes, we’ve been happily married for five years.] The comments section was an absolute madhouse. [Ahhhh! I KNEW IT! Our goddess didn’t retire just to avoid competing with that pathetic try-hard, Mia Harrison!] [Are you kidding me? Chloe is a national treasure. That irrelevant D-lister Mia hasn’t achieved anything in three years.] [I’m a kindergarten teacher! Mia Harrison literally brought a kid to my school today claiming it was CEO Sterling’s! It was the funniest thing I’ve seen all year! Hahahaha!] [Oh my god, how delusional do you have to be?] [Before the goddess retired, that desperate Mia was already trying to hook up with CEO Sterling! Bet she never expected he was already married to the goddess! Karma! Hahaha!!] [Wuu-wuu… So she didn’t come back for five years because she was secretly living her happily ever after. We love you, goddess!] “What is all this garbage? Throw it out. Julian will be upset if he sees this clutter when he gets home.” Chloe, draped in an expensive cashmere shawl, pinched her nose in disgust as she pointed at a collection of pristine, antique items. The movers immediately began tossing my belongings into a massive dumpster outside. These were priceless antiques and calligraphy scrolls I had spent years meticulously sourcing from around the world, now lying in the dirt alongside actual garbage. “Stop right there!” I lunged forward, physically restraining the mover’s arm, and glared furiously at Chloe. “Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to break into my house?!” “Oh my god, that desperate Mia actually had the nerve to show up?” “Hey, are you blind? Can’t you read the banner? ‘Congratulations Mrs. Sterling.’ Who the hell are you? Are you Mrs. Sterling? Hilarious!” “Has her delusion progressed to the point where she’s trying to claim other people’s real estate now? This is psychotic.” “This estate has to be worth at least nine figures. She’s just desperate for clout. That’s how pathetic she is.” Smack! I delivered a vicious, full-force slap across the face of the reporter gossiping closest to me. “Who the hell do you think you are?! Did you get my permission to trespass on my property?” I violently swatted his camera out of his hands, grabbed his collar, and shoved him toward the gate. “Get out!” “Stop!” A delicate, manicured hand suddenly blocked my path. Chloe furrowed her perfectly shaped brows, her delicate face projecting a mask of stern authority. “Ms. Harrison, while I consider myself a very easygoing person, that does not give you the right to cause a violent scene on my property!” 3 “She’s lost her mind! This delusional stalker actually has the nerve to throw a tantrum on the goddess’s property! Does she seriously think she owns this place?!” “Ha! She really convinced herself she’s Mrs. Sterling, huh? What a joke.” I shot Chloe a look of pure, unfiltered disgust. “Move. My home doesn’t welcome outsiders, and that includes you.” Chloe stepped protectively in front of the reporter I had just slapped, her frown deepening dramatically. “Ms. Harrison, I’m well aware you’ve always harbored a grudge against me because of my husband. I don’t hold that against you.” “Today is the day I move into my new home. If you came to offer your congratulations, you are still welcome as my guest.” “But if you insist on being stubborn, unreasonable, and violent on my property, don’t blame me for kicking you out!” She stood there wearing a stunning, vintage-inspired qipao with a white cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders, perched on designer stilettos. She looked absolutely ethereal and elegant. Her crisp, authoritative voice instantly won over everyone present. The cameras flashed aggressively in our direction. “Ahhh, is this the power of a true goddess? I’m dead! Her charisma is intoxicating!” “Wuu-wuu… Where else can you find a celebrity this polite but with such strong boundaries?! I’d gladly be her loyal dog for the rest of my life!” “If I were the goddess, seeing this delusional stalker impersonate my identity and crash my new home, I would have had my bodyguards beat her face in and throw her onto the street!” Outwardly, Chloe maintained her poised, elegant demeanor, but the corner of her mouth twitched into a subtle, incredibly smug smirk. When she looked back at me, she tilted her chin up slightly, dripping with condescension. “Given our past working relationship, Ms. Harrison, I strongly suggest you stop causing trouble.” Smack! My hand connected squarely with her cheek, leaving a stark red handprint. I slammed the property deed directly onto her chest and grabbed her by the collar of her expensive dress. “Look very closely! This is my property, not yours! I haven’t even settled the score with you for stealing my daughter’s spot at kindergarten, and now you’re trying to hijack my estate?!” “You are nothing but my husband’s assistant! Who gave you the audacity to throw a psychotic tantrum in the owner’s house?!” “Ah!” She clutched her face and doubled over. Her stilettos wobbled precariously, and her voice trembled with manufactured terror. “Help! Someone help me~” “Have you absolutely no shame?!” Someone suddenly reached out and shoved me violently from behind, nearly ripping off my acrylic nails. “Crashing someone else’s house to throw a tantrum—is this how you farm engagement?! I’ve been sick of you for a long time! If I wasn’t worried about ruining the goddess’s big day, I would have dealt with you the second you walked in!” “Claiming the goddess is just your husband’s assistant? Do you really think we’re afraid to put our hands on you?!” I dug my heels in, stabilizing myself, and gripped my phone tightly. I let out a cold, sharp laugh. “Go ahead! I’ve already called the police. If you have the guts to lay a hand on me, do it!” Hearing this, a subtle, panicked shift crossed Chloe’s face. But the rabid reporters quickly drowned out any hesitation. “Ha! You’re the one trespassing and causing a scene! When the cops get here, you’re the one getting arrested! Get the hell out of here right now! The goddess shouldn’t have to look at trash like you!” As they yelled, several men grabbed my arms, aggressively trying to drag me toward the gates. I lost my balance, stumbling backward, about to crash hard onto the pavement. “What is going on here?!” A crisp, authoritative voice rang out. Hearing it, my head snapped up instantly. 4 “Oh my god! It’s the estate’s new estate manager!” “I recognize her! I recognize her! Our paper just did a massive feature on her! She’s the brilliant female executive who fought her way out of poverty in the mountains!” Seeing Sarah walk toward us, a surge of desperate hope filled my chest. “Sarah! Hurry! Tell them the truth! Tell them whose house this is!” Sarah was a brilliant young woman I had personally sponsored through her entire college education. Because of her exceptional capabilities, the moment she graduated, I hired her with a highly lucrative salary to manage my new estate. If it was her, she could definitely clear my name. “Sarah…” Chloe’s expression faltered visibly. I shot Chloe a freezing glare and grabbed Sarah’s hand firmly. “Sarah, tell them exactly who owns this estate.” “Ma’am…” The hand I was gripping struggled slightly, then forcefully pulled away. Sarah offered me a strained, awkward smile. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall inviting you here.” “Sarah?” I stared at her, genuinely thinking I had misheard. But Sarah had already walked over to Chloe. She gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind Chloe’s ear, her voice dripping with sycophantic concern. “Madam, are you alright?” “Madam…” I felt like the ground had dropped out from beneath me. I lunged forward, grabbing Sarah by the arm, forcing her to look me in the eye. “Do you not recognize me?! I’m Mia! I’m the one who sponsored your entire education!” Sarah acted as if she were absolutely terrified. Her previously confident smile crumbled into a mask of pathetic grievance. “I-I’m sorry… but the person who sponsored me has always been Mrs. Sterling…” I was so furious I was practically shaking. “I am Mrs. Sterling! I literally attended your college graduation ceremony last month! You recognized me perfectly fine back then!” “I… I didn’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Tears instantly welled up in Sarah’s eyes, her voice cracking into fragile, broken pieces. “Enough!” A hand violently slapped my grip away. Chloe shielded Sarah behind her, glaring at me with deep, righteous indignation. “I know you hate me for stealing Julian from you! This is between the two of us! If you have a problem, take it up with me! Why are you targeting an innocent girl?!” 5 “Oh my god, this is how a true philanthropist acts!” “Exactly! Anyone who genuinely cares about their sponsor treats them like their own child! Who would violently grab them and interrogate them like that?!” “I’m literally crying right now. The goddess is not only generous, she’s so incredibly kind! She deserves a lifetime of happiness with CEO Sterling!” “What is wrong with this Mia bitch?! Trying to steal the goddess’s man wasn’t enough, now she’s trying to steal credit for the goddess’s charity work?! How can a human being be this vile?!” The cameras flashed relentlessly, blinding me. I stared at Sarah hiding behind Chloe, completely unable to process the betrayal. “Sarah…” Sarah’s eyes darted around guiltily, actively avoiding my gaze. She blinked rapidly, tears already clinging to her eyelashes. “Ma’am, I truly don’t know who you are. Please, I’m begging you, stop doing this to me…” “Mia!” Chloe pulled Sarah closer, looking at me with fierce, protective vigilance. “I… I will not let you hurt this girl!” With a few loose strands of hair framing her face, her eyes shone with an extraordinary, unyielding resilience. She looked exactly like a tragically misunderstood, yet incredibly strong heroine from a movie. “Wuu-wuu… The goddess is so pitiful! It’s all that psychotic bitch’s fault!” “I can’t take this anymore! I am going to teach this bitch a lesson she’ll never forget!” “Hey, wait! Don’t just focus on the bitch! I’ve seen her car in the goddess’s social media posts! I bet she’s trying to claim the car is hers too!” “Get her! Smash that piece of trash car!” “NO!” My heart stopped. But a few men had already spun around, sprinting toward my car. They grabbed heavy metal poles from the moving truck and violently smashed them into my windshield. From inside the car, my daughter let out a blood-curdling, terrified scream. “Fuck! A bitch’s daughter is just a little bitch! Shut the fuck up! If you don’t stop crying, I’ll drag you out here and beat you too!” “LILY!” I screamed, lunging forward to try and save her, but a stiletto suddenly shot out, deliberately tripping me. I crashed hard onto the pavement. Chloe crossed her arms, looking down at me with absolute, freezing contempt, a cold smirk playing on her lips. Immediately, several people hauled me up by my arms, and a brutal slap cracked across my face. “The goddess gave you a chance to leave, but you refused! You just had to get your ass beat to finally get the message, huh?!” “You psychotic bitch! I’m going to beat you to death today!” The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I lunged forward and viciously bit down on one of the men’s hands. He shrieked in agony and violently yanked his hand back. I gritted my teeth, ripped the wedding ring off my finger, and hurled it directly into his face. “I am Julian Sterling’s legal wife! You will pay the ultimate price for what you are doing today!” Someone caught the ring. The moment they looked at it, their face drained of color. “The ‘Vow of the Stars’? The record-breaking, multi-million dollar ring CEO Sterling won at auction? There’s only one in the world. How does she have it?” “Wait, that’s not right… Didn’t CEO Sterling say he bought it to use as his wedding ring?” I spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, glaring at them with lethal intensity. “Let me go right now, and I might consider not pressing charges.” “Ha! Do you really think you can scam us with such a cheap, pathetic knockoff?” An almost identical ‘Vow of the Stars’ was suddenly tossed onto the pavement next to me. Chloe pulled the real ring from her designer bag, looking at me with profound disgust. “Ms. Harrison, I never imagined your obsession with me would escalate to this level. Even a replica of the ‘Vow of the Stars’ must have cost a fortune.” My breath hitched in my throat. “Impossible… He won that at auction and personally placed it on my finger. Where the hell did you get a replica?!” Smack! Another slap landed on my face. Chloe’s brow furrowed in deep, exhausted frustration. “I am so sick of this! I gave you chance after chance, and you still insist on harassing me and my husband!” She pulled a thick stack of documents from her bag and threw them aggressively at my head. “Take a good look! See who the real homewrecker is!” A marriage certificate fluttered to the ground, landing perfectly open right in front of my eyes. The marriage certificate I had originally assumed was photoshopped… was lying tangibly right in front of me. In the photo, the man was smiling brightly, leaning intimately against Chloe. Julian… With trembling fingers, I picked up the scattered photos, one by one. From childhood to adulthood, from college campus to corporate office, from awkward youth to polished maturity… They were holding hands running to school, Chloe’s ice cream had a massive bite taken out of it by Julian, and they were leaning against each other under the neon lights of a theme park, smiling the happiest smiles I had ever seen… They… they had known each other for a very long time… They had been married… for five years… My three-year marriage instantly dissolved into a pathetic, humiliating joke. Chloe tossed my car keys directly at my face, her voice devoid of emotion. “I won’t keep you any longer. You’re on your own now.” “Lily?” A familiar, panicked voice suddenly cut through the chaos. “What the hell are you people doing?! Stop right now!” It was Julian’s voice. Accompanied by the blaring sirens of arriving police cars.

