I transmigrated into the female lead of an angst-filled romance novel. On the day I slit my wrists, my husband—the male lead—was bringing his childhood sweetheart back home from abroad. He sneered at me: "Didn't you say that as long as you could marry me, you could endure anything? You can't even handle this little thing?" The sweetheart chimed in: "I'm the one he loves. If you hadn't used his mother's life to blackmail him, he never would have been with you. It's time to return him to his rightful owner." And my mother-in-law, whose life I had saved, said coldly: "I'll give you your money back. Can you please let my son go? A divorce is best for everyone." I won't divorce him. Because he's going to die soon anyway. 1 When I woke up, I was lying in a bathtub. The water around me was stained crimson. My phone was on speaker, and a man's angry voice blared from it: "I'm home, where are you again? Playing this game of life and death every day, is it really that fun?" I hung up, dialed 911, and when I woke up again, I was already in a hospital room. The doctor said, "If you had been brought in five minutes later, we couldn't have saved you. Thankfully, your will to live was strong." "Mhm, I know." The female lead of this novel, Chloe Evans, had loved the male lead, Ethan Wright, hopelessly but unrequitedly. Under his long-term emotional abuse, she developed severe depression and strong suicidal tendencies. Tonight, Ethan hosted a welcome-home dinner for his childhood sweetheart, Maya. Triggered by this, Chloe felt she couldn't hold on anymore and called him to come home. But he ignored her cry for help. Her life was originally meant to end today. But of course, I was here now. "Your phone kept ringing. The caller ID was 'Husband.' We notified your family, and he's on his way." "That doesn't matter. How is the baby?" When Chloe attempted suicide, she was pregnant. "The fetal heartbeat stopped for a moment, but thankfully, the baby's will to live is as strong as yours. The critical danger has passed for now. I'll bring you the detailed report in a bit." "Thank you." A moment later, a man in a tailored suit pushed the door open. One glance at the bandages wrapped around my wrist, and his handsome brows knitted together: "Pulling this stunt again? Chloe, you threaten suicide every day. Why haven't you just died already?" "You haven't died yet, so I'm in no rush." I looked at him calmly. "I'll send you on your way first, Ethan." In the original story, after Chloe died with their unborn child, Ethan suddenly seemed to realize he loved her. He was filled with regret. He put on a grand display of belated devotion. A year later, Ethan died of stomach cancer. One year isn't that long; I can wait. Ethan had never heard such vicious words from Chloe's mouth. He froze for a moment: "I just went to catch up with an old friend from college. Was all this really necessary?" His so-called "old friend" was his childhood sweetheart, Maya. But of course, I didn't care about that. "The desire to kill someone is hard to hide. When you wish someone were dead, who you went to see, or what you did, doesn't matter anymore." Ethan shook his head in disbelief: "Chloe, are you insane? If you want to die so badly, don't drag other people down with you." "Watch your mouth! She's suffering from clinical depression, and you're casually telling her to die. How is this any different from attempted murder?" The doctor reprimanded him, then turned to me and spoke softly, "Here's the report. The baby is fine. You two are tough; mother and child are both safe." "You're pregnant?" Ethan looked stunned, then coldly turned his face away. "I said I didn't want a child right now. I used protection every time. Did you tamper with the condoms?" "The best form of protection is abstinence. Don't you know that basic fact? Or are you saying I intentionally forced myself on you? If so, go call the cops. Press charges for marital rape." Chloe was a gentle, quiet woman. This was the first time Ethan had faced such a sharp-tongued version of her. He was so angry he was trembling: "...You're being completely unreasonable." "Men who are bad with words make for boring arguments. Aside from your face, you have nothing going for you. You're just annoying." I pulled the blanket up to sleep, wondering what Chloe ever saw in him. Just then, Ethan's phone rang. I could faintly hear Maya's voice: "...Ethan, I'm drunk, I don't know how to get to the hotel..." Ethan glanced at me: "It's not convenient tonight." "It's convenient. Get out," I interjected. Originally, Ethan was supposed to be with Maya tonight. While Chloe was left to listen to her own blood slowly draining away. "Are you done throwing this tantrum?" Ethan was always impatient when he spoke to me. "You're really hard to please. When I clung to you, you found me repulsive. Now that I don't want to see you, you stick around like glue. What, have you fallen in love with me?" Ethan glared at me fiercely and slammed the door as he left. Not long after, he dragged a reclining chair over, set it up next to me, and lay down in silence. 