Chapter 3

I had simply set out for work as usual, but the slippery ground caused me to skid on my bike right into a river that hadn't frozen over yet.

The icy water engulfed me instantly. I struggled and cried out for help, but my winter clothes had soaked up so much water that they weighed me down like an anchor, rendering me unable to move.

Despair set in as I slowly sank into the freezing depths. However, a passing sanitation worker happened to see me and saved me with his snow shovel. After I was sent to the hospital, I ran a high fever for several nights.

At that moment, Cherie was locked in a cutthroat battle with a rival company, and I didn't want to disturb her. However, her mother, Angela Young, couldn't bear to watch me suffer any longer and finally called Cherie to check in on me.

Cherie rushed over in the middle of the night and held me while weeping for hours.

She looked terrible that day. Her brows were constantly furrowed, and she kept checking her phone for messages. I got worried that I was ruining her plans and tried to get her to leave, dropping hints about it, but instead, she tossed aside her phone, which had kept buzzing nonstop.

I told her that I was fine, and that a little pneumonia wouldn't kill me, but she hugged me tightly and chided me angrily.

"There's nothing more important in the world to me than you, Victor. They're just cheap tricks to force my hand. I'm not going to fall for them."

Later on, I learned that those calls had come from Max right before he died.

That night was the final deadline for his mission to win Cherie's heart. His system had given him an ultimatum—if Cherie rushed over to save him, he would succeed. If not, he would die.

At that time, however, she had spoken with such certainty that I felt smug and pleased to be the recipient of such special treatment. Yet now, those very words came back to stab into my chest like a sharp knife.

She lost Max because she didn't go to him that night. She thought that she owed him, and therefore, she was going to tear me apart to bring him back to life.

Then, what did she really think of me?

I hadn't stolen anything from anyone. I had simply succumbed to temptation and eaten the forbidden fruit that was technically and rightfully mine.

Besides, Cherie was already my girlfriend at that time. And nobody told me that my girlfriend would still fall in love with another man while she was attached to me.

I clutched my chest and crouched over on the ground, feeling a numbing pain spreading through me.

I remembered it now. That system which had promised to bring me happiness had first appeared to me three years ago. It told me that my only mission was to win over Cherie's heart to have any wish granted—even if it was just the chance to see my parents again.

It was an incredible offer. After all, I only had to win my girlfriend over. And even if I could only see my parents for just a short while, I still wanted them to see me find happiness, especially since they were still thinking of me up until their deaths.

However, I'd completely messed it up. How ridiculous.

The love that Cherie felt, which the system had picked up, had now become my death warrant instead.

…

That evening, Cherie came knocking on my door.

I had never hidden my whereabouts from her, so I wasn't surprised to see her here.

"What are you doing back here so early? Didn't you say that you were going to the beach to find inspiration?"

I felt a bitter ache inside my chest, but I tried hard not to let it show.

"I saw the suit you gave me. It's just—I don't really like the style. If we're going to get married—"

"Victor Pearson! I've already agreed to marry you! What more do you want from me?"

I was too stunned for words.

Right at that very inopportune moment, the System chimed, "Victor, the target has agreed to the marriage. Congratulations! You've completed your mission."

However, what Cherie said next completely shattered my heart.