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Chapter 4

Auteur: Silk & Feathers
The next morning, Victoria pushed open the villa door.

There was still a trace of Noah's tobacco scent on her, and her expression carried the fatigue and irritation of a sleepless night.

"Julian, I'm back. Julian?"

As she took off her coat and changed her shoes, her eyes swept casually across the living room, then froze.

Beside the sofa, Julian Hayes lay quietly on the carpet, motionless.

Victoria frowned, disgust flashing through her eyes.

"You're a grown man. Why are you lying on the floor?"

"The floor is cold. Get up. Don't think this will make me soften."

The person on the floor did not react.

Victoria strode over and grabbed his shoulder.

"Are you still trying to argue with me..."

Before she could finish, her voice stopped abruptly.

What came through her palm was a piercing cold, like ice.

Stiff.

Dead.

Victoria froze. Then she turned Julian over.

What entered her sight was Julian's gray-white face, and the large patches of dried black blood at the corners of his mouth, on his chin, and across his collar.

The eyes that had once always looked at her gently were now tightly closed, never to open again.

"Julian... Julian?!"

Victoria's mind went blank. With shaking fingers, she reached under his nose.

There was nothing.

She stumbled backward in terror and kicked an envelope on the coffee table.

On the envelope were the words: [For Victoria Quinn.]

With trembling hands, she tore it open and scanned the letter.

When she saw the phrases "gave up one billion," "luck points exchanged for the recovery of your legs," and "betrayal triggers erasure," Victoria's pupils shook violently.

"No... impossible. This is impossible, Julian! You must be lying to me!"

Just as she screamed on the verge of collapse, a flat mechanical voice suddenly rang through the air above the villa.

[Detected: host has fully died. Erasure protocol complete.]

Victoria snapped her head up and looked around as if she had seen a ghost.

The cold voice continued to echo, like a death sentence being read aloud.

[Due to contract termination, the leg-healing reward previously granted to bound target Victoria Quinn will now be officially revoked.]

"What..."

Before Victoria could react, a tearing pain exploded through both of her knees.

"Ah!!!"
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  • After the Countdown   Chapter 10

    I looked down at the woman at my feet, who was sprawled there like a heap of mud.Victoria Quinn, the once dazzling, high-and-mighty actress, had trampled the last of her dignity underfoot just to beg for my forgiveness.But there was no pity in my eyes. No anger.Only absolute coldness and mockery."Victoria Quinn."I spoke calmly, my voice echoing through the empty theater.She snapped her head up. Hope flashed in her eyes.Looking into her eyes, I said each word clearly, every syllable cutting into her heart."The man who gave up a billion dollars for your legs, drained all his luck points, and even threw away his life for you died on your seventh anniversary. You killed him with your own hands."The hope in Victoria's eyes froze instantly. Her pupils shrank violently."For a second-rate actor putting on a show, you left him alone in a cold restaurant to wait for death.""Have you forgotten how he coughed up blood? Have you forgotten how cold his body was when he died on

  • After the Countdown   Chapter 9

    Three days later, Elise drove me to the century-old grand theater in the city center.Victoria had bought the place, and it had been closed to the public for years.But Elise had used some connections and gotten the key.When we pushed open the heavy theater doors, an old rose scent mixed with dust washed over us.On the enormous stage, the setting from Victoria and Julian's wedding seven years ago was still preserved. Thousands of withered white roses covered the steps, and at the center stood a crystal piano coated in dust."Julian, don't be afraid. I'm right here with you."Elise held my hand tightly, her warmth flowing into me through her palm.I took a deep breath, let go of her hand, and walked step by step up the stairs covered in dead roses.The instant my toes touched the center of the stage, it was as if I had triggered a sealed switch.The memories of my previous life flooded into my mind like a burst dam, crashing in with brutal force.I saw myself pressing the sy

  • After the Countdown   Chapter 8

    In the days that followed, Victoria began pestering me endlessly.Every day, she sent huge bouquets of white lisianthus, the flowers Julian Hayes had loved most in his previous life.I did not even look at them. I asked the nurses to throw them straight into the trash.On the day I was discharged, Elise helped me move.As soon as we arrived downstairs at my apartment building, we saw Victoria blocking the entrance in her wheelchair.She looked even more haggard than she had at the hospital, but a sick, desperate hope burned in her eyes."Julian, you're finally discharged."Victoria rolled her wheelchair closer. Her voice was hoarse, as if soaked in blood."Come home with me, okay? I kept everything at home exactly the way it was when you left.""I cleaned the carpet... I will never leave you for anyone else again. Please forgive me, okay?"She described how she had lived worse than death for the past year. She even tried to lift the blanket over her legs to show me her wasted

  • After the Countdown   Chapter 7

    "Julian... is it you? Is it really you?"Victoria pushed the wheels of her chair like a madwoman, rushing toward me with everything she had.She was frighteningly thin. Her once stunning face had caved in, and the red veins in her eyes spread like spiderwebs. Her whole body carried a lifeless madness."Julian!"She charged up to me and stretched out her bony hand, gripping my wrist tightly.Her strength was shocking, almost enough to crush my bones."Let go."Out of instinctive rejection, I shook her off.Looking at this withered, crippled woman in front of me, I felt no ripple in my heart. Only a strong disgust."Ma'am, you have the wrong person," I said coldly."No! I could never mistake you!"Tears burst from Victoria's eyes. She pointed at me incoherently."The way you adjust your collar, the way you narrow your eyes when you see the sun... You are my Julian! You didn't die, did you?""You're just angry with me, so you changed your identity, right?"As she cried, she

  • After the Countdown   Chapter 6

    One year later, in the system space.[Warning! Detected: heroine Victoria Quinn's obsession is too deep. The worldline is on the verge of collapse.]The system's cold mechanical voice echoed through the void.[To stabilize the worldline, emergency correction plan now activated. Host consciousness will be reshaped into the body of a recently awakened vegetative patient.][As punishment and balance, all love and emotional bonds toward Victoria Quinn will be permanently extracted from the host's soul.]Beep. Beep. Beep.With the steady sound of a heart monitor beside me, I slowly opened my heavy eyelids.The blinding sunlight made me narrow my eyes."You're awake?"A gentle female voice sounded beside my ear.I turned my head and saw a young doctor in a white coat.Her hair was tied into a neat ponytail, and her features were delicate. She was looking down, carefully recording my readings."My name is Dr. Elise Parker. I'm your attending physician."She gave me an extremely g

  • After the Countdown   Chapter 5

    Accompanied by the horrifying sound of bone and nerve snapping, Victoria's legs instantly lost all support.She screamed and collapsed to her knees in front of Julian's cold body like a heap of mud.In terror, she reached down and pounded her legs, but below the knees, she had already lost all feeling.The despair from seven years ago, when she could only sit in a wheelchair like a useless wreck, came crashing over her like a tidal wave.Only then did she finally understand.What Julian had said in the restaurant last night, "You will never see me again," had not been a threat."Julian... I was wrong... I was really wrong! Come back!"Victoria struggled desperately on the floor, trying to hold Julian's body, but she could only crawl miserably through the blood.In the vast villa, only the shrill cries of a crippled woman remained.Julian's funeral was painfully bleak.There was no media, no family, no friends. Only endless cold rain and a lonely gravestone.Victoria sat once

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