1 The moment the car crashed, my brother’s choice was instant. He went for Dolores, my adopted sister. I was pinned under the airbag, a searing pain shooting up my left leg. Broken, for sure. “Dolores’s terrified of pain,” he pleaded, his voice urgent, “Just hold on, Ava.” Before I lost consciousness, the last thing I saw was him carrying Dolores away from the car, just moments before it burst into flames. When I woke up, I’d been kidnapped. A phone camera was pointed at my face. “Mr. Ashworth,” a gruff voice said, “if you want to see your sister again, get thirty million in cash. And you bring it yourself. The car crash didn’t finish her, but we might.” I looked up at the camera, my vision blurred by the blood trickling down my forehead. But then I heard Dolores’s tearful voice through the phone. “Oh, thank God, Ava’s alive! She survived a car explosion… she’s so lucky!” The worry in my brother’s eyes vanished in an instant. “Ava, when are you going to stop with these games? First the crash, now a kidnapping.” His voice was cold steel. “You’re pathetic. If you want to die so badly, do it somewhere I don’t have to see it.” The call ended. The kidnapper was furious. “If we can’t get the money, you’re useless. Beat her!” At that exact moment, a voice echoed in my mind. [Cannon Fodder True Daughter mission complete. Fake Daughter Counterattack Value at 95%. Detach from storyline upon death. Accept?] My sealed memories flooded back, sudden and sharp. All this pain, all this suffering… it was all to bring my parents back to life. I immediately chose to accept. In the next second, the system blocked all my pain receptors. As the steel pipe came down on me, the corners of my mouth lifted into a smile. The things I can’t take with me… I’m letting them all go. … [Key plot node “Rejection by Kin” has been achieved! Your role as cannon fodder is now ending!] [Upon death, the host will return to their original world. Reward: Parents revived! A happy life awaits you!] The memories of my real life surged through me like a broken dam. I remembered. I wasn’t from this world. I was a Contractor. To resurrect my parents, who had died in a car accident, I accepted this mission to play the part of a story’s disposable character. The previous contractors had all failed, unable to endure the constant abuse. To increase my chances of success, the system had sealed my true memories, making me believe I really was Vincent Ashworth’s sister. Watching my brother’s heart slowly turn toward Dolores had been agony. But now, the crushing weight on my chest was gone. I was filled with a joyful anticipation of death. The steel pipe fell again and again. The gash on my head bled freely. Thanks to the system, I felt nothing but the elation of a final curtain call. As the beatings continued, my smile grew wider, until a laugh escaped my lips. “Boss, there’s something wrong with this girl,” one of the thugs whispered to the leader. “Did we hit her too hard? Is she brain-damaged?” The leader’s eyes flashed with malice. “So, Vincent Ashworth thinks this kidnapping is fake? Fine. I’ll give him something real!” He grabbed a knife and moved toward my hand. I shifted my body, helpfully offering my neck instead. Just as the blade was about to fall, the door burst open. The lead kidnapper was sent flying, the knife skittering across the floor. A team of men swarmed in, quickly subduing the thugs. Leading them was Marcus. He was the bodyguard Vincent had assigned to me eight years ago. There was a time when he would have whipped himself fifty times if I so much as chipped a nail. But this time, he had watched me burn in a car, allowed kidnappers to take me, and let them beat me half to death. He probably only intervened because he’d have a hard time explaining my actual death. With the kidnappers restrained, Marcus looked down at me. “Can you get up?” I tried to move. I felt no pain, but the injuries were real. I was completely immobilized. Marcus frowned, but he reached down, half-dragging, half-carrying me out and into a car. He glanced at my bloodless face, looking like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. He seemed surprised that I wasn't crying and screaming for my brother like I used to over the smallest scratch. “You really overdid it this time, didn’t you?” he said as he started the car. I didn’t even bother to open my eyes. He continued, talking to himself. “Did you really think this little pity party would make Mr. Ashworth care more about you than Miss Dolores? He hates these kinds of tricks. And on top of it all, you terrified Miss Dolores.” He paused. When I still didn't react, his voice grew colder. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just be a good little rich girl? Why do you always have to provoke Miss Dolores? Consider this a lesson. You’d do well to remember it.” My eyelids fluttered. A bodyguard, paid by my family to protect me, was telling me that being kidnapped and beaten was a lesson I deserved? All to defend the girl he had a crush on. He’d forgotten who his real boss was. But none of that mattered anymore. The cannon fodder’s story was over. I was leaving. Vincent got the news and arrived at the hospital before me. When he saw the gruesome wound on my forehead, my swollen and deformed leg, and the dark bruises covering my skin, his face went pale. “Ava!” His voice was tight with panic. “Quick! Get Dr. Ramsey in here now!” “Don’t bother,” I said. My voice was a dry, hoarse whisper, but it was perfectly calm. “I refuse treatment.” 2 Vincent froze, clearly not expecting me to refuse. His shock quickly turned to anger. “Don’t be ridiculous! You’re this injured and you won’t get treated? What are you trying to pull?” “Vincent, don’t be mad at her,” Dolores’s soft voice cut in. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have worn her necklace. I didn’t realize she would get so angry that she’d lose control of the car.” “I thought if I died, it would be my apology to her. I never expected you to save me first. By the time we went back for you, the car exploded. Vincent was frantic,” she continued, her voice filled with fake concern. “It’s a miracle you’re alive, Ava. Don’t scare him by refusing treatment.” The raw tension in Vincent’s face eased slightly. “Ava, I told her she could wear that necklace. You have so much. What’s the big deal about one necklace? Is it worth risking your life over? I can just buy you another one.” He went on, his voice hardening again. “Marcus told me the kidnapping was fake. If you were so badly hurt in the crash, how did you have the energy to stage a kidnapping instead of going to a hospital? I’m starting to think you’re actually insane.” I glanced at Marcus. He guiltily looked away. I had no idea what story he had spun for Vincent, but it was enough to convince him all my injuries came from the car crash. I stared at Vincent and asked in that same hoarse voice, “If you think I’m insane, why do you believe I’m capable of orchestrating all this?” “You’ve been spoiled and willful your whole life,” he shot back without thinking. “What aren’t you capable of?” I closed my eyes. Even though I knew who I really was, the memories of the last decade were still there. The words still hurt. When our parents were alive, I was the center of their world. Vincent had sworn he would protect me forever, that he would never let me feel an ounce of pain. “My sister deserves to have anything she wants,” he used to say. “As long as I’m here, you have the right to be willful.” But now, he was not only scolding me for it, but he’d also forgotten that the necklace Dolores wore couldn't simply be bought. “That necklace,” I said softly, “was my eighteenth birthday present from you.” It was the last design our mother made before she died. Vincent had said he hoped that when I wore it, it would feel like Mom was still watching me grow up. I didn't say that last part. There was no point. It wasn't just the necklace. It was the loyalty of my bodyguard, the love of my brother. The things I couldn’t take with me, I was letting them all go. A flicker of guilt crossed Vincent’s face. Dolores quickly took the necklace off and held it out to me. “I’m so sorry, Ava. I didn’t know it was so important to you. Please don’t be mad at Vincent. Blame me…” The moment her fingers placed the chain in my hand, I summoned all my strength and threw it. The necklace flew out the open hospital window. The movement tore my wounds open. Blood began to seep through the bandages, but with no pain, all I registered was my face growing even paler. “Ava! Are you insane?” Vincent roared, his pupils constricting in shock. “Ah! The necklace!” Dolores shrieked. “It’s so expensive! What if it’s lost? How could you just throw away a gift from your brother? You’ll break his heart!” Vincent’s face was ashen with rage. “Marcus! Go find it!” Marcus spun on his heel and sprinted out of the room. Vincent’s eyes were filled with utter disappointment. “I was going to let this slide! But look at you! If you love making a scene so much, then fine! Have it your way!” He grabbed Dolores and turned to leave. When he didn’t hear me apologize, he glanced back. The sight made his blood run cold. “Ava! What are you doing? Get down from there!” 