Chapter 1 My best friend and I were bound by the same System. Her mission: Seduce the stoic, ascetic heir, Ethan, and break his composure. My mission: Capture the heart of my cold, adopted guardian, Julian. But Ethan spent his days meditating and ignoring worldly desires, treating her like air. And Julian was still hung up on his "one that got away," treating me like a child for three years, never seeing me as a woman. After being tortured emotionally for too long, I decided to give up. "I'm so tired. I'm quitting. What about you?" I asked her. "If you quit, I quit." We hit it off instantly. We pulled out our phones, calculated our savings, and prepared to take the money and run. "But... which one of us dies first?" "Whoever dies first goes home first. The survivor has to clean up the mess and handle the funeral." We looked at each other. Chloe raised her hand first. "I suffered the most. I'll die first." "No way. Rock, paper, scissors. I can't stay in this hellhole a second longer." "Fine. Rock, paper, scissors." Chloe threw scissors. I threw paper. She won. I stomped my foot in frustration. "Fine. You die first. I'll collect your body." ... For the next two days, Chloe didn't contact me. I was curious about how she planned to end it. That evening, just as I was about to call her, she called me. "Sarah..." Her voice was sluggish, slurred, and mixed with the rushing sound of wind. "Are you drunk?" My heart tightened. "Just a little," she hiccuped, speaking in fragments. "Liquid courage... I'm going to do something big!" I jumped off the sofa. "I thought we agreed on next Friday?" Chapter 2 The plan was for her to leave in seven days, and I would follow after handling her affairs. "I don't want to wait," her voice was scattered by the wind. "Today is perfect. I want to die today." "Sarah, I wanted to see Ethan one last time... I've been with him for three years. I know what position he wants just by a look... I'm so unwilling to let go..." "He's having dinner with his first love... he won't answer my calls..." "Three years... even a dog would wag its tail at me by now..." "But he still doesn't like me..." "Ethan, that bastard, won't even give me a minute on the phone... Since today is Bella's birthday, I'll make it my death day. I'll make sure he never forgets today as long as he lives." She rambled, her logic messy, but her intent clear. She wanted to leave tonight. She wanted to hear Ethan's voice one last time. But he didn't give her the chance. I couldn't accept it. I wasn't ready for her to leave yet. I grabbed my phone and ran out the door, my voice trembling. "Chloe, where are you? Wait for me. Let me be with you, okay?" "Sarah..." She ignored me, speaking to herself. "Jumping off a building is messy. You need to find the best mortician to do my makeup." "And don't bury me. I'm scared of the dark. Cremate me and scatter me in the bay. Make sure Ethan never finds me." Chapter 3 Every word she spoke was a needle in my heart. I felt Chloe's pain as if it were my own. I had watched her suffer all these years. I was shivering, but I forced myself to sound calm. "I'll do whatever you want. But you have to tell me where you are. I want to be with you." "No. I don't want you to see... it'll scare you..." The line went silent, leaving only the harsh sound of the wind. I searched the streets like a madwoman, screaming her name. Until my legs gave out and I fell hard onto the pavement. "Sarah, I'll wait for you at home." That was the last thing Chloe said. Thud— At the foot of the Jinmao Apartment complex, I watched Chloe fall. Like a broken butterfly, dropping from the eighteenth floor. Blood stained the ground red. Chloe died right before my eyes. I knelt helplessly beside her, touching her face, shaking and sobbing. "You loved being beautiful... how could you choose this way to go..." Even though I knew Chloe wasn't truly dead—that we would meet again in our original world—seeing this broke me. I had overestimated my endurance and underestimated her weight in my heart. For three years, we relied on each other to survive the lonely nights of rejection. At the crematorium, I personally pushed her body into the furnace. I watched the flames swallow the smile she once wore. When the staff handed me the small urn, my tears broke free again. "Chloe... how did you become so small..." Chapter 4 I followed her wishes and scattered her ashes into the bay. The turbulent water swept everything away instantly. Just like her. Gone without a trace. "Wait for me... I'll be there soon." I whispered to the river. In my bag, Chloe's phone suddenly buzzed. I picked it up. A message from Ethan. [Tonight, 8 PM. Wait for me at the Peninsula Hotel.] I laughed coldly at the screen. He was always like this. Never caring about Chloe's feelings. He treated her like a tool to be summoned and dismissed at will. When he didn't need her, he disappeared. When he did, she had to be there. But why? Just because she loved him, did she deserve to be trampled on? I didn't reply. I turned the phone off. He missed his chance to see her one last time. Let him live with that regret forever. Chapter 5 I sat by the river until dawn before going home. The morning sun hit me, but I felt no warmth. I was exhausted, body and soul. The System required me to maintain the persona of a devoted lover. So in the past, no matter how ugly things got between us the day before, I would wake up at 6 AM to prepare breakfast for Julian. The System always comforted me: suffer now, enjoy later. After the conquest is successful, a man like Julian will spoil you rotten. But for three years, I tasted only bitterness, never sweetness. Now that my best friend's affairs were settled, it was time for me to go. I picked up the fruit knife on the table and pressed it against my wrist. But I hesitated. I gestured a few times, then put the knife down. Julian hated me so much. If I died in his house, he would probably find it disgusting. He used to say I didn't deserve the surname Shen. He said his brother shouldn't have adopted me. That I was an ungrateful animal for falling in love with my own guardian. He said I deserved to be abandoned, deserved to be unwanted trash. But being abandoned wasn't my fault. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to be a Shen either. But no one ever gave me a choice. Even binding with the System was forced upon me. I sighed and collapsed onto the bed. I accidentally fell asleep. In my daze, the System's cold notification sound rang out. [Sarah Shen, your points are maxed out. The exit channel is open. Please prepare to leave by tomorrow evening.] I nodded in my mind. "Okay. I'm going home." I woke up with a start. Overnight, I cleared everything related to me out of the villa. Braving the heavy rain, I threw it all into the dumpster outside. The rain washed everything away, including my last lingering attachment to Julian. From now on, this villa would hold no trace of me.
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