Chapter 1

My childhood friend and I were both rich kids with a devil-may-care attitude.

He was a massive simp, chasing after Claire Young, a poor but resilient sweet girl, even though she never gave him the time of day.

I was a complete psycho, relentlessly pursuing a cold, aloof CEO.

I loved him so obsessively that I was even willing to drug him.

Then, one stormy night, I tried to force the CEO to kiss me.

He didn't move.

His beautiful lips were right in front of me, and my heart raced.

Just as I was about to kiss him, he pushed me away.

Then he brushed off his spotless suit and looked at me with disgust, as if I were something filthy.

"Psycho. Get lost."

I felt like I had been struck by lightning.

I froze where I stood, unable to move.

At the same time, my childhood friend had just been rejected by Claire.

Apparently, all his nonstop financial support had hurt her pride.

"Adrian Cole, stop humiliating me with your money."

"I'll never like you."

He stood there soaked through by the rain and demanded to know why.

But Claire walked away without looking back.

After listening to him tell me about his miserable experience, I finally felt a little better.

I sighed.

"You really look like a loser right now."

He sneered.

"You're not doing much better. He thinks you're a crazy woman."

We stared at each other.

Then we both let out a deep sigh.

At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning came crashing down from the sky and struck both of us right on the head.

My childhood friend and I were both hit by lightning.

Right before we passed out, we still didn't forget to blame each other.

"What the hell did you do to deserve getting struck by lightning?"

"And why did you have to drag me down with you?"

—

The moment I woke up in the hospital, an extra set of memories appeared in my head.

They weren't mine.

It turned out I was living inside a novel.

I was the vicious female supporting character who constantly made things difficult for the heroine.

My childhood friend was the obsessive second male lead.

He became obsessed with the heroine and eventually imprisoned her.

In the end, the male lead killed him brutally.

As for me, my ending was even worse.

There was nothing wrong with me mentally, yet the male lead had me locked inside a psychiatric hospital.

In the end, I set the place on fire and burned myself to death.

Just thinking about it made me shudder.

Terrifying.

Stay away from the male lead.

Otherwise, my life would become extremely unfortunate.

I was just about to get out of bed when I saw Adrian sleeping peacefully in the bed next to mine.

His face was as delicate as white porcelain.

His eyelashes were long and thick.

He looked like Sleeping Beauty.

I couldn't help sighing.

He clearly had the face of a pop idol, yet he had to fall in love with the heroine and go up against the male lead.

He seriously didn't know his own limits.

Just as I was about to walk past his bed, he suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed my hand.

"Scarlett Lane, weren't you burned to death?"

I stared at him in shock.

"How do you know that?"

"Don't tell me you also found out that we're fictional characters?"

He sat up and looked around the hospital room in confusion.

"Wait."

"Did I get reborn?"

We exchanged a look.

And somehow, we both saw the same word written clearly in each other's eyes.

Dumbass.

Just then, the door suddenly opened.

My dad and Adrian's mother walked in.

The moment they saw that we were awake, they burst into tears of joy.

His mother said,

"I told you! These two grew up together. They must have been secretly in love for years. Otherwise, how could they even get struck by lightning at the exact same time?"

Dad nodded.

"Looks like that fortune teller was right."

"These two really are destined to be together."

"And look, we only just got them engaged, and they woke up right away."

"They're truly a match made in heaven."

My head spun.

My unreliable father had actually gotten Adrian and me engaged while I was unconscious?

—

Apparently, when Adrian and I were rushed into the ICU, both of us were in critical condition.

My dad and his mom even found someone to read our fortunes.

According to the reading, Adrian and I had been destined for each other in a past life.

If we didn't end up together in this life, that destined bond would turn into an ill-fated bond instead.

To save our lives, our parents decided to try anything they could.

So while we were both unconscious, they arranged our engagement.

And somehow, it actually worked.

We both survived.

After calming down, Adrian looked at me and fell into deep thought.

"So what do we do now?"

I looked at the engagement invitation in my hand and sighed.

"What else can we do?"

"I'm just the vicious female supporting character anyway. No matter how much trouble I cause, I'm not getting a good ending."

Adrian laughed.

"Then why don't we just get together?"

"At least that way, we'll stop ruining everyone else's lives."

His words hit me like a revelation.

Exactly!

Nathan Hale treated me like I was some kind of disaster anyway.

I might as well go bother someone else instead.

Maybe I could even save my own life in the process.