3 The moment they turned their backs, I had dragged myself to the window and hauled one leg over the sill. Only my swollen left leg remained inside. Vincent lunged for me. Just as his fingertips were about to brush the hem of my clothes, I let go and fell. “AVA!” Vincent’s scream was a raw, primal sound of terror. His heart stopped. THUMP. A heavy, muffled impact came from below, followed by Marcus’s shocked cry. “Miss Ashworth! You…” Marcus was kneeling on the ground in an awkward, sprawling position, his arms trembling. I was in his arms. He had caught me, the force of the impact knocking us both to the ground. Vincent practically fell down the stairs in his haste. Marcus gently laid me on the grass, remaining on one knee beside me, his face a ghostly white. He was clearly shaken to his core by my sudden suicide attempt. Seeing me safe in Marcus’s arms, Vincent’s heart, which had leaped into his throat, slowly settled back into his chest. Dolores followed him down, panting. “Ava, if you hate me that much, I’ll leave. You don’t have to play with your life like this. It’s only the third floor, you wouldn’t have died, but you really scared Vincent.” Her words instantly reignited Vincent’s anger. “First the crash, then the kidnapping, and now this! Ava, I am so disappointed in you!” he seethed. “Marcus, take her back to the house. Lock her in her room. No one is to enter or leave without my permission. Have Dr. Ramsey treat her there.” Back at the Ashworth estate, I was placed under house arrest. Medicine was forcibly injected into my veins, my wounds were dressed, and my leg was put in a cast. I couldn't even die. I was in a terrible mood. “The necklace was found.” Vincent stood by my bed, placing a jewelry box on the nightstand. “You grew up with everything you could ever want. Dolores was passed around foster homes, half-starved, without a decent piece of clothing to her name.” “Now that she finally has a family, can’t you, as her older sister, be a little more generous? Is it so hard to let her have a few things?” Seeing my silence, he thought his words were getting through and softened his tone. “In the crash, Dolores’s hand was badly scraped. Scars aren’t good for a girl. Let’s just call it even.” A life-threatening injury versus a scraped hand. Even? I almost laughed. If he had just checked the car’s dashcam, he would have seen Dolores deliberately showing me the necklace to provoke me, then grabbing my arm and causing me to lose control. But just like every other time, Vincent didn’t bother to look for the truth. He unconditionally trusted Dolores. I used to cry and fight with him, unable to understand. Now, I understood perfectly. Under the influence of the “protagonist’s halo,” Vincent was suffering from a severe case of intelligence degradation. A CEO’s purpose, after all, is to serve the protagonist. I didn’t even look at him. My mind was consumed with one thought: how to die faster. Before coming to this world, I had a craving for a specific cake from a bakery across town. To surprise me, my parents drove through a storm to get it. A truck hit them. They died instantly. I tried to follow them by jumping into a lake. As the water filled my lungs, the system found me. [Complete the cannon fodder’s storyline, help the protagonist Dolores achieve her life’s counterattack, and you will earn a chance to reverse your parents’ accident.] My memories were sealed. I forgot who I was, only that I was the heiress of the Ashworth family, coddled and adored. Until I was fifteen, when my parents brought Dolores home, saying she was a playmate for me. A year later, a plane crash took my parents, and I fell into a deep depression. Crushed by grief and the immense pressure of running the family corporation, Vincent gradually transferred the patience and affection he once had for me to the more “sensible” Dolores. She had a talent for making him misunderstand me. I felt the love that was once exclusively mine slipping away. I screamed, I threw things, I did everything I could to make him believe me. The only result was that he grew more and more tired of me.
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