2 I stayed in the hospital for a while. Ethan stayed with me, keeping a cold, silent vigil. One day, I went to my therapy session. My attending psychiatrist, Dr. Miller, talked with me for a bit, then had me redo a full panel of neurological tests and psychological evaluations. He looked at my reports as if he were witnessing a medical miracle. "Your depression... it's cured. The psychological assessments and test results are all perfectly healthy." "When depression patients first develop symptoms, it's often due to an excessive fixation on a specific goal. This leads to a narrowing of focus, an accumulation of frustration, which evolves into self-directed aggression and self-loathing. I used to love Ethan. I only saw him. When he didn't love me back, I felt worthless. Now that I've let it go, my vitality naturally began flowing again." Dr. Miller smiled and shook my hand: "Congratulations. And I say that as a friend." Dr. Miller was the only person who genuinely cared about Chloe. He had witnessed how this pitiful woman had sunk so deep into the mire of love. All her sacrifices had sunk like stones in the ocean. Her most sincere emotions had earned her nothing but pain. "So, what's your plan now? Divorce him?" "No." I curled the corners of my lips. "He's a CEO, after all." When he dies, the company is mine. Why would I divorce him? 3 The day I went home, Ethan said he was busy and didn't come to pick me up. Instead, I received a message from an unknown number. It was a photo of Ethan. He looked slightly intoxicated, smiling gently at the camera, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his collarbones. Chloe had never seen him like this. I, on the other hand, felt nothing. I forwarded it to my lawyer and told him to file it away. The moment I stepped through the front door, I heard the lock click behind me. The person walking in wasn't Ethan; it was his childhood sweetheart, Maya. "After all these years, his door code is still my birthday. Chloe, what makes you think you can compete with me?" She carried the arrogance of someone who knew she was favored, looking at me with disdain. "Does guarding his door make you happy?" Maya never expected me to fight back: "Chloe, if I hadn't gone abroad to study five years ago, you wouldn't even be in the picture. You saw it yourself; the moment I came back, Ethan couldn't wait to see me. If you have any self-awareness left, you should pack your bags and leave." I dropped two slices of lemon into a glass of warm water: "If I recall correctly, Ms. Maya, you went to New York, right? That's not that far. A five-hour flight, tops. Why are you making it sound like you were separated by life and death and had to break up?" "Five years. 1800 days. 43,800 hours. He couldn't even spare five hours to visit you in New York once, and you dare believe he loves you? Were you conned by him?" Maya froze for a second: "How could Ethan afford a plane ticket back then? If he had the money, would you have been able to use his mother's medical bills to force him to marry you?" "So you know. The Ethan from five years ago was just a poor guy who couldn't even afford a $300 plane ticket." I swirled my glass and turned around. "Now that he's the CEO of Wright Corporation, you tell me to get out. Heh, you're basically committing armed robbery in broad daylight." Just as I finished speaking, police sirens wailed outside. Maya frowned: "You called the cops?" I raised my glass to her: "When you're being robbed, any normal person would call the cops. Just so you know." As she was being taken away by the police, she was still screaming: "Let's see what charges you can actually pin on me!" 4 "Home invasion and attempted robbery," I reiterated to the police officer at the station. Maya was crying beautifully: "I just had a little emotional dispute with her..." "I don't know her. She picked the lock and broke in. That's a felony. From what I recall, the mandatory