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The day before New Year’s Eve, Arthur Sterling walked downstairs fully dressed. I was putting up festive window decals. He walked over to me. “I won’t be home for the holidays. Will you be okay by yourself?” Before I could even ask why. He said, “She’s pregnant. The baby is mine. I need to be with her.” My hand trembled, and the red paper fluttered softly to the floor. “Why are you only telling me this now?” Watching him stand there in silence, I knew our marriage was over. I forced the words out: “Arthur… let’s get a divorce.” “Chloe, have I not treated you well? Why do you want a divorce?” 1 Even someone with the best temper and the most rational mind would break down upon hearing those words. I grabbed the heavy glass ashtray from the coffee table and hurled it at him. “Why?!” “Why?!” “Arthur Sterling, you’re sleeping with another woman, and you have the nerve to ask me why?!” “Don’t you realize how absurd you sound?!” Arthur didn’t dodge. Glass shattered everywhere, and a bruise instantly formed on his forehead. Still furious, I threw books, magazines… everything on the table at him. Arthur didn’t even flinch. He stood there, rigid and unmoving. Finally, I grabbed my favorite vase and smashed it. It held the flowers I had just picked from the garden that morning. Arthur had always been a cold, distant person. Before we got married, his apartment was decorated in sterile, cold tones. There was absolutely no warmth or life in it. Every week, I would buy fresh flowers to decorate our home, just to make it feel a little warmer. After we got married, I meticulously worked with designers to decorate this entire mansion. I handpicked every single piece of furniture and decor. This used to be the warmest place in the world. Our home. And now, it was a disaster zone, destroyed by my own hands. Arthur watched me quietly. His eyes held a strange, almost clinical detachment, like he was observing a madwoman. When I was finally too exhausted to throw anything else, I covered my face, crouched on the floor, and sobbed uncontrollably. Arthur walked over and stood in front of me. After a long time, he picked me up off the floor, cleared a spot on the sofa, and set me down. He crouched in front of me, a flicker of what looked like heartbreak in his eyes, and used his thumb to wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes. “Chloe, don’t do this… it breaks my heart.” 2 I saw my reflection in his eyes. Tear-streaked, blurry, and utterly pathetic. I froze for a second. How did it come to this? I wiped my cheeks, trying to compose myself. “Do you remember what you promised me?” “You said we would be together forever. That we would never leave each other, and grow old together.” But Arthur, we’ve only been married for three years, and you’ve already betrayed me. You betrayed our marriage. “How long have you been together?” Arthur quickly looked away, unable to meet my eyes. “Almost a year.” A year? They had known each other for that long? I dug my nails into my palms and offered a bitter smile. “Why tell me now? Why not just keep hiding it?” Arthur sat next to me in silence. He pulled out a lighter and lit a cigarette. The smoke blurred his sharp features. “I didn’t want to lie to you anymore.” I didn’t want to lie to you anymore. What a grand, hypocritical excuse. If he didn’t love me anymore, he could have just told me. We could have gotten a divorce. I’m not the type to cling to a dead relationship. But he chose to cheat on me while we were still married. “She’s in her early twenties. Young, cute. She’s not like you. When I buy her things or give her money, she doesn’t refuse. She’s clingy, and she loves to act spoiled.” As he spoke, a light seemed to spark in his eyes, only to dim when he looked back at me. “But Chloe, you don’t do any of those things. You make me feel so… detached.” “I’m your husband. I’m supposed to be the closest person to you in the world.” But Arthur, this is just who I am. I’ve always been independent and a bit aloof. My upbringing and my family dynamic forced me to be this way. I don’t know how to act spoiled, and I hate being a burden to anyone. Even with the people I’m closest to, I always try to keep things perfectly balanced. I had been trying so hard to change. To learn how to rely on him. But when I actually needed him… when I got into that car crash and called him from a hospital bed… Where was he? “Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we have sweet and sour ribs. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, it’s tomato and egg stir-fry. Honestly, I’m sick of it. I’m so tired of this monotonous, lukewarm life.” I didn’t understand. The table was always full of food. Those were the only two dishes I actually liked. Everything else was cooked specifically for him. Why was he fixating on those two dishes? “Chloe, you’re like a bowl of plain porridge. Tasteless, but a shame to throw away. But she’s different. She’s like a piece of candy. I willingly let myself drown in her sweetness.” A smile touched Arthur’s lips. It was indulgent, and it was sweet. “She’s so bold. She dragged me to an amusement park and immediately wanted to go into the haunted house. She stood there, hands on her hips, swearing she wasn’t scared. But once we were inside, she got so terrified she jumped into my arms and begged me to hold her.” “Her heart was beating so fast that day. Thump, thump, thump. She threw her arms around my neck, her face bright red, and kissed me. I should have pushed her away, but I didn’t…” “Stop it!” The pain was so intense I felt numb. I was completely breaking down. “Chloe…” “Arthur, I’m begging you. Please. Stop talking.” 3 The living room fell into a deathly silence. Arthur’s phone rang. He pulled it out, glanced at me, and answered it right in front of me without the slightest hesitation. A sweet, whiny female voice came through the speaker. “I’m hungry! When are you coming back?” “You’re hungry?” When Arthur looked over at me, I immediately stood up and started frantically searching the room. “Yeah! The baby and I are both starving!” “Wait for me. I’ll come feed you both.” My entire body was trembling with cold. I pressed my hands hard against my temples. What… what am I looking for? My phone. Yes, my phone. What if I miss an important work email? What if I miss an important call? “Be a good girl. I’ll be there soon.” “I love you, hubby! Mwah~” I tried desperately to block out the sounds around me. I wished I was deaf. But I wasn’t. Arthur’s relaxed, cheerful voice crashed into my ears like a tidal wave. It wasn’t until my nails drew blood from my palms that I finally managed to calm down a fraction. Arthur had ended the call at some point and walked up behind me. “She’s waiting for me. I need to go.” “I’ll explain everything to my mom. If you don’t want to go to the main estate tomorrow, just stay here.” He paused, then added, “Do you want me to call the housekeeper back to keep you company for the holidays?” “Actually, that’s probably not a good idea. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Everyone wants to be with their family.” Arthur just kept talking. So he knew. He knew tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. He knew the holidays were meant for family. So what was I? Was I just a complete stranger to him now? I grabbed the kettle and poured myself a glass of hot water. The warm liquid slid down my throat, chasing away half the freezing chill in my body. “Arthur, we’re getting a divorce.” By the front door, Arthur paused while putting on his shoes. “I promised I would treat you well for the rest of our lives, Chloe. If you want, you can always be Mrs. Sterling. Everything can stay exactly the way it was.” “And what about her?” “I’ll buy a villa and set her up outside. I won’t let her bother you.” 4 Arthur left. The only thing left in the trashed living room was me, entirely alone. Before he left, Arthur had walked over and wiped my tears. And with the very same lips that had kissed me thousands of times, he delivered the most cutting blow. “Chloe, be a good girl and behave. She won’t fight you for anything.” Numbly, I walked up the stairs and back to the bedroom. I stared at our wedding photo on the wall. The girl in the photo was smiling so brightly. She looked so happy. I turned and walked into the bathroom to wash my face. The woman in the mirror looked awful. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face stained with tears. I slowly raised my hand. Chloe Vance, you shouldn’t look like this. The cold water splashed against my face. I told myself I shouldn’t be sad. But after so many years together, how could I not be sad? I collapsed onto the bed, desperately wishing the last hour had been nothing but a nightmare. That I would just wake up. But the memories replayed in my mind, screaming that it was all real. My phone vibrated. It was Arthur’s mother. I didn’t answer. I just stared blankly at my laptop screen. A few minutes later, she called again. After a moment’s hesitation, I picked up. “Chloe, it’s New Year’s Eve. Make sure you and Arthur come over early tonight.” I gripped my phone, unsure of what to say. “Chloe?” “Did Arthur… did he not talk to you guys?” “What’s wrong? Did you two have a fight? That brat isn’t answering his phone.” “It’s nothing.” “As long as everything is okay. Just remember to come over early with Arthur.” 5 Some things are better said in person rather than over the phone. But before heading to the Sterling estate, I needed to make a stop at a print shop. The normally bustling streets were completely deserted because of the holidays. I checked several shops, but they were all closed. The biting winter wind whipped against me, and I pulled my coat tighter around myself. Just as I thought I wouldn’t be able to print the documents, I spotted a small shop still open. Suddenly, I thought, Maybe my luck isn’t completely terrible after all. The owner asked what I needed printed and if I required any help. I smiled politely and said no. She looked a bit surprised. She was probably wondering who prints divorce papers on New Year’s Eve. She quickly bound the documents and handed them to me. “Happy New Year,” she said. My hand froze as I paid her. She was the very first person to wish me a Happy New Year today. Not my family. Not even Arthur. My eyes suddenly burned, and I replied, “Happy New Year!” Stepping out of the shop, I tilted my head back and let out a long breath. I put the documents in my bag and called Arthur. “Are you going to the estate?” “He’s in the shower. It’s not a good time for him to take a call. Do you need something, Ms. Vance? I can pass a message.” It wasn’t Arthur who answered. It was his little mistress. Her tone was dripping with pure provocation. “Please tell Arthur that his mother wants him home.”