I immediately grabbed Adrian's hand and nodded excitedly.

"Bro, you're absolutely right!"

Adrian suddenly broke out in goosebumps.

"I was joking."

"I've always treated you like one of the guys. How could I possibly feel anything for you?"

That annoyed me.

Fine.

There was only one way to find out.

I swung a leg over his waist and pushed him back against the couch.

Looking at his lips just inches from mine, I smiled.

"Whether you feel anything or not, we won't know until we try."

My fingers slowly trailed down his chest before stopping at his navel.

Adrian's gaze suddenly darkened.

Even his voice turned hoarse.

"Scarlett, knock it off."

The moment I realized he actually seemed to be reacting, I happily jumped off him.

"Well?"

"Feel anything now?"

Adrian went into the bathroom with his face bright red.

Meanwhile, I happily posted our engagement invitation on social media.

'Tomorrow at 6:40 p.m., Adrian Cole and I are getting engaged!'

My notifications immediately exploded.

'OMG! Congratulations!'

'Is it April Fools' Day?'

'Holy crap. Are you two childhood sweethearts or sworn enemies who finally fell in love?'

I replied to every comment with a smiling emoji.

Just then, my phone chimed.

The message had come from my pinned conversation.

Nathan Hale.

'?'

'Scarlett Lane, what are you trying to pull this time?'

I thought about it.

He was still the male lead of this novel, after all.

Probably best not to offend him.

'I'm getting engaged tomorrow. Feel free to come celebrate with us.'

Nathan clearly didn't believe me.

He stubbornly assumed I was playing some kind of game again.

'Scarlett Lane, is lying really that fun for you?'

Just then, I heard someone clear his throat above me.

Adrian had come out of the bathroom after taking a cold shower.

Cold droplets slid from his thick hair, making his already handsome features look even sharper.

I froze.

I had known Adrian for more than twenty years.

This was the first time I realized his face could actually be this dangerous.

He lightly flicked my forehead.

"What are you staring at?"

My face suddenly felt warm.

I quickly looked away.

"Nothing. I'm just replying to a message."

The moment Adrian saw Nathan's chat open on my phone, he snatched it out of my hand.

His expression darkened.

"Didn't we agree that you were going to marry me?"

"Why are you still replying to him?"

He held my phone high above his head.

To get it back, I had no choice but to keep jumping for it.

"Give it back!"

But Adrian just grinned wickedly and switched the phone to his other hand.

"Nope. Not unless you kiss me."

Even someone as shameless as me was stunned by how shameless he was being.

I grinned.

"Come on, we're bros. What kind of bros kiss each other? That'd be way too weird."

Just then, my phone started vibrating.

Nathan must have noticed that I hadn't replied for a while, because he was calling me.

It was the first time he had ever called me first.

I was a little curious about what he wanted to say.

But Adrian immediately declined the call.

To get my phone back as quickly as possible, I swallowed my pride and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

But Adrian suddenly turned his head.

I didn't have time to change direction and crashed straight into his lips.

The kiss was sudden and intense.

Actually, calling it a kiss was generous.

Our lips had basically smashed into each other.

His lower lip split immediately, and blood started welling up.

I panicked and turned to find him a tissue.

But Adrian simply wiped the blood away with his hand, then licked it from the back of his hand.

Somehow, he looked ridiculously seductive doing it.

"Scarlett Lane, are you a dog?"

"Why do you like biting people so much?"

My heart was pounding like crazy.

"S-Sorry."

All these years, I had devoted myself to chasing Nathan.

I had never even had a proper relationship, let alone kissed anyone.

Adrian wasn't much better.

Ever since he fell for Claire at first sight in high school, she had been the only girl he could see.

We might have both been world-class simps, but when it came to actual dating experience, we were complete rookies.

So how exactly were you supposed to kiss someone?

—

Adrian and I spent a long time figuring it out together.

From sunset until it was completely dark.

By the time both our lips had gone numb from kissing, we had finally started to get the hang of it.

As things heated up, my arms naturally wrapped around his neck.

His hands settled around my waist just as naturally.

Right before things went too far, I quickly pushed him away.

Light from outside filtered through the window.

I couldn't make out his expression clearly, but I could feel his warm breath against my ear.

"Scarlett, how about we skip the engagement tomorrow and just get married?"

His eagerness scared me so much that I immediately backed up three steps.

"Uh, don't you think we're moving a little too fast?"

He gave a cold snort.

"If the person standing in front of you wasn't Adrian Cole but Nathan Hale, would you still be saying that?"