minimum is ten years." "Chloe! I just went back to my boyfriend's house! And you want to send me to prison?!" Hearing "ten years," Maya lost control. I spoke slowly and deliberately: "First of all, he is my husband. Second, the house is under my name. Ms. Maya, didn't you just get back from New York? You should know that in America, the moment you stepped through my door, under the Castle Doctrine, I could have shot you dead, and it would be self-defense." "Chloe!" A man's furious, low roar came from behind. "What are you doing?" In the past, whenever he got angry, Chloe would shrink back. She was always terrified of upsetting him. She would swallow her pride and try to keep the peace. I am not that kind of person. "This woman broke into my house." I raised an eyebrow. "What do you suggest I do?" Ethan turned to the police officer: "This is my wife. She misunderstood my relationship with Ms. Maya here. It's just a domestic dispute." He had brought a team of lawyers with him, effectively muddying the waters. Watching the police sign the mediation forms, Maya shot me a disdainful glance, the smile of a victor playing on her lips. Walking out of the police station, Maya immediately clung to Ethan like a fragile bird: "Ethan, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to find your wife to explain the misunderstanding from the other day. I didn't expect it to make her even angrier." Ethan frowned: "Chloe, even if you're jealous of her, there's no need to be so vicious and ruin her life..." Slap! Before he could finish, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face. Ethan was stunned: "You hit me?" "So what?" I said, casually examining my nails. "I hit you because I wanted to. Do I need to schedule an appointment?" Chloe had certainly been jealous of Maya. Jealous of this despicable woman, simply because she had his tenderness. I, on the other hand, do not possess such a saintly heart. "Do you know what you did wrong? Hm?" I pinched his jaw. "I don't care how many flings you have. When you cheat, I've always turned a blind eye. But this stupid woman, who doesn't even know her place, dared to parade herself in front of me—" "You can't even keep your little mistress in line. Tell me, how useless are you?" Maya was shocked for a moment, her voice trembling: "What mistress?" She looked at Ethan, saw him staring fixedly at me, and snapped back to reality: "...How can you treat Ethan like this? You actually hit him! Do you have any class?" She raised her hand high, aiming for me. Ethan grabbed her wrist. Slap! Before Ethan could say anything, I slapped him hard across the face again. "Take a good look. This is the woman you're cheating with. She's trying to hit your wife. So you like them rough and uncultured? I respect your preferences, but please don't let her out to embarrass you and disturb the peace." I patted Ethan's bruised and swollen face and slowly put my black leather gloves back on: "—Lest people say the CEO of Wright Corporation is such a useless piece of trash he can't even cheat right, falling for a vulgar idiot." Ignoring Maya's crying and cursing, I gracefully picked up my purse and got into my car. On the way home, the paparazzi had already edited the photos and videos of the scene outside the police station into a juicy article. I bought them a spot on the trending list. That day, the internet exploded. #WrightCorpCEOCaughtCheatingBeatenByWife in the streets shot to number one. "Holy shit, this rich wife is a badass." "When men cheat, most women either cry or post 'we'll cherish what we have.' Very few just beat up the scumbag without a word." "But she still lost. Look how fragile the mistress is acting." "The person above me is disgusting. In rich families, marriages are often just business arrangements; they do whatever they want. This wife clearly doesn't care. With her money and looks, do you think she can't find a younger, better-looking guy?" "Fucking awesome... this guy is so pathetic." ... I went into the kitchen to cook. Not long after, Ethan walked in holding his phone. He held up the photos Maya had sent me: "Is this why?" "I don't care about the details. You don't need to explain to me." I leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "I only have one rule: If she shows her face in front of me again, I'll hit you again. My demands aren't high. Just keep your people in check." "When are you going to stop being so unreasonable?! I already told you, she and I are just..." "Shut up. I'm trying to eat, and you're