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We were out watching the New Year’s Eve fireworks when my son ran straight up to a police officer and demanded a hug. The problem was, the officer he was hugging… was my ex-boyfriend. My instinct was to turn and run, but then I heard this little kid drop an absolute bomb: “Mommy! I found Daddy!” 01 On New Year’s Eve, I took Leo out to see the fireworks. I took my eyes off him for one second, and the little guy vanished. Cold sweat instantly broke out on my forehead. I frantically searched through the massive, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. I screamed, “Leo! Leo!” Just as I was panicking enough to start looking for a cop, my eyes caught something. I saw Leo’s tiny little body desperately tugging at the utility belt of a tall police officer. He kept chanting, “Mister! Mister, hold me!” The man had a sharp, cold jawline and devastatingly handsome features. Standing tall in his uniform, he was incredibly striking, commanding attention even in the dense crowd. He looked down at the little dumpling tugging at him, and the corner of his mouth unconsciously curled into a gentle smile. He crouched down, smoothly hoisted Leo up, and set him securely on his broad shoulders, holding him tight. He even asked softly, “Can you see better now, buddy?” This picture-perfect scene of a handsome officer protecting a child immediately drew the crowd’s attention. Several people pulled out their phones, snapping pictures of the heartwarming moment. Amidst the noise and cheering, I was the only one standing completely frozen in place. Someone next to me nudged my arm. “Is that your kid? Why aren’t you going over to get him?” I opened my mouth, but I had absolutely no idea what to say. The kid was definitely mine. But the man used to be mine, too. Wait, scratch that. He was mine. 02 I hesitated, unsure of how to approach them. After all, I was the one who dumped Arthur. After three years of dating, I didn’t even give him a reason. I just sent a single text: [I don’t think this is working out anymore. Let’s break up.] Arthur called me relentlessly and sent countless messages. I blocked every single one. I ruthlessly left the city, thinking I would never cross paths with him again for the rest of my life. I never expected that during a brief trip back to my hometown to visit some graves with Leo… I’d run straight into him. Looking at his increasingly mature, handsome face, the years had only added a sharper, harder edge to his features. I suddenly remembered the final message he ever sent me. Having given up on desperately begging, his tone was freezing cold: [Mia, for the rest of your life, you better pray you never cross my path!] [Because if you do, I will destroy you!] His personality had always been tough and uncompromising. He was a regional taekwondo and kickboxing champion—a fact he had… well… demonstrated during our relationship. I fully believed he could destroy me. So for all the years since I left him, I didn’t even dare to double-park my car. I lived in constant fear that the cop writing the ticket would turn out to be him. I hesitated for a long time. I watched my kid excitedly pulling Arthur’s hair and rubbing his dirty face all over Arthur’s uniform, leaving a massive dark smudge on the pristine navy-blue collar. I decided it was safer to stay hidden. I figured I’d just keep a close eye on Leo. Once the fireworks were over and he got down, I’d secretly follow him, grab him, and run home. But I never anticipated that right as the countdown to the fireworks began, the little guy would suddenly start twisting his head around, scanning the crowd. The second he spotted me, his huge eyes lit up like floodlights. I panicked. I was just about to mouth the words: “Don’t yell! Mommy will come get you in a minute!” But he excitedly smacked Arthur’s handsome face and screamed at the top of his lungs: “Daddy! My Mommy is right there!” 03 Me: … Arthur: ? Amidst the absolute chaos, only Leo looked incredibly proud, raising his chin triumphantly. He shot me a sly, expectant look, clearly saying: “Mommy, I did a great job, right?” 04 Okay, fine. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have spent late nights crying over old photos of Arthur and me. And I definitely shouldn’t have answered Leo when he pointed at the screen and asked, “Mommy, who is that?” I boldly declared: “That’s the person Mommy loves.” But my absolute, catastrophic mistake was… When he asked, “What does ‘the person you love’ mean?” I gave him a highly inappropriate explanation: “It means the person Mommy loves exactly like how a mommy is supposed to love a daddy.” So, his toddler brain connected the dots: Daddy, Mommy, and Love. He also understood that Mommies and Daddies were supposed to be together. Therefore, he firmly concluded that Arthur was his biological father. Under Arthur’s scrutinizing, deeply shocked gaze, the little guy extended his short, chubby arms toward me, waving frantically. “Mommy! Come here! We’re supposed to be together!” Me: … I genuinely did not want to move. Because the look in Arthur’s eyes felt like he was about to eat me alive. Not to mention the crowd around him, who were practically vibrating with excitement. “Oh, they’re a family! No wonder they looked so perfect together.” “Exactly! The dad is gorgeous, the mom is beautiful, and they have such an adorable kid. What a happy family.” “Don’t be shy, young lady, go to your husband!” My face was burning red. I shook my head frantically. But Leo burst into loud, heartbroken wails, hiccuping pitifully. “Mommy… Mommy, come here…” Oh god. Son, doing this makes me look like I’m committing child abuse. Finally, Arthur couldn’t stand it anymore. With his long legs, he slowly strode through the parting crowd until he was standing right in front of me. His signature scent—a mix of crisp mint and the lavender detergent he always loved—wafted over me, absolutely undeniable. A flood of familiar memories rushed to the surface of my mind. “Arthur, you sweat so much every day! Use this detergent, it smells so, so good!” The man gave a faint smirk, reached out his long arm, and pulled me flush against his chest. “Not as good as you.” My face flushed scarlet, and I struggled playfully, tugging on his ear. “Ahhh! Officer Arthur, how are you so smooth?! Do all the girls chasing you know this?” He laughed, pressing an incredibly tender kiss to my lips. “I’m only like this with you, Ms. Mia.” The memories slowly settled. I looked up at the man standing before me, who was significantly taller than I was. As the fireworks bloomed overhead, illuminating the moment our eyes met, I heard his deep, low voice. “Long time no see, Mia.” I forced a strained smile. I was just about to offer a polite greeting when I heard a furious, gritted question: “Is this kid mine?” 05 Obviously not. The kid was over five years old. We broke up exactly three years ago. The math simply didn’t add up. Arthur clearly realized this too, and his handsome face turned even darker. He gripped Leo’s chubby little legs tightly to make sure he didn’t fall off his shoulders. But the veins bulging on the back of his hands made it glaringly obvious just how furious he was. My heart was hammering in my chest. I watched the rest of the fireworks display in sheer terror. Just as I was about to grab the kid and make a run for it, a group of his fellow officers swarmed us. “Bro, is this the sister-in-law you never stop talking about?” “Yeah, yeah! It’s her! She’s the lock screen on your phone!” Me: ? Arthur, who had been pursued by countless girls his entire life and was basically a legendary catch, actually kept a photo of me this whole time? And made it his lock screen? My heart gave a sudden, violent lurch. I couldn’t help but look at the man beside me. His jaw was clenched tight. He barked coldly: “Shut up!” “Fall in line! Get back to your posts!” The officers quickly scattered. But Leo still refused to let go of Arthur. His massive eyes filled with tears, and he asked pitifully, “Daddy, where are you going?” I panicked and tried to forcefully pull Leo away. But the kid was clinging to Arthur like a koala. Arthur furrowed his brow, a flicker of genuine tenderness crossing his eyes. Ultimately, he crouched down, opening his mouth as if to say something. Leo’s lower lip quivered. Looking devastatingly sad, tears immediately spilled down his cheeks. “Daddy, Leo wants to go home with you!” “Are you throwing Leo away again?!” The heartache in Arthur’s eyes instantly spilled over. Before I could even try to stop him, he scooped Leo up into his arms. His voice was deep and heavy. “Let’s go. Daddy’s taking you home.” Me: ? Huh? 06 The little guy seemed to genuinely adore Arthur. Even after we got into the police cruiser, his tiny hand kept a death grip on the corner of Arthur’s uniform shirt. Arthur had no choice but to speak softly, coaxing him to sleep. It was actually bizarre. Ever since he turned two, the kid had been a nightmare at bedtime. Normally, he wouldn’t close his eyes before 2 AM. But Arthur only had to murmur a few soothing words, and Leo immediately closed his eyes, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep nestled against his chest. Me: ? Son, acting like this makes your mother look completely useless. Arthur handed the sleeping child back to me and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Where to?” “Xing’an Apartments.” Arthur started the engine and let out a cold, sharp scoff. I suddenly realized why. When we broke up, Arthur said he was going to come find me. I told him I had moved. I told him he would never find me! The reality was… not only did I not move, I had been living right next door to his precinct this entire time. This is so awkward. I offered a sheepish smile, desperately trying to think of something to say to praise this dedicated public servant for driving me home. Suddenly, he asked coldly: “Where’s the kid’s father?” “Did you get a divorce?” Me: ? Bro, we broke up three years ago. How is it biologically possible for me to have a five-year-old son? In the dark cabin of the cruiser, a flash of deep sorrow crossed Arthur’s sharp profile. He said chillingly, “You met him while I was studying for the civil service exam, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. During our second year of dating, Arthur was completely consumed by studying for his police exams, while I was preparing to apply for grad school overseas. We were long-distance and rarely saw each other. So… Arthur actually thought I had cheated on him during that time? I felt a flare of irritation and leaned back against the seat. “Arthur, I can’t believe you think I cheated on you! “I am so incredibly hurt!” My tone was bright and teasing, exactly how I used to talk to him when we were deeply in love. Arthur stiffened violently and turned to look at me. A fleeting look of desperate hope flashed in his eyes: “So… this child… “Whose is he?” 07 Me: “Well, he’s definitely not yours.” Arthur: … 08 I really wasn’t lying. The kid was actually my brother’s. But my brother wasn’t my biological brother. I was an orphan, my parents having passed away when I was very young. When I was 14, my brother, who had come to my rural village to invest in a tourism project, adopted me. He took me out of the village, paid for my education, and was even preparing to send me overseas for my master’s degree. Everything was perfect. He married his high school sweetheart, and my sister-in-law treated me wonderfully. My original plan was to bring Arthur home to meet them before I left for grad school. But then— My brother and sister-in-law were in a horrific car accident while on vacation. They both died, leaving behind their two-year-old son, Leo. I looked down at the child sleeping soundly, completely innocent and carefree in my arms. I remembered my sister-in-law’s dying wish. “Mia… don’t let him… become an orphan. From now on… you are his mother.” The memory rushed back, suffocating me. I looked at the man sitting next to me—handsome, radiating integrity, with a brilliant future ahead of him. I swallowed all the words I wanted to say. Arthur seemed to sense my withdrawal and got angry. He turned his face away, refusing to look at me. “Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t care about your business. “I was just asking.” 09 I nodded, saying quietly: “Yeah. I know.” Arthur had been a “school heartthrob” his entire life, and now he had such a respected, honorable career. There were probably countless girls lining up for him. How could he possibly still care about me? My eyes caught the name lighting up his phone screen: [Lindsay.] A girl’s name. Wait, why does that name sound like his younger sister? As I was silently questioning it, Arthur hung up the call and flipped his phone face down. He shot me a glance and said flatly, “With you here, it’s inconvenient.” True. When your ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend collide, it’s obviously going to be inconvenient. Just then, the car pulled up to Xing’an Apartments. I hurriedly grabbed Leo and stepped out, constantly repeating my thanks: “Thank you… Thank you…” But with a heavy child in my arms, I couldn’t get the car door open. Arthur got out, walked around, and pulled my door open. I lost my balance and stumbled forward, falling straight into his chest. To make sure Leo didn’t get squished, I instinctively twisted my body, but my head crashed uncontrollably against Arthur. My soft lips grazed the exposed skin of his neck. A reflexively soft murmur escaped my lips: “Thank you… Officer Arthur.” This posture, this exact tone of voice. It was exactly how I used to beg for mercy when Arthur had me pinned to the bed, playfully teasing and tormenting me. Arthur’s entire body went rigidly stiff. His ears instantly flushed crimson. The red rapidly spread all the way to his cheeks. He steadied me and let out two incredibly unnatural, forced coughs. “You. Stand up straight. “Stop trying to seduce me. I have no interest in you.” Me: … He was exactly the same as before. Serious and stoic, but with a hidden layer of arrogant, introverted vanity. “I know.” After solemnly thanking Arthur again, I carried Leo toward my building. But I never expected to run into a group of unwelcome guests right at the entrance. 10 “Give us the kid back!” It was my sister-in-law’s adoptive parents. Ever since my brother and sister-in-law died, they had come knocking multiple times. But it wasn’t because they wanted the child back. It was because they wanted to monopolize the massive life insurance payout my brother and sister-in-law left behind. I had witnessed with my own eyes how they abused Leo in the past, which is exactly why my sister-in-law desperately pleaded with me on her deathbed: “Please, never let Leo fall into their hands.” Right now, I held the child tightly against me, covering his ears, and snapped: “He is my child! Who are you people? Get lost!” Mr. and Mrs. Zhang refused to leave. “Bullshit! Leo is my daughter’s kid! You’re an unmarried girl with no kids of your own, what gives you the right to raise him? “Give him back!” They lunged forward to rip the child from my arms. Leo was terrified and burst into tears. He clung desperately to my neck, screaming for his mother. I shielded him with one arm and used the other to shove the two elderly people away. They started screaming at the top of their lungs: “Everyone, come look! This girl is kidnapping a child! “She doesn’t even have a husband, but claims the kid is hers! Come look at this!” Several residents came out of their apartments to watch the commotion, pointing and whispering at me. “I know her. Isn’t that the Chen family’s daughter? She’s not even married, where did she get a fatherless kid?” “Maybe the kid belongs to her dead brother, and she’s trying to keep him to steal the inheritance…” Dead. Brother. Seeing Leo’s massive eyes darting around nervously. I clamped my hands tighter over his ears. “Stop talking nonsense! Get the hell out of here!” Leo realized the danger I was in. Ignoring what the people were saying, he screamed: “Leo has a Daddy! “Leo’s Daddy is right there!” Leo pointed his chubby little finger straight ahead. In the dim light of the corridor, Arthur suddenly appeared. The sickly yellow hallway light cast deep, unreadable shadows across his sharp, severe features. I couldn’t read his expression. I could only feel the violent trembling of Leo’s tiny hands clutching mine. Silently, a wave of intense anxiety washed over me. After all, we had been broken up for years. He had always been raised with strict discipline. He absolutely despised getting involved in messy, chaotic drama like this. Humoring Leo’s little game earlier tonight was already completely out of character. There was no way he would publicly acknowledge being this “son’s” father. … My mind was a chaotic mess. Just as the old couple lunged forward to grab the kid again— A deep, resonant voice echoed from the doorway, carrying an involuntary, undeniable warmth. “Son, come here. “Daddy’s got you.”