If this had been the old me, definitely not.

I would have happily married Nathan that very day.

But now I had awakened.

Now that I knew I was nothing more than the vicious female supporting character in a novel, I didn't want to love Nathan anymore.

Adrian's voice sounded especially tempting in the darkness.

"Scarlett, forget him. Okay?"

I was almost giving in when Claire suddenly came to mind.

"What about you?"

"Can you really forget Claire Young?"

Adrian and I had known each other for over twenty years.

I had watched him pursue Claire with everything he had back when we were students.

There had even been times when I envied her for being loved by so many people.

Until I found out she was the heroine.

Of course she had always been favored by the author.

Adrian fell silent.

I sighed and turned to leave.

But he suddenly grabbed my wrist and lifted me onto the glass coffee table.

Everything on top of it was swept to the floor with a loud clatter.

Before I could react, Adrian leaned close to my ear.

His breath was warm.

"Scarlett, want to try again?"

His handsome face moved closer and closer.

His warm breath brushed against my neck again and again.

The moonlight was unusually bright tonight.

Even with the lights off, I could clearly see the small beauty mark beneath the corner of his eye.

It practically screamed seduction.

My willpower was already shaky, and my head felt a little dizzy.

The corner of Adrian's mouth curved up, making his already delicate features look even more alluring.

"Scarlett, can I?"

His voice was low, with a faint rasp to it.

I froze.

A long moment later, almost as if possessed, I nodded.

His lips came down on mine.

At first, the kiss was gentle.

Then little by little, it became more forceful.

I sank into his arms and eventually started kissing him back.

The buttons of his shirt had already come loose.

His hand slipped around to my back.

Then slowly traced upward along my spine.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Adrian was still completely caught up in the moment and ignored it.

But I instantly came back to my senses and quickly pushed him away.

"Go see who it is."

Adrian looked aggrieved.

He took my hand and pressed kiss after kiss to the back of it.

"Scarlett, you're so heartless."

"Can we just ignore everyone else?"

His eyes stayed fixed on me, burning hot.

"Can you just look at me?"

I wavered.

But the doorbell kept ringing over and over, sharp and impossible to ignore.

I hurriedly picked up the clothes scattered on the floor.

Feeling strangely guilty, I tried to hide in the bathroom.

"Just go answer the door. I'll hide."

But Adrian caught my hand.

He looked displeased.

"You're my fiancée. Why do you need to hide?"

So I could only stand there and let him help me put my clothes back on and button them up.

Once he had straightened everything out, he finally smiled.

"My dear fiancée, would you like to answer the door with me?"

--

The moment I saw who was standing outside, I was stunned.

It was Claire.

She was drenched from the rain, soaking wet from head to toe.

She was also carrying a food container, looking fragile and pitiful.

"Why are you here?"

Adrian's voice was cold.

Claire looked up, hiding the stubbornness in her eyes.

"Adrian, I heard you were hospitalized because of me."

"I was worried, so I came to check on you."

Worried?

That was new.

Adrian had done so much for her before.

He had even fought a group of thugs for her and gotten beaten black and blue.

But all she ever seemed to care about was her own pride.

She had even turned around and scolded him for constantly getting into trouble.

And because she was afraid people would say she was trying to marry into money, she had rejected Adrian again and again.

So why had she suddenly shown up on his doorstep with food?

Had getting struck by lightning somehow changed the entire world?

Adrian, however, remained cold toward her.

"I'm fine. I'm not going to die."

Claire seemed about to say something else when she finally noticed me standing behind him in the dim light.

Surprise flashed through her eyes.

But she still smiled.

"Scarlett, why are you here too?"

"I ran into Nathan just now. He even asked me if I'd seen you."

Adrian smiled.

Then he took my hand and pulled me out from behind him.

The hallway lights were extremely bright.

Bright enough to make the kiss marks on my neck, and the scratch marks on Adrian's face, impossible to miss.

Claire looked visibly shaken.

Her fingers tightened around the food container until her knuckles turned white.

Then it slipped from her hand.

With a clatter, the white porridge spilled all over the floor, sticky and messy.

Claire stared at us in disbelief.

"You two already... slept together?"

At that exact moment, the elevator doors opened.

Nathan rushed out.

He grabbed Adrian by the collar and shoved him hard against the wall.

The second he saw the kiss marks scattered across my neck and shoulders, his eyes turned red with anger.

Even his voice trembled slightly.

"You touched her?"