making me nauseous." I took my plate and sat at the dining table. He followed and sat down across from me, but the space in front of him was empty. "Where's mine?" Ethan glared at me angrily. He had a bad stomach. Chloe had spent a lot of time trying to nurse him back to health, changing the menu every meal to make it healthy and delicious. "I only made enough for myself." I held my glass of milk, taking a satisfying sip. "Could you not sit in front of me? Your bruised face is ruining my appetite." Ethan tossed his phone aside and slumped back in his chair, his face dark. Great. Throwing a temper tantrum, huh? I picked up my plate and went upstairs to watch a show. Downstairs, I heard the sound of pots and pans smashing. Ethan hated Chloe. Because Chloe had said: "As long as I can marry you, I can endure anything." So he would often bring women home, making her listen to their all-night escapades from outside the door. She would cry and endure it, believing everything was her fault and this was her deserved punishment. On the surface, she had to maintain the dignity of Mrs. Wright, preserving a marriage riddled with holes. When he cheated, she didn't dare interfere. If she showed the slightest hint of displeasure, it would draw his mockery: "Didn't you say you could endure anything? If you can't, then get out." Now, I didn't care at all. Instead, he was the one losing his mind. I turned the music up to the max, eating my hot meal and watching my show in my room. He couldn't handle just this? This was only the beginning. 5 A few days later, Ethan's secretary, Liam, called me: "Madam, Mr. Wright's stomach is hurting. He asked you to come over." "I'm at the spa. I don't have time." Rejected, Liam paused for a second: "He's really in a lot of pain..." "If he's sick, take him to a doctor. What do you need me for?" I could faintly hear Ethan's voice through the receiver. Liam laughed nervously: "Mr. Wright says every time his stomach hurts, eating your porridge makes him feel better." I hung up without hesitation. What did he think Chloe was? A chef or a miracle doctor? Before I even finished my facial, the spa manager came upstairs to tell me someone was waiting downstairs. "Who is it?" "He said his name is Liam, he's your husband's secretary. He looks very anxious." "Anxious for what? Let him wait." After my massage, I put on some light makeup and walked downstairs leisurely. Liam was standing there, looking miserable. As Ethan's lapdog, Liam was an expert at reading the room. Since Ethan treated Chloe like dirt, he followed suit. Whenever he had to deliver something, he deliberately made things difficult. Once, while Ethan was fooling around with women in his office, Liam told Chloe outside: "Madam, a smart person knows when to back off. Mr. Wright is indeed hungry right now, but he doesn't want your food. If you go in there and make a scene, it won't do anyone any good. It'll only make him hate you more." Saying that, he threw Chloe's carefully prepared bento box into the trash. "Alright, if there's nothing else, Madam, please leave." It was raining heavily that day. Chloe was distracted on her way back and got into a car accident. That was how she lost her first child. The Liam from back then was so arrogant; now he looked so pathetic. His clothes were covered in food stains, and there was even grease in his hair. "Well, Secretary Liam, what happened to you?" I asked, gracefully descending the gilded staircase. Seeing me, Liam's eyes lit up: "I'm here to take you to the company." "Did you take him to the doctor?" "Mr. Wright refused to go..." He glanced at me. "He's in a very bad mood lately." "What, he was in such a bad mood he threw food at your head? Aren't you his most trusted confidant?" Liam pressed his lips together: "You used to take such good care of his diet, Madam. He won't eat the takeout we order. We tried every restaurant nearby, and he said none of them tasted right. It's already 2 PM, and Mr. Wright hasn't eaten anything yet." "Which place did you order from?" Looking at his confused expression, I held out my hand. "Give me your phone." I ordered the exact same meal Liam had ordered, without changing a thing. When we arrived at the company, the food had just arrived. I carried it upstairs. As I pushed the door open, a project proposal came flying at me: "What is this garbage?!" I looked at the stormy atmosphere in the office: "Should I wait until you're done yelling?" Seeing me, Ethan instinctively loosened his tie, turned his head away, and