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My dad had a respectable job and always acted like a man who took responsibility. My mom didn’t have a high degree, and she was timid and afraid of conflict. So, when they divorced, I decisively chose to live with my dad. Not long after, my dad remarried. My new stepmom sold me to human traffickers. My mom crossed mountains and rivers, risking everything to find me and bring me back from the middle of nowhere. The moment we reunited, my mom held me and sobbed: “Peach, I’m so sorry! Mom failed to protect you!” My dad, in order to pay for his stepson’s expensive private school tuition, forced me to drop out of high school. My mom couldn’t win back custody, so she could only secretly slip me the tuition money she had painstakingly saved up. Eventually, I was pushed off a balcony by my stepbrother and died. My dad testified in court: “The girl committed suicide.” After I died, I floated in the air as a spirit. I saw my mom holding a sign with the word “Injustice” written in blood-red letters, kneeling outside the courthouse for days, refusing to leave… When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn. I was back on the exact day the judge asked me to choose between them. 1 In the courtroom, the judge called me in. “According to the law, since the child is over eight years old, we must respect her true wishes.” “You are already fourteen. You understand the circumstances of both your parents. Who do you choose to live with?” I had just been reborn, and my head was still a bit foggy. Thinking I was hesitating, my mom rushed to say, “Peach, come live with Mom. Mom can take good care of you.” My dad shot her a look of absolute disdain and said, “What kind of care can you provide? Are you going to feed my daughter scraps for the rest of her life?” “I already found a job! I can support Peach!” “With your education, how much can you possibly make? For the past dozen years, every single penny you spent was mine!” Listening to their argument, my mind gradually cleared. In my past life, I was a fourteen-year-old girl going through a rebellious phase. My mom was strict. She wouldn’t let me get extra ear piercings, dye my hair blonde, and definitely wouldn’t let me skip class to date boys. I found her incredibly annoying. My dad, on the other hand, rarely came home and basically never disciplined me. Whenever he did show up, he would just hand me a wad of cash and tell me to take my friends out for KFC buckets. So, when they were fighting for custody, I chose my dad without a second thought. Hearing my decision, my mom started crying uncontrollably. Her tears soaked her clothes. Her hair, her lips, her eyes… everything was covered in tears. She kept calling my name as she watched my dad smugly lead me away. Now, this scene was playing out again. Both my parents were staring at me with desperate, expectant eyes, waiting for my decision. “I choose Mom.” A look of pure, unadulterated shock and joy flashed across my mom’s eyes. My dad looked at me in utter disbelief. “But I have one condition! “I want to change my last name! I’m taking my mom’s last name!” 2 Outside the courthouse, my dad grabbed my arm. “Peach! What is wrong with you? My financial situation is infinitely better than your mother’s. You’ve always been a kid who knows how to weigh the pros and cons!” “Exactly. Because I know how to weigh the pros and cons, I would never choose you!” In my past life, my spirit hovered in mid-air, watching my own blood-soaked body being loaded into a body bag. My dad put on a pathetic show, kneeling on the ground and crying, telling the police that I committed suicide because the pressure of the SATs was too much for me. Total bullshit! I scored a 1550 on the SATs. What pressure did I have? It was his cheap stepson, who couldn’t even get into a community college, who pushed me off the balcony out of pure jealousy. If his stepson was the murderer, my dad was a complete and utter accomplice. Under the scorching sun, my mom held that “Injustice” sign, kneeling in front of the courthouse, ignoring the pointing and whispering of the crowds. Her knees were worn raw and bleeding, but she refused to leave, demanding justice for my death. If I chose him again in this life, I would literally be asking for a death sentence. “Peach, what do you mean by that?” “What do I mean? Do you really not understand?” I stared at him provocatively, making the hair on his arms stand up. My mom was also confused by my behavior. “William Vance. Let me jog your memory. Does the name Chloe Summers ring a bell?” My dad’s previously firm gaze instantly became evasive. “Who… who is that?” I sneered internally. Why is he pretending? 3 Chloe Summers was his college goddess. My dad chased her for four years and worshipped her for four years. After graduation, the Summers family refused to let them marry, forcing Chloe to marry into a wealthy, elite family instead. So, my dad, introduced by relatives, ended up marrying my mom. Years later, Chloe and her son were kicked out by that wealthy family with absolutely nothing. No one knew why. My dad, the ultimate simp, decisively stepped up to be the fallback guy. He subjected my mom to three years of severe emotional abuse and the silent treatment, forcing her to agree to a divorce so he could rush to marry Chloe. My mom might not have known the name Chloe Summers, but my dad certainly knew it better than anyone. “Peach, I know who she is. She’s your dad’s college classmate. I met her once when I went to pick your dad up from a college reunion. Let’s not bring up irrelevant people. Let’s just go home!” My mom tried to pull me away, but I wasn’t about to let my dad off the hook that easily. After today, I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again. If I didn’t make him squirm a little, it would be an insult to my tragic death in my past life. “Mom! Are you blind? Chloe Summers is his first love and his mistress!” My mom froze, but she didn’t look surprised. “You knew?” I always thought my mom was uneducated, slow-witted, and completely oblivious to my dad’s affairs. “Then why did you endure it for three years?” Three years of the silent treatment! My dad came home less than twenty times a year. When he did, he would just pack a few clothes, shove two thousand dollars into my hand, and rush back out the door. “Peach, Mom didn’t want you to be sad, so I kept it a secret. I didn’t want you to know your father was that kind of person. I didn’t want you to grow up with an inferiority complex.” “So, you suffered for three years… for me? “Just to maintain the illusion of a happy family, you lied to yourself like that?” My mom looked a little guilty under my stare, her hands clasped together, nervously rubbing her fingers. 4 Honestly, what right did I have to judge my mom?! In my past life, I was such a rebellious brat. Whenever my mom sat up late under the desk lamp, looking heartbroken, I called her dramatic and said she was just bored because she didn’t have a job. When my dad hung up on her countless times, I would make snide comments, saying she was a failure as a woman because she couldn’t even keep her own man. Whenever my mom left the house, it was never for more than an hour—just quick trips to the supermarket or the grocery store downstairs. But my dad? When he left, it was for a week minimum. He went to Dubai for business trips, he attended conferences at the World Trade Center… he was so important! I expressed more than once that Dad was way more important than Mom. So, my mom enduring three years without asking for a divorce… was truly entirely because of me! Thinking about this, I wanted to slap myself across the face. I looked at my dad, unable to suppress a cold laugh. “William Vance, do you see now?! Mom and I both knew about you screwing around! “Think about how arrogant and smug you were acting in that courtroom just now. Isn’t it hilarious? You looked like an absolute clown!” My dad was already feeling guilty. Hearing me lay it all out stripped him of his usual intimidating aura. He stood frozen in place, looking like a deflated balloon. 5 I linked arms with my mom, turned around, and hailed a cab to go home. “Peach, I’m so sorry. Because of me, you won’t be able to live in the big house anymore.” My mom looked at me guiltily, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Your dad bought that house before we got married. The law protects pre-marital assets now. I couldn’t get a single piece of it.” I comforted her, telling her it was fine. We could rent an apartment. Even though she didn’t have a college degree, she was incredibly skilled at making handicrafts. I could help her start a social media channel. We definitely wouldn’t starve. But I still felt a knot of anger in my chest. My dad cheated during the marriage; he was clearly at fault! But in the end, he didn’t lose a single thing. He kept the house and the cars. Mom and I walked away with absolutely nothing but child support. And that child support would end the second I turned eighteen. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Sensing my frustration, my mom said, “Proving infidelity is incredibly difficult, especially since your dad is resourceful and hid his mistress very well. Why did he give me the silent treatment instead of just asking for a divorce? He wanted to drag it out until I was completely emotionally drained, so he could eventually file for divorce citing ‘long-term separation’.” “I know. But Mom, don’t worry. I am confident that even though we didn’t get those assets, I will never, ever let him and Chloe’s family enjoy them in peace.” My mom smiled and said, “Alright! I have two working hands. I won’t let you suffer.” “Yeah! The best days for us girls are still ahead!” My mom happily started packing our bags. There was a sense of profound relief and joy radiating from her. But not me. In a corner she couldn’t see, I glared at my parents’ wedding photo on the wall, my face contorted with dark, vicious hatred. My mom didn’t know what I went through in my past life, and I didn’t want to tell her. In this life, she had let it go. But I would never easily let William Vance and his pathetic new family off the hook. 6 A few days later, I gathered all the necessary documents and went to the police station to legally change my last name. My mom said I didn’t actually need to go this far. Even though they were divorced, the blood relation between me and my dad couldn’t be severed. But I was adamant about changing it. His last name disgusted me. Just as I finished filling out the application form, I saw two familiar faces walk in. “What a small world. Is this the only police station in the entire city?” The voice was sickeningly sweet and coquettish. It was Chloe Summers. She walked in arm-in-arm with my dad. When she saw me, she dramatically rolled her eyes. My dad asked, “Peach, what are you guys doing here?” I waved the name-change application form in my hand and said, “Changing my last name, obviously. I explicitly stated this in court.” Hearing this, my dad’s face immediately darkened. “Do you have to take things to such extremes? I let your mother down, yes, but how did I ever let you down? Why do you insist on changing your last name?” “Why? Because it feels dirty!” I glanced at the hand Chloe had wrapped around my dad’s arm. A massive diamond ring was already sparkling on her finger. I remembered when my mom first married my dad, he was just a broke kid. Forget a diamond ring; their entire wedding was incredibly bare-bones. My dad promised that once he made it big, he would definitely buy her a proper wedding ring. Yet here I was, fourteen years old, and I had never seen this legendary “Emperor’s Diamond Ring.” One time, my mom finally brought it up, but my dad immediately shut her down with a few harsh words. “You don’t even work! Do you have any idea how much a diamond ring costs? Does my money grow on trees? “Besides, you’re a housewife doing chores all day. Wearing a ring would be inconvenient anyway!” My mom didn’t argue, and she never brought up the wedding ring ever again. 7 “The ink on the divorce decree isn’t even dry yet, and you’ve already got the wedding ring on. Dad, exactly how desperate are you? Can’t go a single day without a woman in your bed?” My dad looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Chloe snapped back first: “You’re only fourteen! Where did you learn such filthy language?! You act like a little street thug!” “Shut your mouth!” My mom stepped forward, blocking me. “A homewrecking mistress has no right to lecture my daughter!” My mom intentionally said the word “mistress” very loudly, drawing the attention of quite a few people in the busy station lobby. I saw my dad tug on Chloe’s hand. He was somewhat of a public figure in this city, and he clearly didn’t want to make a scene. Unfortunately for him, I absolutely did. I was just a fourteen-year-old girl right now. I had nothing to be afraid of. I immediately activated my Oscar-worthy acting skills and started bawling in the middle of the lobby. “Dad! Your mistress is yelling at me! Did you give her permission to do that?! “I thought my dad, William Vance, was a real man who stood tall and protected his family! But you’re just standing here letting your mistress bully your wife and daughter in a police station!” I screamed my dad’s full name as loudly as I could, and surprisingly, a man in the lobby actually recognized him. “Oh hey, isn’t this CEO Vance?” Seeing this, my dad had to force a calm expression and greet the man. The man looked at my mom standing next to me, then looked at Chloe standing next to my dad. His expression was incredibly complicated, but he still walked toward my mom. “Mrs. Vance, are you here running errands with the kid?” My mom engaged in polite, elegant small talk with the man. Her demeanor was graceful and poised—she didn’t look at all like the stereotype of a housewife who only knew how to do chores. My dad also joined the conversation, discussing some business matters with the man, completely leaving Chloe hanging on the side. I shot a sideways glance at Chloe. Her face was cycling between green and white. She looked incredibly uncomfortable. 8 In my past life, I lived with my dad and had to live under the same roof as Chloe. She constantly criticized me. She complained that I only picked the meat out of the dishes at dinner, she complained that I used too much toilet paper, she complained that I didn’t tutor her son with his homework. She said, “Peach Vance, can’t you see? In this house, you are the outsider.” Now, she was the one who was the unwanted outsider. “William, they called our number.” Chloe tugged on my dad’s sleeve, and the two of them walked to the counter under the contemptuous stares of everyone around them. I remembered my dad came to the police station to update the marital status on his household registry document. He had to change it to “Divorced” before he could legally marry Chloe. In my past life, I threw tantrums for days over this and even hid his registry document just to stop them from getting married. That made Chloe hate me with a burning passion, which led her to hire human traffickers to sell me into the mountains. This time, how could I let them get what they wanted so easily? I picked up my iced coffee, popped the lid off, and slowly walked up behind my dad. The exact moment my dad opened the registry booklet and presented the page to the clerk, I deliberately “tripped” and splashed the entire cup of coffee directly onto it. Then, amidst the gasps of the crowd, I frantically used my sleeve to “wipe” the coffee stains off the page. But I rubbed it incredibly hard, scrubbing the official document until it dissolved into a soggy, pulpy mess of wet paper. My dad roared, “Peach Vance, are you crazy?!” I replied coldly, “Watch your phrasing. My name is now Peach Sterling.” “You did that on purpose?!” “Of course!” My dad raised his hand, fully intending to slap me, but my mom reached out and blocked it mid-air. My mom gripped his wrist. He twisted and pulled for a long time but surprisingly couldn’t break free at all. “William Vance, never underestimate the physical strength of a stay-at-home mom. Especially a woman who has to carry a child and mop the floors every single day. Her arm strength is terrifying.” With a sharp flick of her wrist, my mom shoved William back several steps. The clerk yelled, “Hey, hey, hey! This is a police station! No fighting in here!” William quickly asked the clerk if he could get a replacement registry document, but was told the printer was out of official paper and he would have to wait until tomorrow. Chloe stomped her feet in frustration. Even though she desperately wanted to go crazy, she was intimidated by my mom’s presence and didn’t dare lay a hand on me. Seeing her expression made me want to laugh. “What’s wrong, Auntie Mistress? Are you in that much of a hurry? You finally managed to push out the original wife, and now you’re terrified that delaying your marriage license by one day will ruin your master plan?” Chloe muttered a few more curses before my dad dragged her away. After they were out of earshot, my mom finally asked me, “Peach, what was the point of doing that?” I knew full well that doing that was essentially useless. Even if I stole the document, I couldn’t stop those two scumbags from getting married. All I wanted to do was draw Chloe’s aggro. I needed her to view me as a massive threat so she would resort to the same drastic measures against me as she did in my past life. 9 A month later, I officially became Peach Sterling. Shedding the “Vance” name felt like taking a breath of fresh air. It was liberating. Calculating the timeline, today was the exact day Chloe would make her move. Today also happened to be her son Leo’s birthday. In my past life, when the three of them celebrated his birthday, I didn’t want to be a third wheel, so I asked my dad for some money, planning to eat out and come home late. Before my dad could even reach for his wallet, Chloe surprisingly jumped in, enthusiastically shoving a hundred-dollar bill into my hand. Smiling brightly, she told me to treat my classmates and that it was perfectly fine if I came home late. Whenever things are unnaturally perfect, there’s always a demon lurking behind the scenes. And just like that, I got kidnapped. This time, I was fully prepared. I wasn’t afraid of whatever tricks she had up her sleeve. I told my mom in advance that I was going to a classmate’s house after school to do homework, so she shouldn’t wait up for me for dinner. I also deliberately called my dad to ask for allowance money. Chloe, you better be smart about this. I practically handed you the perfect opportunity on a silver platter. You absolutely must make your move. After school, I slipped something into the deepest inner pocket of my jacket and started wandering the streets. Small alleys, dark side streets… wherever it was dark, I went. Wherever it was deserted, I slipped in. Finally, the pair of dark hands I had been eagerly anticipating arrived. Two men clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me toward a waiting van. I put up a token struggle for a few seconds, then found a comfortable position and let them restrain me. Once in the van, the three traffickers started chatting. “Boss, I feel like something isn’t right.” “What’s not right?” “This little girl was way too easy to grab.” “That bitch said this kid is only fourteen. How hard could she possibly be to grab?” Two of the traffickers glanced back at me. I quickly stifled a yawn and continued to perform my best impression of a terrified, trembling victim.

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To infiltrate the largest crime syndicate in the southern province as an undercover operative, I turned to the streets the very day after I was expelled from the police academy. My boyfriend dumped me, disgusted by my choices. My best friend cut all ties, cursing me for throwing my life away. Even my father, who had always doted on me, officially disowned me. I remained unmoved, sinking deeper into the darkness. Three years into my life on the streets, I finally penetrated the syndicate’s inner circle. That same day, my father wept as he severed all ties with me. He swore he no longer had a daughter, declaring he wished I were dead. For seven years, I didn’t have a single night of peaceful sleep. Every day, my conscience tore me apart. Finally, three days ago, the syndicate failed another major operation and discovered a mole. They found me. After transmitting the core evidence to my handlers, I was brutally tortured by them for ten agonizing hours until I died. My soul drifted, ultimately returning to my father’s side. It had been years since I last saw him. His hair was completely white now. His posture, once straight and proud, was gone. From a distance, he looked like he was carrying the weight of a mountain—old and stooped. Our neighbor, Mr. Henderson, saw my father and walked over with a smirk. “Hey, Arthur. Your daughter hasn’t been back this year either, huh? Running with the wrong crowd is dangerous. You don’t think something happened to her, do you?” My father’s usually calm face instantly darkened. He let out a cold snort and snapped back. “I haven’t had a daughter in ten years. And even if I did, she wouldn’t have lasted this long. She should have died a long time ago.” As if that wasn’t enough, he stomped his foot and yelled, “I served my country! I worked in the factories! I have lived a clean, honest life! How could I raise such an animal?! If she’s dead, then she’s finally done something good for the Sterling family!” Hearing that felt like a physical blow. It hurt more than the thousand cuts I suffered at the hands of the syndicate. I could count on one hand the number of times I had been home in the last few years. And every time I saw him, his words were exactly the same. “You piece of trash. You menace to society. What are you doing here?” “You are not welcome here. Get out.” “Dad, I barely get to come home. Just let me have one meal with you. I promise I’ll leave right after. I won’t bother you.” I used to cling to his arm, trying to act like the little girl he used to spoil. I didn’t expect him to pamper me like before; I just desperately wanted a little more time with him. But his face would turn dark with rage. He literally threw the trash from the front porch right into my face. Old wrappers and rotting food covered me. The neighbors would gather, pointing and whispering. “Arthur is being too harsh. He won’t even share a meal with his own daughter.” “What do you know? She looks innocent, but she’s absolute garbage. She runs a gang, extorts people… she does every bad thing you can think of.” My face burned with shame. Looking at my furious father, I stayed silent for a moment before turning away. Covered in the stench of garbage, I sat on the cold concrete steps outside all night. I felt deeply wronged, but I didn’t blame him. My father served in the military when he was young. He was forced to medically retire after sustaining a severe injury and spent the rest of his life working in a factory. When I was little, he always told me that if it wasn’t for his early medical discharge, he would have been a proud police officer. While other kids fell asleep to fairy tales, I fell asleep to stories of his military service. To fulfill his dream, I studied relentlessly and, against all odds, was accepted into the police academy. The sound of a mocking scoff pulled me back to the present. Looking at Mr. Henderson’s sneering face, I knew he was doing it on purpose. Everyone in this neighborhood knew that Arthur Sterling’s daughter was expelled from the police academy for insubordination. My bright future was thrown away. And Arthur, who had been so incredibly proud when I got into the academy, became the neighborhood joke. When Mr. Henderson was younger, my father frequently caught him committing petty theft, making him a regular at the local precinct. He and my father despised each other. So, he naturally took every opportunity to rub salt in the wound. Hearing my father’s words, he laughed loudly, his eyes filled with mockery. “Arthur, what are you saying? No matter how much of a lowlife she is, she’s still your flesh and blood. You can’t escape that.” My father’s face turned ash-gray, his chest heaving. He ground his teeth, speaking as if it took every ounce of his remaining strength. “I do not have a daughter like her. What she’s done is unforgivable. God will strike that animal down one day.” With that, my father turned and walked away quickly, his steps slightly unsteady. The neighbors laughed. I floated beside my father, my spectral eyes red. When he was young, he was respected wherever he went. Now, in his old age, he was being humiliated—all because of me. I watched helplessly as the corners of his mouth trembled, his eyes slowly turning red. It felt like ten thousand blades piercing my heart. I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I stood beside him and finally said