quieted down, staring blankly at his computer screen. The terrified subordinate shot me a grateful look: "Then I won't disturb you, Mr. Wright, Madam." "Get out," Ethan said calmly. I placed the takeout on the desk, threw myself onto the sofa, and started playing on my phone. Ethan immediately noticed something was off: "Bought from outside?" "I was at the spa." "I don't like this stuff," Ethan said, his face cold. "Outside food is dirty. It makes my stomach hurt." "Then call someone else." I looked around the room. "You have everything here—a bedroom, a private kitchen. There are plenty of people willing to cook for you." Realizing what I was hinting at, Ethan walked over briskly and snatched my phone: "Are you still mad? Because of Maya, you're not even going to feed me now?" I laughed. All this over just Maya? "You never seemed to like it before. Now that I don't want to cook anymore, you're begging for it. Are you going to eat it or not? If not, I'm taking it away." Ethan glared at me fiercely, went back to his desk, and started eating in sullen silence. He frowned, forcing it down. Putting on a show for me. But I just watched coldly. When I took the trash out, Liam looked like he'd seen a ghost: "I'll take that, I'll take that..." The exact same meal. When I gave it to him, Ethan ate it. This was a situation he had never anticipated. I said lightly: "From now on, order him takeout every day at noon." "This..." "Just tell him I ordered it." The way Liam looked at me changed, filling with awe: "Even though Mr. Wright has had women around him all these years, I can tell you're the only one in his heart." I couldn't help but laugh: "Don't give me that flattery. It's not funny, it's just gross." Even at a time like this. Ethan only cared about whether Chloe made him food. He didn't think about whether her wrist, where she slit it, hurt when she had to lift a heavy pan. That's not what having someone in your heart looks like. Chloe had put him on too high a pedestal. He was used to looking past her, yet expected her to be there unconditionally. 6 Half a month later, it was Ethan's mother's birthday. He threw her a lavish banquet. I hadn't planned on going, but hearing that many prominent figures in the city would be there, I decided to make an appearance. Seeing that old woman was bad enough. But standing next to her was Maya. Bad luck truly comes in pairs. Dressed like a modest, sweet girl, Maya was sitting in my seat. When she saw me, she stood up: "I'm sorry, Chloe. I was just catching up with Mrs. Wright. We haven't seen each other in a long time." "You just sit right there; we haven't finished chatting. Don't you like the house I'm living in right now? I'll transfer the deed to your name tomorrow." The old woman didn't even glance at me, instead pulling Maya by the hand. She was wearing a bracelet. It wasn't expensive, but it was an heirloom of the Wright family. Chloe had always wanted it. Ethan's mother had said she'd get it over her dead body. Wearing that bracelet, Maya sat back down with a clear conscience: "Chloe, you see, Mrs. Wright asked me to sit here." "Does taking other people's things feel that good?" I pulled out a chair and sat down gracefully across from them. "Or do you just enjoy the feeling of constantly winning through competition? That's a sign of low self-esteem. It means deep down, you despise yourself and can only find a sense of existence through this sick behavior—you should go see a psychiatrist." I pulled out Dr. Miller's business card and slid it across the table. Maya was stunned: "Chloe, I know you have a misunderstanding about me. But I was practically raised by Mrs. Wright, and Ethan and I grew up together. I just sat in your seat, and you tell me I'm sick. Isn't that going too far?" "The internet says much worse things. They call you a homewrecker, a shameless bitch destroying another woman's family. But you seem fine with it; you don't even try to avoid suspicion. Do you enjoy the feeling of being despised by everyone?