the words I had held back for so long. “I’m sorry, Dad.” 2 Back home, my father sat heavily on the sofa, panting, a thin layer of cold sweat covering his forehead. Only after a long while did he pull a folded piece of paper from his inner pocket. He carefully smoothed it out. I froze for a moment before I recognized it. It was my acceptance letter to the police academy. More than a decade had passed, and the paper was worn and yellowed with age. The bold, powerful print was now faded and blurry. But my father picked up his reading glasses from the table, sat up straight, and began to read it softly. “Student Mia Sterling, you have been accepted to our academy… to become a probationary…” His voice grew louder, and a profound, agonizing sorrow washed over me, suffocating me until I couldn’t breathe. Scenes from the past flashed before my eyes. I remembered it was a sweltering summer day, the heat making my clothes stick to my skin. I was running home, clutching that acceptance letter. The warm breeze brushed my face, and it felt like the whole world was cheering for me. “Dad! I got in! Dad! I got in!” I yelled the entire way, drawing the attention of everyone in the neighborhood. My father was in his prime back then. He ran out of the building, his face radiating pure joy. His large hands held the letter, reading it over and over. The light in his eyes burned as bright as the midday sun. “That’s my girl! You are my pride and joy! I am so proud of you!” He grabbed me by the waist and lifted me high into the air. That was the closest I ever felt to the sky. I remember that day clearly. He walked me around the entire neighborhood, showing the letter to everyone he met, proudly patting his chest. “The police academy! My daughter! She got in!” Every neighbor gave a thumbs-up, smiling and saying, “Like father, like daughter! Arthur’s girl is tougher than the boys! A future cop! Good for her!” But no one expected that a year later, I would be expelled for insubordination. The day I brought my bags home, my father’s eyes were bloodshot. It was the first time I ever saw him cry. He gripped his leather belt tightly, but only hit me twice before he turned it on himself, sobbing. “I failed to raise you right! It’s all my fault!” That night, we held each other and cried until dawn. From that day on, my father could no longer hold his head high in the neighborhood. His straight back slowly bent. He stayed hidden in the apartment, no longer going out to chat or play chess. He was terrified someone would bring me up. He dreaded the mockery, but he dreaded the pity even more. Ten years passed like that. Meanwhile, I took a path completely opposite to the one he dreamed of. I became a street thug. At first, he yelled at me and hit me, using every lecture and moral argument he knew to try and bring me back to the right path. But when he realized I wasn’t going to change, he completely gave up. He cut off all contact and changed the locks on the door. Even if I waited outside all night, all I got was a look of absolute, burning hatred. The bond between father and daughter was shattered. We became like enemies, entirely disconnected. So, seeing this acceptance letter… I couldn’t believe he had actually kept it. A wave of ancient bitterness, buried deep within his heart for a decade, enveloped me. I could almost see him, in the dead of countless nights, holding this letter and weeping silently. Everything that happened had shattered his pride, and the image of him crying hit me squarely between the eyes like a bullet. 3 Time ticked by. My father just sat on the sofa, staring blankly from dawn until dusk. He only snapped out of it when his stomach growled. He stood up shakily, walked to the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator. It was packed with fresh ingredients and pre-cooked meals. I was stunned. I had bought all of this for him three days ago. Maybe it was a sixth sense, but three days ago, I felt an overwhelming urge to come home. I bought bags and bags of groceries and shoved them all into his fridge. He looked at me with the same disgust, yelling at me to get out. “Take your garbage and get out!” “The Sterling family doesn’t need trash like you! Your stuff has blood on it! It stinks!” He cursed at me viciously, but I was used to it. I just replied calmly, “If it stinks, just soak it in ginger and scallion water to get the smell out.” I took the ingredients into the kitchen, cooked a massive feast in silence, and then put on a smile. “Dad, we’ve never actually shared a drink. How about a couple of shots?” I don’t know why, but for some reason, he didn’t kick me out that day. Instead, he sat down at the table with a dark expression. We sat across from each other, neither knowing what to say. I took a few shots by myself. Once the alcohol hit, I turned to him. “Dad, it’s been ten years. I know I’ve humiliated you out there.” “But whether you believe me or not… I have never done anything truly bad.” “I… I really have my reasons.” Hearing that, before the shot glass even touched his lips, he slammed it onto the floor. “Reasons? I’m old, Mia, not blind.” “What reason makes you disobey orders and throw away your badge?” “What reason makes you abandon your home for ten years to run with gangs?” “What reason makes you an expert in extortion, gambling, and violence? What reason turns you into a menace to society?!” My blood roared in my ears with shame. I felt the heat radiating from my body, but I couldn’t say a single word. I wanted to scream that I wasn’t a criminal, that I was an undercover cop! But the words died in my throat. His thin, weathered hand slammed hard on the table. His eyes were shining with tears and a desperate, agonizing hope. “Say it! If you really have a reason, is it something you can’t even tell your own father?!” I stayed silent. To him, my silence was guilt. He flipped the table, glaring at me with raw, bitter disappointment. Every word he spoke felt like he was coughing up blood. “I’m asking you: how did I raise you?!” “I told you to be honest! To live with a clear conscience!” He struck his own chest hard, the sound echoing hollowly in the small room. “What did you do?! Do you have a clear conscience?!” With that, he slapped me across the face. My ear rang sharply, and the suppressed grief of a decade finally exploded. I shot to my feet and screamed back at him, completely losing control. “I, Mia Sterling, have a clear conscience for everything I have done!” He looked at me, trembling from head to toe, his eyes utterly devoid of hope. He stumbled backward. I reached out to catch him, but he shoved my hands away. “Dad…” I called out softly. But he shook his head, looking at me like I was a complete stranger. “Don’t call me Dad. You are not my daughter.” “My daughter died ten years ago.” He looked at me, gritted his teeth, and with every ounce of his strength, forced out the final words. “And you’re the one who killed her.” He shoved me out the door. My vision blurred with tears as I practically ran toward the nearby woods. Clutching my phone, I couldn’t stop myself from dialing that number. Before the other person could speak, I sobbed, “Please… I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to be a real cop. In the light. Once this is over, you have to restore my file, please!” A heavy sigh echoed through the phone. There was a long pause. “Mia, you know this. You’re the only one who successfully infiltrated the inner circle…” “Just give us one more year. In one year, we launch the final strike…” “A year! Always another year!” My voice grew hysterical. “It’s always ‘one more year’! It’s been ten years! Sir, I am so tired.” Without waiting for a response, I hung up the phone and broke down weeping. Watching my father pull the cold, leftover food from the fridge and force it into his mouth, a sharp pang of sorrow pierced my spectral heart. A knock echoed at the door. My father looked up, then glanced at the food on the table. He quickly swept it into the trash can. He took a few deep breaths before walking over to open the door. “You piece of trash, I told you, you are no longer my daughter! Don’t you ever come back!” But as the door swung open, he froze. Standing there were several officers in full dress uniform. The officers instantly snapped to attention, their eyes red, and said softly, “We’re here to bring our comrade, Mia Sterling, home.” 4 My father instinctively frowned at the sight of the police. “What did she do this time?” He looked past the officers, searching the hallway for me. “I already kicked her out. This isn’t her home, and she’s not part of the Sterling family anymore. She’s a menace. You don’t need to bring her here. This isn’t her house.” His face flushed with anger as he tried to shut the door. The lead officer gently caught the door and shook her head. Before she could speak, her eyes welled up with tears. She looked at my father, her voice trembling. “Mr. Sterling… we are Mia’s colleagues.” My father froze completely. He didn’t move. His jaw dropped. He understood the words perfectly, but putting them together… it didn’t make any sense to an old man. “What did you say?” The lead officer opened her mouth, trying to speak, but the words caught in her throat. Behind her, several officers sniffled audibly. My father seemed to realize something. He swayed on his feet. The lead officer quickly reached out to support him, and he gripped her arm like a drowning man holding onto a lifeline. “You’re lying. She told you to say this, didn’t she? Did she get a life sentence? Is that why you’re covering for her?” The officer took a deep, shaky breath and spoke slowly, enunciating every word. “Mr. Sterling, Mia died in the line of duty while deep undercover to dismantle the syndicate. She gave her life for this city.” My father didn’t hear a single word after that. He just stood there, staring into space, muttering the same phrase over and over. “Died in the line of duty.” He couldn’t believe it. The daughter who was sitting across from him drinking just three days ago was now dead. And he didn’t understand how the daughter he had cursed, the daughter he had hated and resented for ten years, had suddenly earned the phrase “died in the line of duty.” The words I had screamed at him during that dinner—I have a clear conscience—struck his heart like a bolt of lightning. He finally understood what I meant. He realized that I had never failed to live up to his expectations. I had been living by them every single day. Even when everyone I knew despised me, I never wavered. I walked alone in the absolute darkness to protect the light. In that moment, he felt every ounce of the agony I had endured. He couldn’t control his expression anymore. The old man, who had barely shed a tear in his entire life, broke down sobbing, unable to even catch his breath. The lead officer held him tight, keeping him from collapsing onto the floor. Her voice was low and steady as she gently urged him, “Sir, please. Don’t be sad. You have to come with us to bring her home.” My father’s eyes flickered with a faint light, and he murmured, “Yes… I need to bring her home.” Supported by the officers, he walked out of the apartment, step by heavy step. By sheer coincidence, Mr. Henderson was walking by. Seeing the scene, he couldn’t resist taking a jab. “What’s this? Did your daughter finally get the death penalty? Hahahaha! Crying like a baby… going to see her one last time? Looks like God finally did you a favor and took her away!” My father didn’t react to his cruel words. He just kept walking, completely numb. His only thought was seeing me one last time. One of the younger officers couldn’t take it. He clenched his fists and lunged forward, but the lead officer pulled him back. She looked at Mr. Henderson and spoke with icy detachment. “Considering you’re ignorant of the facts, I’ll let this slide once. Mr. Sterling’s daughter, Mia, is our comrade. If I hear you spewing garbage like that again, you’ll spend the rest of your life in a cell.” Leaving a dumbfounded Mr. Henderson standing in the hallway, the group continued forward. My father followed the police like a walking corpse until he reached my body. His face was entirely blank. When he stood next to the white sheet covering me, he seemed completely lost. He reached out several times to pull it back, but his hand froze, as if someone was holding it back. I knew why. He was terrified that if he pulled it back, it would really be me. He desperately hoped that as long as he didn’t look, I was still alive somewhere out there.

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During my time working undercover, to prove my absolute loyalty, I took a bullet for a ruthless mafia boss. I ended up losing my memory for three years. On the day I finally woke up, I casually reached my hand out. The terrifying boss dropped to his knees immediately, offering his cheek to my palm. He looked at me with puppy-dog eyes and whined, “Can you hit me a little lighter today? I have a board meeting later.” 1 I was completely, utterly dumbfounded. “B-b-b…” Before I could even get the word ‘boss’ out. Damien lowered his head, gently rubbing my hand. “There are a lot of outsiders here. Save it for when we get home, okay?” Wait. Was this the same cold-blooded, ruthless mafia boss who murdered people without blinking? My last memory of him was him pointing a gun directly at my forehead, looking at me with pure disgust, and snarling, “Stay away from me!” Back then, forget about touching him; if you even looked at him wrong, he would shoot you a glare that could kill. But now? Not only was he initiating contact, but he also looked like an obedient, well-trained puppy. The most absurd part was that all his terrifying henchmen standing around the room looked completely unfazed, as if this was perfectly normal. I was so horrified I tried to yank my hand back. The man gripped it tighter, his eyes suddenly turning dangerous. “Wife, why aren’t you hitting me?” “You still have your eye on that pretty-boy doctor, don’t you?” “Fine. I’ll send him to the Sahara to get a tan.” He was being completely unreasonable. But Damien was a man of his word. I gritted my teeth, raised my other hand, and slapped him across the face. Smack! It was a crisp, loud sound. The man didn’t dodge at all. Half of his breathtakingly handsome face instantly turned bright red. My hand was shaking violently. I was terrified he was going to pull the gun from his waistband and blow my brains out the next second. Instead, the man gently touched his red cheek, his lips quivering slightly. “That hurts.” What am I supposed to do?! You told me to do it! Do you want me to blow on it for you?! Just as the thought crossed my mind… Damien dropped to both knees, pressed his face against my palm, and nuzzled it. “Wife, blow on it.” Oh my god! Just kill me now! 2 Three years ago, I was sent undercover to infiltrate his syndicate. But things went wrong right from the start. Damien’s inner circle was entirely out of my reach. He never went anywhere without an army of bodyguards. My only option was to get a job at a high-end nightclub he owned. I waited forever for the day he finally showed up. Desperate to impress him and get noticed, I insisted on doing a party trick: opening a beer bottle with my bare hands. The bottle cap flew off and hit Damien squarely on the nose. The beer sprayed everywhere, soaking his custom-tailored designer suit. That night, I learned what a truly intimidating, murderous glare looked like. As punishment, I was banished to guard the restroom doors. I guarded those doors for an entire month. Finally, I caught Damien coming to the club again. This time, he was here for a business meeting. My superiors had tipped me off that he was involved in some highly illegal trafficking deals recently. They ordered me to keep a close eye on him. I begged the club madam for a chance to serve his VIP room. The madam looked at me with a deeply conflicted expression. “I mean, you’re gorgeous, and your body is amazing, but…” She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “The boss doesn’t swing that way!” Oh, right. I had always kept my hair short. When I applied for the job, I found out they only hired women with long hair for the hostess positions. Left with no choice, I lied and said I was a guy. I stomped my foot, urgently arguing my case. “But what if he does like guys?” “Think about it! He comes here all the time and never touches any of the beautiful women. He’s always alone!” The madam had a sudden look of realization. My logic convinced her. She tried to give me a sheer, see-through shirt to wear. I frantically waved my hands. No way. I have a large chest; it would be completely obvious. I’d heard that these powerful, wealthy men often had weird fetishes. So, I asked for a classic school uniform. I didn’t wear a drop of makeup, just some strawberry-flavored lip balm. When I pushed the door open and walked in, everyone inside simultaneously put down their drinks. A kind-looking older man warned me, “Kid, I think you’re in the wrong room.” I looked at Damien, whose face was completely unreadable, and called out timidly, “Brother.” The man’s brow furrowed deeply. “You have the wrong person.” I ran toward him, but I didn’t watch my step and stepped squarely on an empty bottle. I executed a flawless, sliding drop to my knees. My face nearly smashed directly into “Little Damien.” It was mortifying. The man reached out a finger, pressing it against my forehead to stop my momentum. “Where exactly are you looking?” I looked up at him, gently massaging his leg. “Brother, please take me in.” I made the tears flow on command. “My dad is a gambling addict; he lost all our money. My mom is terminally ill, and my little sister is starving. We can’t even afford food.” Damien toyed with his expensive lighter, his face entirely unmoved. “I’ve heard that exact story at least ten times.” So what? This time, no matter what he said, I wasn’t leaving. I had to get back everything I lost! One of his subordinates walked in. “Boss, Mr. Shaw is here.” Alarm bells rang in my head. My superiors had specifically told me to watch out for this guy. Damien’s expression turned cold. He stood up, stepping around me. “Get out.” I won’t. “Only if you promise to take me in.” The man’s eyes were dark and heavy, staring intently at me. “Are you of age?” I nodded. He looked away, letting out a dark scoff. “What a shame. I don’t like legal adults.” ??? He really is a massive pervert. Just as I was about to say something else, this ‘Mr. Shaw’ walked in. He looked back and forth between Damien and me with an amused, sleazy expression. “I didn’t realize Boss Damien was into this type. You should have said something! I have plenty of these at my place.” Damien pulled out his gun, pressed the cold barrel directly against my forehead, and said with eyes full of ice: “Stay away from me.” I lingered sneakily outside the door. Constantly monitoring the situation inside. Suddenly, an argument broke out in the room. I rushed in right behind Damien’s subordinates. I saw this ‘Mr. Shaw’, clutching his bleeding forehead, pointing a gun directly at Damien. “Go to hell!” Right as he was about to pull the trigger— In that split second, I didn’t think. I just purely didn’t want Damien to die that easily. I sprinted toward him faster than I ever had. The exact second I tackled him to the ground, the gunshot rang out. In my last moment of consciousness. I heard Damien’s furious, roaring voice: “Are you a complete idiot?!” If I hadn’t pushed him, that bullet would have gone straight through his brain. Miraculously, I survived. But I lost my memory. The amnesiac version of me had a completely different personality. According to bystanders’ summaries: I became a massive pervert. I would constantly hug Damien and demand kisses for no reason. I would barge into the bathroom while he was showering and try to measure his “dimensions” with my hands. Even more absurdly, I demanded to sleep using his abs as a pillow every single night. I became incredibly extroverted and arrogant. The identity I gave myself to the outside world was Damien’s “Ancestor.” I loved throwing my arms around him and calling him “Hubby” in public, regardless of the setting. Relying on his absolute indulgence, I constantly picked fights and caused trouble everywhere we went. And finally… I became extremely violent. I would slap Damien at the drop of a hat. When I took it too far, I would even make him wear handcuffs. The basement of his mansion was filled entirely with “tools” I had prepared for him. 3 I slammed my hands on the table and stood up. “That’s absolute bullshit!” Barnaby jumped, visibly terrified. “M-m-ma’am… y-you really did do all those things.” He was the personal bodyguard Damien had assigned to protect me. He was a good guy, his only flaw being a severe stutter. Honestly, I already knew about everything I did during my amnesia years. But… I just couldn’t accept it. I desperately tried to convince myself it was all a terrible nightmare. I asked Barnaby quietly: “When I hit Damien… did he never fight back at all?” Barnaby picked at his fingernails nervously. He recalled that every time I hit the boss, not only did the boss not get angry, but he also looked like a submissive little wife, holding my hand and asking if I wanted to hit him again. “F-f-f…” “F-f-f…” Fight back? That doesn’t make sense. Then how do I still have all ten of my fingers? “F-f-fine… it didn’t matter, you just hit him harder.” Barnaby finally finished his sentence, looking at me with pure terror. “The boss said, ‘Only a man with a wife gets to be hit. You guys don’t have wives, so no one hits you. It’s truly pathetic.’” I was speechless. Now that my memory was back, I was anxious about my mission progress. I contacted my handler. My handler started by sending a bunch of question marks. “Aren’t you dead?” Me: “Are you cursing me? Watch it, or I’ll file a formal complaint!” Handler: “Oh? Is my little baby throwing a tantrum? Keep it up, and I’ll take away your pacifier!” Me: “…Did I offend you somehow? Why are you being so mean?” My handler continued with his sarcastic, passive-aggressive tone: “I wouldn’t dare! You’re Damien’s precious little baby! I couldn’t reach you anywhere and thought you’d been kidnapped. When I finally found you on the street and tried to bring you in, you—” I remembered. I treated my handler like a human trafficker. I remembered everything. Every single detail. He got more and more agitated as he spoke: “You called me a creepy old fossil! You said I was ugly and tacky! You said I couldn’t even compare to a single finger on your precious Damien!” “I was so pissed off I didn’t eat for three days!” “How am I ugly?! I was the hottest guy in the bureau!” I admitted my mistake and apologized profusely. Finally, we got down to business. My handler told me they had investigated everything. Mr. Shaw was arrested. As for Damien, because he cooperated with the police and played a key role in the arrest, he received a commendation as an “Outstanding Citizen.” They investigated his entire organization inside and out and found absolutely zero illegal activity. But during my amnesia, Damien kept me under incredibly tight surveillance, so the bureau didn’t dare make a move to extract me. Most importantly, my amnesiac self refused to leave Damien. I threw massive, hysterical tantrums whenever they tried to take me away. It gave the bureau a massive headache, so they just decided to leave me with him for the time being. As for now, it was up to me to find a plausible excuse to leave on my own. Before hanging up, my handler said with a gloating, schadenfreude tone: “It looks to me like he’s genuinely in love with you, letting you beat and scold him like that. If you just pack up and leave, who knows, hehe…” What the hell are you ‘hehe’-ing about, you old fossil?! 4 While I was having a massive headache over the situation, Damien’s assistant called. “Ma’am, you haven’t checked in today.” Me: “Checked in for what?” He sighed. “No wonder.” Then he pleaded with me: “Ma’am, please come down here and coax the boss! He’s about to blow up the entire company.” Leave it to me! I didn’t know the way, so I made Barnaby drive. He looked like he was about to cry. “W-w-w-w…” I thought he was just too excited to serve me, so I patted his shoulder encouragingly. “From now on, you are my most trusted man! Keep up the good work!” “N-n-no, Ma’am. I wanted to say, I’ve failed my driving test… f-f-five times.” Useless! I forced him to act as my human GPS. Half an hour later, I deeply regretted that decision. We came to an intersection. I asked Barnaby which way to go. He rolled down the window, sticking his head almost entirely out. “S-s-s…” “S-s-s…” Straight, right? Got it. I even sped up a little. Barnaby’s face turned bright red from the effort. “S-s-s-suddenly turn right!” …I really should just throw him out of the car. Damn you. Thanks to Barnaby, it was already nightfall by the time we arrived at Damien’s corporate headquarters. Damien’s assistant, Mr. Davis, was a true professional. The security guards told me he had been waiting for me by the curb since the afternoon. “Sorry about that. Traffic.” He gave a mysterious, knowing smile. “It’s completely fine. This little wait is absolutely nothing.” Then he led the way. He was limping heavily. “Mr. Davis, what happened to your leg?” Barnaby jumped in: “It’s p-p-probably p-p-p-paralyzed!” Mr. Davis sternly reprimanded him: “Don’t curse in front of the Madam.”

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I was Julian’s child bride, raised by his family. On our wedding day, he died in a tragic accident, falling into the ocean. While I was drowning in grief, my parents-in-law suggested I marry his younger brother instead. I was just about to refuse when a string of comments suddenly appeared in mid-air right in front of me: [Ugh, the evil supporting female character is so annoying, constantly clinging to the male lead. Thank God he faked his death to escape the wedding.] [Does she really think that just because her dad died saving the male lead’s parents, she can use that guilt to force him to marry her? She deserves to be a widow for the rest of her life!] I stared blankly for a long time before wiping away my tears. “Okay. I’ll marry him.” 1 My husband, Julian Sterling. Died by falling into the ocean on our wedding day. The search and rescue teams scoured the waters for twenty-four hours. They never found a body. They only recovered the car he had been driving. After Julian’s funeral. My mother-in-law held my hand, her eyes red from crying. She said she couldn’t bear to see me become a widow at such a young age, and she couldn’t bear to lose me as a daughter-in-law. She gently urged me to marry her younger son, Liam. I froze, and was just opening my mouth to decline. When a string of floating text suddenly materialized in front of my eyes. [The evil supporting female character is so annoying, constantly clinging to the male lead. Thank God he faked his death to escape the wedding.] I paused. Male lead? Who were they talking about? [She’s literally the daughter of a chauffeur and a maid. How is she worthy of the male lead? Does she really think that just because her dad died saving the male lead’s parents, she can use that guilt to force him to marry her? She deserves to be a widow for the rest of her life!] That’s when I finally understood. The “male lead” these people were talking about was Julian. And the “evil supporting female character”… was me. 2 I was originally the daughter of the Sterling family’s chauffeur and housekeeper. Twenty years ago, my parents-in-law were targeted by hitmen. My parents sacrificed their own lives to ensure they escaped safely. At only three years old, I became an orphan with no one in the world. Out of profound gratitude, my parents-in-law betrothed me to their son, Julian, who was the same age as me. They promised they would never let me suffer a single hardship for the rest of my life. Over the years, Julian and I grew up together. We went to the same schools, got into the same university, and I yielded to his every whim. I did it all just to give peace of mind to the parents-in-law who doted on me. I never expected that Julian would rather fake his own death than marry me. I looked at my parents-in-law. They had lost so much weight and aged visibly from the grief of losing Julian. A surge of fierce anger ignited in my chest. If