—That's also a pathology. It means deep down, you agree with and cater to those opinions. You have a strong tendency for self-destruction. You need to see a psychiatrist." Maya didn't understand why I kept bringing it back to psychiatrists. It was completely different from her plan to anger me. Furious and embarrassed, she quickly glanced at the business card. Ethan's mother tore the card up: "What homewrecker? Who's the real homewrecker here? If it weren't for you scheming to force Ethan to marry you, Maya would be my daughter-in-law. What right do you have to tell her what to do?" Her voice was very loud. People around us started looking over. I poured a glass of red wine, smiling slightly: "What scheming did I do, hm? Was it the kind of scheming where I spent a million dollars to save your life while you were lying in the ICU?" At the time, Chloe had been chasing Ethan for two years. Ethan was indifferent; there wasn't much love, but they got along peacefully. When his mother got into an accident, Chloe didn't hesitate to pull out the life-saving funds. But her condition was that Ethan had to marry her. As long as Ethan married her, the company would be his, and he wouldn't have to pay back the money. Her original intention was to show them her sincerity. She ran around the hospital, tending to the old woman hand and foot until she was discharged. But because her kindness came with a condition. Ethan and his mother treated her like an enemy. Ethan's mother treated her even worse, like she was cheap goods delivering herself to their door. Her son deserved better. She huffed: "It was just a million dollars! What's the big deal? Ethan has money now. We'll pay you back your million dollars, and you divorce him." I swirled my wine glass: "What you owe me isn't a million dollars. That million dollars, back then, bought your life. So if you really want to pretend none of this ever happened, sure—you die right now, and I'll divorce him right now." Ethan's mother's eyes went wide: "What did you say?! Say that again!!" I lazily lifted my eyelids: "You die right now, and I'll divorce him right now. Which word didn't you understand, hm?" Maya slammed the table and pointed at me: "Today is Mrs. Wright's birthday! How dare you curse an elder like this! Do you have no upbringing?!" "Whether an elder deserves respect depends on the person. Normally ungrateful, using my love for Ethan to arrogantly make demands of me, I put up with it. But today, with so many people here, so many eyes watching, she actually tries to pimp for her son. Is this how an elder should act?" I casually raised my glass to the people around us. "I apologize for letting everyone see this family drama." Some people were recording the whole thing on their phones. Perfect. I don't mind buying another spot on the trending list to show everyone the true colors of this family. Before I could lower my glass, my wrist was grabbed. "Chloe, when are you going to fix this habit of going crazy every time you see Maya?!" Ethan hauled me up. "Apologize to my mother!" "Mom? She's not my mom. My mom wouldn't forbid me from coming home for Thanksgiving, leaving me to eat food that I'm allergic to, all by myself. "My mom wouldn't refuse to even look at me after my miscarriage, calling you in the middle of the night to keep her company, saying that if I couldn't have kids, you should find someone else. "My mom certainly wouldn't scheme to find out how sick I was, when I was going to die, what relatives I had left, and who my house would go to. "And my mom passed away a long time ago; she wouldn't be here celebrating a birthday. If my mom were alive, you, Ethan, wouldn't have even been allowed through our door, let alone have your mother rise in status because of you." "Listen to what she's saying! Ah?! Since you don't know how to discipline your wife, I'll do it for you!" The woman surnamed Wright lunged forward with red eyes to slap me. It only took a few words to force this vulgar country bumpkin to reveal her true colors. Ethan yelled for someone to stop his mother. I tried to pull my hand away from Ethan's grasp. But he wouldn't let go. In his increasingly wet eyes, I smiled, prying his fingers open one by one: "Ms. Wright, I used to give you some face, out of respect for your son." "Now, I don't even want your son anymore. You don't need to try so hard to act all high and mighty in front of me." I left behind the furious Ms. Wright and Ethan, who stood frozen in place, and walked out of the banquet with a light step. If you draw a circle with a wet finger around an ant, it can't smell its own pheromones and can never find its way out. It will just wander around inside that little circle. Chloe had trapped herself exactly like this, associating with a pack of ungrateful wolves. The best way not to lose a game is to leave the table. If there's someone you hate in your life, make them roll out of your life. The world is so big; they aren't worth it.
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