he didn’t want to marry me, he could have just said so! Why go to the extreme of faking his death and causing them so much agonizing heartbreak?! Beside me, my mother-in-law was still trying to persuade me: “Liam is only three years younger than you. He’s twenty now, the perfect age to get married.” [Tsk, stop trying to convince her. The evil supporting female character would never marry Liam. She’s obsessively in love with Julian and only wants to play the tragic, devoted widow for him.] [Six months from now, the male lead is going to return with the pregnant female lead. They think his garbage parents will finally stop pressuring him, but they refuse to let the female lead into the house! They demand the male lead take responsibility for the evil supporting female character instead! The evil female character tortures the female lead, and the garbage parents and Liam help her do it.] [Don’t get mad, guys! The evil female character eventually gets what’s coming to her and dies. Liam dies trying to protect her, and the garbage parents drop dead from the shock. Our male and female leads will have the last laugh!] [And don’t even feel bad for those relatives! Spoiler alert: the male lead was switched at birth! His biological parents treat him amazingly later on. Unlike this fake family that only sides with outsiders!] Watching the comments scroll by, my hands slowly clenched into tight fists. Julian wasn’t even their biological son?! Thinking about my incredibly kind, loving parents-in-law and the sweet, obedient Liam meeting such horrific ends filled me with absolute fury. 3 I looked directly at my mother-in-law and gave a firm, decisive nod. “Mom, I agree.” [Is the evil supporting female character having a psychotic break? Did she find out the male lead is still alive and intentionally marry his brother to make him jealous?] [Pfft, dream on. The male lead only has the female lead in his heart. She could stay a virgin widow for him her entire life and he still wouldn’t spare her a single glance.] Stay a virgin widow for Julian? In his dreams! Since he wanted to marry someone else… I’d gladly grant his wish. But. As long as I drew breath. I would absolutely never let my parents-in-law or Liam suffer the fate those comments described. My mother-in-law froze in shock, then her eyes welled up with red. She grabbed my hand tightly. “Oh, my sweet girl.” Julian and I had held a wedding ceremony, but we hadn’t legally registered the marriage. We weren’t a legally recognized couple. So, acting quickly under my parents-in-law’s direction. Liam and I went to the courthouse, got our marriage license, and became legally wed. However, since the eldest son of the Sterling family had just “passed away.” The house was still shrouded in deep mourning. We didn’t hold a second wedding ceremony. 4 Exactly as the floating text predicted, six months later. Julian returned, bringing the pregnant female lead with him. My parents-in-law and Liam weren’t home. When the butler escorted them inside, I was the only one in the grand living room, quietly eating lunch. The moment Julian walked in and saw me, his brow furrowed in deep disgust. “Mia, why are you still squatting in my house?” I looked up at him. Julian was dressed in plain, cheap clothes, looking utterly exhausted and worn down. He was noticeably thinner than before. He had a tan and looked incredibly haggard. It seemed that without the Sterling family’s financial backing for the last six months, he had eaten quite a bit of dirt out in the real world. As for the female lead, Chloe. She was petite and slender, the textbook definition of a fragile, innocent white flower. Her stomach showed a slight bump, and she was currently cowering timidly against Julian’s chest. I elegantly dabbed my mouth with a napkin, watching them with a calm, amused expression, and didn’t say a word. [The male and female leads finally survived their hardships and made it back! Soon, the Sterling empire will belong to them, they’ll have a spectacular wedding, and become the happiest couple in the world!] [Why isn’t the evil supporting character saying anything? She must be so thrilled to see the male lead alive that her brain short-circuited, right?] Thrilled? I scoffed internally. Over the past six months… Liam and I had grown incredibly close. In the boardroom, we were a flawlessly synchronized team. At home, under the loving gaze of our parents, we retired to the same bedroom every night. What started as stiff and awkward had gradually become completely natural and comfortable. As for Julian, he no longer caused even the slightest ripple of emotion in my heart. Furthermore, I had already uncovered the truth about Julian’s actual lineage. When my mother-in-law gave birth to her first child, medical malpractice resulted in a stillbirth. Terrified of taking the blame, the delivering doctor panicked. Coincidentally, the doctor’s sister had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and delivered a baby boy on the exact same day, but couldn’t afford to raise him. Knowing the Sterling family was incredibly wealthy. The two sisters hatched a plan and swapped the babies, passing the sister’s son off as my mother-in-law’s child. My original plan was that if they never came back, I would keep this secret buried forever to spare my mother-in-law the heartbreak. But since they had the nerve to return, there was no way I was letting my in-laws continue to be deceived by these parasites! 5 Seeing me stand there in silence, Julian’s face twisted with impatience. “I asked you a question! Are you deaf?” “Let me make this crystal clear: I wouldn’t marry you then, and I won’t marry you now. Chloe is the only woman I will ever love. She is carrying the eldest grandson of the Sterling family! My parents value their bloodline above all else; they will never force me to marry you now! If you know what’s good for you, pack your bags and get out of my house!” The woman in his arms, Chloe, nestled against his chest like a fragile bird, speaking in a soft, whispery voice: “Julian, is this the woman who was obsessively stalking you and insisting she’d only ever marry you? Since your parents love her so much, will they refuse to let me marry you?” Julian patted her back comfortingly, his voice dripping with tenderness. “Chloe, you are the one I love. And now that you’re carrying my child, my parents will absolutely accept you. Don’t worry.” Chloe shot me a timid, fearful glance, as if terrified of me, and buried her face back into his chest. This only fueled Julian’s anger toward me. “What are you just standing there for?! You’re nothing but the daughter of our maid! If it weren’t for my parents, you’d be rotting on the streets! Hurry up and prepare a room for my Chloe, and welcome us properly!” I stared at Julian, the comments about my in-laws’ tragic fate flashing through my mind. A tidal wave of emotion surged within me. I wanted nothing more than to order security to throw this disgusting pair out into the street. But I couldn’t. Right now, my parents-in-law still didn’t know the truth about Julian’s bloodline. To them, their eldest son, whom they had raised and loved for twenty years, had just miraculously returned from the dead. They would be absolutely ecstatic. If I threw him out now. It would break their hearts. I stood up and calmly instructed the maids to prepare a room for Chloe and Julian. Chloe immediately teared up, looking deeply distressed. “Julian… she’s the lady of the house… I shouldn’t have come back with you…” Hearing this, Julian pulled Chloe tightly into his arms, looking at her with profound heartache. Then he shot me a freezing glare: “Who do you think you are, ordering the Sterling family staff around?! Get upstairs and clean Chloe’s room yourself! If you don’t serve her perfectly, I’ll have you thrown out of the Sterling estate!” 6 Right at that moment, my young husband, Liam, returned home from his university classes. As soon as he walked through the door, he heard Julian’s enraged shouting. Then, he saw Julian’s face. He froze completely. He clearly hadn’t expected him to still be alive. Quickly, a bright smile spread across his face. “Brother! You’re alive! Mom and Dad are going to be so incredibly happy!” Then, as if remembering something. His gaze shifted to me, his expression momentarily twisting with complex emotion and a hint of profound melancholy. Even though Liam and I had been married for six months, and we slept in the same room to ease our parents’ minds. We hadn’t consummated the marriage. Usually, I slept on the bed, and he slept on a mattress on the floor. Julian patted Liam’s shoulder and announced, “Liam, let me introduce you. This is your sister-in-law. She’s pregnant with my child.” Liam finally noticed Chloe huddled in Julian’s arms. His eyes widened in sheer shock. He looked at me again, opening his mouth but unable to find the words. Seeing Liam’s gaze, Julian shot me another look of pure disgust and explained with a scoff: “I have zero feelings for Mia, and I will never marry her. Now that I have a wife, she has no right to stay in my house. I’ll talk to Mom and Dad and have her pack her bags immediately. Don’t feel bad for her, Liam. Our family raised her for twenty years; we’ve more than repaid whatever debt we owed her.” Liam’s brow immediately furrowed in anger. He said sharply: “Brother, watch your mouth. Mia is a permanent member of the Sterling family. Absolutely no one has the right to tell her to leave!” Julian’s face instantly darkened with displeasure. [What kind of black magic did Mia use to brainwash Liam and the garbage parents?! They’d rather side with an outsider than the male lead!] [The male lead is the eldest son of the Sterling family! How dare Liam disrespect him for Mia?! He deserves his miserable death!] [Don’t be sad, guys! The male lead’s biological parents treat him like a king later! He doesn’t need this trash family or this trash brother! They only care about outsiders anyway!] Reading the floating comments, I let out a cold laugh in my head. Want to have your cake and eat it too, huh? Fine, you love your biological parents so much? I had already hired private investigators to track them down. Very soon, I’d reunite them for a beautiful, happy family reunion! 7 When my parents-in-law received the news that Julian was alive. They were overwhelmed with joy and immediately rushed home from the office. Julian and Chloe had already changed into expensive, luxurious designer clothes. They were sitting on the plush sofa, clinging to each other sickeningly. Liam and I sat on the opposite sofa, staring straight ahead, completely ignoring them. Chloe nervously twisted her fingers. “Julian, do you think your parents will hate me…?” Julian comforted her confidently. “My parents have always wanted a grandchild. Once they hear you’re carrying the Sterling family heir, they’ll love you unconditionally.” He then shot me an icy glare, letting out a dismissive scoff: “Don’t worry about her. She’s just a maid’s daughter. How could she possibly compete with the mother of the eldest Sterling grandson?” He turned his attention back to me. “I’m warning you, don’t even think about bullying Chloe. Otherwise, forget about me—even my parents won’t tolerate your existence in this house!” Chloe chimed in with her soft, breathy voice. “Julian, please. Her parents did serve your family for years. Even if they didn’t do anything spectacular, they worked hard…” Julian tilted his chin up, snorting coldly. “Her whole family is just a bunch of servants.” Liam’s face turned livid, and he opened his mouth to snap back. I grabbed his sleeve and shook my head gently. I had warned him earlier that no matter what garbage came out of Julian’s mouth today. He was to ignore it. He glared at me, aggressively yanking his sleeve out of my grip. He let out a cold huff and didn’t say anything else. But he aggressively turned his body away from me, radiating pure, unadulterated sulking energy. Living in the same room with Liam all this time. This was the very first time he had ever been genuinely mad at me. I actually found it quite novel, and honestly, kind of cute. As for Julian. He was just a pathetic clown with a fast-approaching expiration date. He wasn’t worth my energy. If our parents walked in and saw the brothers screaming at each other over me. It would only break their hearts. 8 Right on cue, the floating comments started scrolling rapidly across my vision again. [The evil female character obviously still can’t let go of the male lead. Even when he’s sitting there with another woman, she still instinctively protects him!] [She’s loved him for years, of course she doesn’t want Liam fighting with him! She’s only acting submissive now because the male lead is watching. The second he leaves, her jealousy will explode and she’ll start torturing the female lead!] Julian saw me hold Liam back, and a cold smirk crossed his face. He gave me a look that screamed, “I knew it.” He clearly shared the exact same delusions as those comments. I couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him. Just then, the butler’s voice echoed from the hallway. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling have arrived.” My in-laws were home. I put on a bright smile and stood up to greet them. But Julian violently shoved past me, shooting me a look of pure mockery. “Right now, the only thing my parents want to see is me, and their eldest grandson.” With that, he grabbed Chloe’s hand and marched out to meet them. Chloe followed timidly behind him, but the triumphant, ecstatic gleam in her eyes was impossible to hide. Liam stood next to me, his face as dark as a thundercloud. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white. He looked ready to murder Julian. I grabbed his hand and gently shook my head at him. Our parents just got home. This isn’t the time to fight. Liam’s fury only intensified. He glared at me, clearly struggling to suppress his rage, and hissed: “He’s already replaced you with someone else, and you’re still protecting him?!” I opened my mouth, desperate to explain. But Liam had already stormed out of the room in a furious huff. I followed him out. I saw Julian shoot me a freezing look before leading Chloe directly up to my in-laws. “Mom, Dad. I’m home.” He immediately gestured to Chloe beside him, unable to wait another second: “This is Chloe. She’s carrying your grandchild.” “She is the only woman I will ever love. I am absolutely not marrying Mia.” “The only person who will ever be the lady of the Sterling house is Chloe.” Chloe offered them a picture-perfect, demure smile. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling.” 9 The next second. My parents-in-law completely froze. They stared blankly at Julian and Chloe. Then, their eyes darted behind them, landing on me and Liam. Finally, they looked at each other, exhaled a simultaneous, massive sigh of relief. And broke into identical, radiant smiles. “Good. It’s wonderful that you’re back.” My mother-in-law took Chloe’s hand. She slipped an incredibly rare, hundred-thousand-dollar jade bangle off her own wrist. And slid it onto Chloe’s, smiling with genuine maternal warmth. “Such a sweet girl.” They had been agonizing over how to break the news to Julian. The news that I was already married to Liam. But now that Julian had brought home his own woman. It was the perfect, miraculous solution for everyone. As they walked into the main living room. Chloe looked absolutely thrilled, shooting Julian a look of pure worship. I even heard Julian cast a disdainful glance in my direction before whispering to Chloe: “I told you not to worry. The eldest grandson of the Sterling empire is infinitely more valuable to them than the daughter of some maid!” Chloe nodded eagerly, then added with fake concern, “But your sister… she’s so deeply in love with you. Will she hate me?”

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